Five Responsibilities of a Husband and Wife in Marriage : หน้า 38/207

Five Responsibilities of a Husband to His Wife 1.1 Appreciation. The husband should openly respect her as his lawful wedded wife, not furtively keeping her like a mistress. If his wife does something good, praise her. And if she does something bad, warn her, but not in public or in front of other members of the family since this can diminish her status in others’ eyes. He should give her some privacy and independence, such as her social life, or spending time with her relatives. 1.2 Disagreement. A husband should not regard his wife as inferior to him, in terms of family status, wealth, or intelligence. He should not undertake any family matter without consulting her. And he must not use physical violence or emotional abuse. 1.3 Faithfulness. He should not be involved with other women as mistresses since this is the worst insult to the wife. The pride of every woman is to have a husband who is faithful to her alone. 1.4 Authority. The husband should give his wife authority to decide on matters inside the family, such as those related to the kitchen. If it is something that his wife cannot handle alone, then he should lend a hand. 1.5 Accessories. It is the nature of women to pay attention to their appearance, and accessorizing themselves always makes them happy. It even eliminates anger in some women. Therefore, every husband should make an allowance for this tendency. 2. Five Responsibilities of a Wife to Her Husband. 2.1 Housekeeping. A woman should be a good housekeeper, cooking delicious meals and keeping the household clean. 2.2 Thoughtfulness. She should be helpful to her husband’s relatives, and be gentle to them verbally. 2.3 Faithfulness. She is always faithful to her husband. 2.4 Frugality. She will not be a squanderer or a penny pincher. 2.5 Diligence. She will work hard to take good care of the house, and will not indulge herself in vices. In a traditional Thai marriage, when the bride and groom have holy water poured onto their hands by family and friends, they wear connected garlands on their heads which signifies that they will be united for a long, long time. Unfortunately, this symbol is not a guarantee of a harmonious marriage. The Buddha showed us the way to unity, not with garlands, but with Dhamma, which is benevolence. The presence of Dhamma will be like two loops keeping the couple together until death.