A wife’s duty

Lord Narayana and Lord Siva assumed the forms of

Mohini and Bhikshandar to teach the proud Saptarishis and

their equally proud wives a lesson. Except for Vasishta and his wife Arundhati, all others were taken in by the beauty of Siva and Narayana. Arundhati was rewarded for not succumbing to temptation. She was allowed to

take her place, beside her husband, in the Great Bear constellation, known as the Saptarishi Mandala.

Thiruneelakantar was a devotee of Siva, who, however, had a weakness for women. Thiruneelakantar’s wife is described as a very beautiful woman in the Peria Puranam, which records the lives of the Saivite saints known

as Nayanmars. Yet, Thiruneelakantar sought the company of another woman. His wife was unhappy with his conduct. She was chaste in her conduct like Arundhati. Therefore, it was not surprising that she wanted her husband to be chaste too.

It is said a woman has to protect her virtue and her husband’s virtue. She must protect her husband’s reputation and she must be vigilant in doing this. Thiruneelakantar lived at a time when men’s errors were

condoned, while only women were expected to be chaste. But Thiruneelakantar’s wife was different from women of her time, Sarala Rajagopal said in a discourse.

She could not condone him when he sought favours from another woman. So she made him swear in the name of Siva that he would not touch her, for she knew that nothing appealed to her husband as the name of the Lord. However, she did not ask him to merely stay away from her, but spoke in the plural, and said: “Keep away from us.” Since

she used the plural ‘us,’ Thiruneelakantar swore that he would stay away from all women and would not even think of a woman.

No one beside the two of them knew of this oath. His wife’s aim was to see that her husband’s reputation was not tarnished by his conduct, and she achieved this by invoking the name of Siva. Thiruneelakantar never once broke his vow. Their bhakti for Siva was not diminished in any

way. As a reward for their bhakti and the regard they had for the Lord’s name, Siva restored their youth to them.