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Why does paapa go to the husband if a wife commits paapa after marriage? Why does it not go to the wife?

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    What is the source for this belief? Nov 19, 2021 at 14:49
  • @AravindSuresh See this: hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/27656/4732
    – Rickross
    Nov 19, 2021 at 15:38
  • vice versa also true in terms of punya but papa is not shared.. because husband punya wife enjoys but papa of the highest order are not shared..because valmiki ramayana story of theif turning rishi. When the theif weives says that im not taking your papa of theft by killing its only your wealth she enjoys.. but that is odd right..
    – Prasanna R
    Nov 19, 2021 at 15:55
  • But Bannaje govindacharya never accepted this story of theif turning valmiki, He says valmiki rishi is brother of varuna.. he was rishi of highest merit by birth.. he is not at all theif.
    – Prasanna R
    Nov 19, 2021 at 15:56
  • @PrasannaR Random people saying things in scripture is no more valid than random people saying things elsewhere. Nov 23, 2021 at 16:08

1 Answer 1

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It is incorrect to say that the fruit of sin goes only to the husband after marriage. Sins and merits are shared equally between husband and wife, for as per the Manusmriti, Vedic rites have been enjoined for them jointly.

The Brihaspati smriti explains that husband and wife are like two halves and the fruit of action is shared by those two halves. Here the emphasis is more on the wife getting the fruit of the husband’s paapa and punya. Relevant extract is as follows:

A wife is considered half the body (of her husband), equally sharing the result of his good or wicked deeds; whether she ascends the pile after him, or chooses to survive him leading a virtuous life, she promotes the welfare of her husband.
-Brihaspati Smriti Chapter XXIV verse 11

For explicit mention of the husband bearing the fruits of the wife’s actions you can have a look at: Are husband and wife, associated/affected by each others' sins?

So to conclude, after marriage, the sins of the husband too go to the wife and vice versa. It is not that only the husband is affected by the wife’s paapa and punya.

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