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DISCOURSE 34
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treat her with contempt. "What is there in your father's family to feel proud of? What is there in your lineage to be proud of ? How can there be any comparison between our family and yours? We belong to an aristocratic line. Your family has neither such name nor such dignity". In her husband's house, nobody treated her with any respect or consideration. All looked down upon her and treated her with utter contempt. The mental torture that she had to suffer became so unbearable that she burnt herself to death.
From the Audience : Now-a-days, whenever such a marriage takes place, the couple live separately; leaving the motherin-law and the father-in-law alone.
Maharajashri : The mother-in-law and the daughter-inlaw can live separately but the husband and wife cannot live separately. They should live under the same roof. If the husband is proud of his lineage and family at some time or the other, he would start glorifying the greatness of his family and lineage. He would deprecate the family of her father. What would happen then ? Would not a quarrel arise between the husband and the wife ? Would not misunderstandings arise ? Would the present day "qualified" husband and wife bear with unbecoming and undesirable conduct and words of each other? "Qualified" wives, that is, wives who are degree-holders are generally proud. They have a high sense of self-importance. We may not see in them humility, patience or forbearance. If both husband and wife are degree-holders; if both are proud and over-bearing; if both are sharp and short-tempered, the whole situation would be explosive. You may know this. They would not put up with each other's harsh words, objections and sarcastic remarks or sardonic flings. Their love for each other would melt away into air; away into thin air. They would get ready to seek a divorce from each other. The relationship between the husband and the wife would not be amiable and loving if there is a disparity between their families in respect of financial and social status; that is, if the husband belongs to an affluent family and if the wife belongs to a poor or middle-class family. In the same manner, if the wife
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