"Bhishma said, 'In one of the branches of that tree, a pigeon with
beautiful feathers, O king, lived for many years with his family. That
morning his wife had gone out in search of food but had not yet returned.
Seeing the night had come and his wife still unreturned, the bird began
to indulge in lamentations: 'Oh, great has been the storm and painful the
shower that came today! Alas, thou has not yet returned, O dear wife! Woe
is on me, what can be the cause that she has not yet comeback to us? Is
every thing right with that dear spouse of mine in the forest? Separated
from her, this my home appears to me empty! A house-holder's home, even
if filled with sons and grandsons and daughters-in-law and servants, is
regarded empty if destitute of the housewife. One's house is not one's
home; one's wife only is one's home. A house without the wife is as
desolate as the wilderness. If that dear wife of mine, of eyes fringed
with red, of variegated plumes, and of sweet voice, does not come back
today, my life itself will cease to be of any value. Of excellent vows,
she never eats before I eat, and never bathes before I bathe. She never
sits before I sit down, and never lies before I lie down. She rejoices if
I rejoice, and becomes sorry when I am sorry. When I am away she becomes
cheerless, and when I am angry she ceases not to speak sweetly. Ever
devoted to her lord and ever relying upon her lord, she was ever employed
in doing what was agreeable to and beneficial for her lord. Worthy of
praise is that person on earth who own such a spouse. That amiable
creature knows that I am fatigued and hungry. Devoted to me and constant
in her love, my famous spouse is exceedingly sweet-tempered and worships
me devoutly. Even the foot of a tree is one's home if one lives there
with one's spouse as a companion. Without one's spouse, a very palace is
truly a desolate wilderness. One's spouse is one's associate in all one's
acts of Virtue, Profit and Pleasure. When one sets out for a strange land
one's wife is one's trusted companion. It is said that the wife is the
richest possession of her lord. In this world the wife is the only
associate of her lord in all the concerns of life. The wife is ever
the best of medicines that one can have in sickness and woe. There is no
friend like unto the wife. There is no refuge better than the wife. There
is no better ally in the world than the wife in acts undertaken for the
acquisition of religious merit. He that has not in his house a wife that
is chaste and of agreeable speech, should go to the woods. For such a man
there is no difference between home and wilderness.'"
