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30 SUKUMARI BIIATTACIIAKJI

shc tcmpled thc king rcpcalcdly and he bcgol sons in hcr. In Ihis he was lalsc to Sarmistha, his legally wcddcd wite. Whcn Sarmistha found it out, shc not only leli hcr husband “becausc hc had wronged hcr,"⁷⁰ but cursed hiin with premature senility. And thc fact thal Yay5ti grew old ovcrnight not only substanliated her charge bul hcr morał right also to leci ollcnded. This is espceially noticcable bccausc inslances of the husband *s adultery in the cpic arc rcally too many to cnumcratc. This dcparlure from thc accepted paradigm of the wite mcckly and hclplcssly acccpting the husband ’s faithlcssncss stands out as one of thc fcw cxccptions. So thcrc had bcen a codę of conjugal conduct which uphcld thc wifc ^łs right to thc husband ^łs loyalty, although lalcr thcsc valucs wcrc erodcd almost complctcly. The concrctc dctails of this cpisode havc a ring of trulh: it must havc bccn part of thc floating mythic-lcgcndary tradition of an earlicr era prcscrvcd in folk mcmory.

An anccdolc which goes back to a still carlicr era, whcn conjugal lldclity and scxual proiniscuity had not bccomc incompaliblc, is rccordcd in the Uddalaka Svctakctu story. A Brahmin camc and took away Uddalaka ^łs wite for plcasurc. Svclakctu, thc son was furious at this; his father said that this was a limc-worn practice, all women arc frcc to bc cnjoyed by others.⁷¹ Thcn Svctakclu solemnly laid down thc law for scxual invioIability of married women. Herc wc havc thc rccord of an ancicnl practice of socially accepted proiniscuity, cvcn among married couplcs. Uddalaka did not press his conjugal righls, bccausc thc cxclusivc scxual rights wcrc unknown in lhosc oldcr limes.

Wc hcar that evcn thc saintly ArundhatT suspcctcd hcr husband, one of thc scvcn renowned sages Vasistha.⁷² This shows that connubial lldclity was not taken for granted and was not regarded as sacrosanct as it later camc to bc. Anasuya, wifc of Alri, anolher of the scvcn sages, decidcd to lcavc hcr husband and spcnl thrcc hundred ycars meditating in great hardship. Finally, Siva blcsscd hcr with a famous son.⁷³ Shc docs not cxprcss the reason of hcr disgust, but says, “I shall no longcr bc subordinale to him in any way", a stalcmcnl unlhinkablc in lalcr limes, whcn thc husband’s

control of thc wife*s movcmcnts had bccomc absolutc and uncondilional.

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This dcllancc is a signilicanl departure from thc framework of conjugal conduct and loyalty which lalcr bccamc an absolutc valuc.

The Sakunlala episodc which Kalidasa immortalized in his drajna has a different morał intonalion in thc MaMbharala . Afler marrying Sakuntalfl sccrclly according to Gandharva law, king Duhsanla forgot all about her. Whcn hcr son was six ycars old, shc took him to the court bccausc Duhsanta had promiscd hcr to crown hcr son as thc princc-clect. Duhsanla pretended thal shc was lying, thc son was not his. Shc argucd, upbraidcd him for his sclfish, dcccitful and irrcsponsiblc atliludc. Shc was about to lcave the son and go whcn a supcmatmal \o\:c confirmcd hcr claim.⁷⁴ The words shc uscd in laking the king to task wcrc harsh, scornlul and fuli of threats