________________
115. THROUGH EXCEPTIONABLE
MEANS
In a certain town, there lived a Brahmin woman who had three daughters. Naturally she was worried about their prospects after marriage. She could hardly think of anything else except how to ensure their happiness with their husbands. She finally came out with the following idea which she explained to her eldest daughter. She said, she should strike her husband on his head with the sole of her foot the first thing on seeing him. This is exactly what the daughter did when she went to her husband's house. The husband was so very pleased with the kick that he quickly offered to massage her foot.
The daughter reported this to her mother who was quite pleased to see that her idea worked so well. She assured her daughter that her husband hereafter would not object to anything that she did and therefore she should enjoy her life according to her fancy.
The second daughter also was given the same advice but it worked a little differently but in the end it was exactly as the mother had calculated it to be. The young husband felt terribly furious when he received the kick on his head but gradually forgot all about what he had initially felt to be an insult and the two settled down to a happy life and the mother was pleased.
The third daughter was not however as lucky. Her husband gave her a good thrashing and threw her out of the house. The mother now had to take it upon herself to patch up the matter. She persuaded the young man to appreciate his wife because what she
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
