In the sacred Varaha Purana, there is a revered teaching about the greatness of the devoted wife. Such a woman, it is said, remains silent when her husband is silent, and of her own will stands when he stands. She looks only to him, her mind fixed upon him alone, acting always in accordance with his word. This virtuous woman, radiant in her devotion, is worthy of worship even by the gods themselves. No matter whether she flourishes or is rejected, O foremost of Brahmins, she remains steadfast in her devotion. Such a wife, so deeply dedicated, does not enter the jaws of death. She follows her husband with unwavering loyalty, regarding him as her mother, father, relative, and supreme deity. To such a virtuous and devoted wife, the speaker offers reverent salutations. A woman who grieves for her husband does not see the door of death. She who neither hears nor sees another man, nor looks upon another with her mind, nor abandons her husband in her heart, is spared from death’s threshold. She who always keeps the house clean, who is endowed with purity and good conduct, and who acts for her husband’s welfare, does not see the door of death. Among human beings, such a wife is indeed found in the land. Thus, O sage among the twice-born, all that has happened and all that has been heard has been related. Here ends the two hundred and ninth chapter, called ‘The Greatness of the Devoted Wife’ in the cycle of worldly existence, in the glorious Varaha Purana. Once again, the greatness of the devoted wife is described. The secret and righteous teaching has been spoken, O illustrious one. Among all beings, this is the highest source of curiosity for the listener. Those men who are afflicted by suffering and have taken refuge in intense austerity, having resolved their minds, abandon all that is dear and not dear. The tradition is known throughout the world: indeed, the path of virtue is always superior. A question arises: whose action is this, O dear one? Who is the doer or the instigator? By harboring what hatred does the mind act in this way? Thus, a secret—difficult to comprehend even for the gods—is being asked. Addressed thus by Narada, the great-minded king of righteousness, Yama, spoke: “By your words, I shall tell you; listen attentively, O sinless one. No one is seen in the world as the doer or the instigator. Whose name is praised, by whom the world is commanded—in this divine assembly, O Brahman, surrounded by the hosts of Brahmarshis—each one experiences his own actions, O dear one, which have arisen and been performed by himself. The consciousness shaped by the wind is firmly established in worldly existence. Even when overwhelmed by affliction, one should uplift oneself by one’s own self. A relative, or a source of affliction to relatives, is created by previous actions. This word, set in motion falsely, causes the world to wander in every way. Just as, little by little, the inauspicious of a person comes to an end, for the embodied being, born into the world, who has acquired faults, he attains an intellect inclined to good and evil, shaped by previous bodies. When suffering is exhausted, he performs virtuous deeds that remove sin. A man, having obtained good and evil, likewise performs action and inaction.” Thus, the teachings flow: the greatness of the devoted wife, the mystery of action and its origin, and the wisdom of virtue and self-upliftment, all revealed in the glorious Varaha Purana.