on that topic.  Savitri is the chaste wife of Brahma.  The chaste Sachi is the wife of Indra.  Dhumrorna is the spouse of Markandeya, and Riddhi of (king) Vaisravana.  Varuna has Gauri for his spouse, and Surya has Suvarchala.  Rohini is the chaste wife of Sasin, and Swaha of Vibhavasu.  Kasyapa has Aditi.  All these regard their husbands as their gods.  Thou hast, O goddess, conversed and associated with all of them every day.  It is for this reason, O thou that art conversant with every duty, that I desire to question thee about the duties of women, O thou whose words are always consistent with righteousness.  I desire to hear thee discourse on that subject from the beginning.  Thou practisest all the duties of righteousness with me.  Thy conduct is exactly like mine, and the vows thou observest are the same that are observed by me.  Thy puissance and energy are equal to mine, and thou hast undergone the austerest penances.  The subject, when discoursed upon by thee, will become endued with great merit.  Indeed, that discourse will then become authoritative in the world.  Women, in especial, are the highest refuge of women.  O thou of beautiful hips, among human beings that course of conduct which thou wilt lay down will be followed from generation to generation.[577] Half of my body is made up of half thy body.  Thou art always engaged in doing the work of the deities, and it is thou that art the cause of the peopling of the earth, O auspicious lady, all the eternal duties of women are well-known to thee.  Do thou, therefore, tell me in detail what are the duties of thy sex.’

“Uma said, ’O holy one, O lord of all created things, O source of all that is past, present, and future, it is through thy grace that the words I am uttering are taking their rise in my mind.  All these Rivers (that are of my sex), O god of gods, endued with the waters of all the Tirthas, are approaching thy presence for enabling thee to perform thy ablutions in them.[578] After consulting them I shall discourse on the topic named, in due order.  That person who, though competent, is still free from egotism, is rightly called a Purusha.[579] As regards woman, O lord of all beings, she follows persons of her sex.  By consulting these foremost of Rivers, they will be honoured by me.  The sacred Saraswati is the foremost river of all rivers.  She courses towards the ocean and is truly the first of all streams.  Vipasa also here, and Vitasta, and Chandrabhaga, and Iravati, and Satadru, and the river Devika, and Kausiki, and Gomati.[580] and this celestial River who has in her all the sacred Tirthas, viz., the goddess Ganga, who having her rise in Heaven hath descended on the Earth and is regarded as the foremost of all streams; Having said this, the spouse of that god of gods, that foremost of all righteous persons, smilingly addressed all those Rivers of her sex.  Indeed, the spouse of the great god, devoted to the performance of all duties, questioned those individuals of her sex about the duties of women.  Verily, those foremost of rivers having Ganga for their first are all conversant with the duties of women.’