Question: In Digest 17 you spoke about the duties of a wife (as an explanation of the answer given by Yudhishthira to Dharmaraja). Could you elaborate on the duties of a husband?
Answer by Romapada Swami: In the Vedic picture, the relationship of the husband to the wife is similar to that of the spiritual master to his disciple. In other words, the ultimate duty of the husband is to set the example and provide spiritual leadership to his wife, and make necessary arrangements so that she will be delivered from the material world. It is a Vedic injunction that one should not become a spiritual master, husband or father if one is not capable of delivering one’s dependents. Therefore, the husband has to first of all qualify himself to provide such shelter. Even if the husband may not be a pure devotee himself, by his full surrender to the instructions and service of his spiritual master, he can extend that same shelter to his wife.
In addition to spiritual shelter, it is the duty of the husband to give protection to the wife, and this is also naturally accomplished by his own engagement in his occupational duties under the guidance of the spiritual master, and by providing the wife with fruitful engagement in service to Guru and Krishna, such as worshiping Deities, attending to guests, etc.
