दुःशीलः कामवृत्तो वा धनैर्वा परिवर्जितः।
स्त्रीणामार्यस्वभावानां परमं दैवतं पतिः॥
duḥśīlaḥ kāma-vṛtto vā dhanair vā parivarjitaḥ
strīṇām ārya-svabhāvānāṁ paramaṁ daivataṁ patiḥ
duḥśīlaḥ = [even] if he is of bad character; kāma-vṛttaḥ vā = lusty in behavior; dhanaiḥ = wealth; vā = or; parivarjitaḥ = devoid of; strīṇām = for women; ārya-svabhāvānām = of a worshipable sāttvika nature; paramam = their supreme; daivatam = deity; patiḥ = their husband is.
“For women of a worshipable sāttvika nature, their husband is their supreme deity [even] if he is of bad character, lusty in behavior or devoid of wealth.1
1 Technical note: ārya-svabhāvaḥ pūjya-svabhāvaḥ. ārya-svabhāvānāṁ sāttvika-prakṛtīnām.
1 It is interesting to note that even one of the greatest demons in history in Vedic civilization has allowed his wife to differ from him on a cardinal issue most sensitive to his ego and not harm or deprivilege her in any way for sensibly asserting her difference with him on this based on considerations of dharma. And we notice that Maṇḍodarī was not punished by Rāma whereas Rāvaṇa was. See also the note to text 2.62.8.
NOTE. This should not be carelessly misunderstood to mean that every woman is expected to participate in the sinful activities of her sinful husband. She has to ensure that she does not participate in them while tolerating him.
Maṇḍodarī, Rāvaṇa’s wife, as we will observe later in Śrī Rāmāyaṇa, is a good example of a lady who did not participate in the sinful life of her demoniac husband. After his death, Maṇḍodari speaks the following to him while lamenting his death:
kriyatām avirodhaś ca rāghaveṇeti yan mayā
ucyamāno na gṛhṇāsi tasyeyaṁ vyuṣṭir āgatā
“You have attained this result because you didn’t agree when I told you, ‘Make peace with Rāghava.’”1 (Rāmāyaṇa 6.114.19)
But such women do not leave their husband—they remain chaste to them for their whole life—and therefore it is mentioned that their husband is their deity.
In a lecture on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.6 given in London on 26 August 1971, Śrīla Prabhupāda stated that in the past there were many examples in India of chaste women tolerating their husbands’ ill-treatment, even when they were womanizers. He stated that one of his lady relatives understood that her husband was such a womanizer. But she was so tolerant of him that she even tried to hide her husband’s ill-repute. Later on, Prabhupāda noted, that debauched husband became “a faithful servant” of his wife, simply because she tolerated him. But in a moment’s misunderstanding if the husbands and wives prepare themselves to be separated, it means there is no real love between them. And this is the principle taught by Anasūyā-devī here.