obedience.

Tiruvalluvar recognized the merits of ascetic life butpaid glowing tribute to household life. Perhaps onaccount of this, people rejoice in telling stories about themarried life of the author and the great qualities of hiswife, Vasuki. She is said to have had an artless simplicity

and unquestioning obedience to her husband in 

her daily life. According to the stories, the 

couple lived a long

happy life. In the beginning, it is said, he wanted to test the faith of Vasuki and asked her to boil and cook for him a handful of nails and some iron pieces and that she did accordingly and satisfied him! There is another story about the unquestioning obedience of Vasuki to her husband. A sage once visited Tiruvalluvar and wanted to know whether married life was really superior to aseticism. Tiruvalluvar did not answer him directly, but asked him to decide it himself after a few days stay with them. One morning he and the guest were served the meal of cold rice and Vasuki went to the well to draw water. At that time he called his wife and without questioning she left the water-pot hanging midway in the well and hurried to her husband. He then told her that the rice served was too hot. Again without questioning she fanned the cold rice. Another time in broad daylight, Tiruvalluvar dropped his weaving shuttle on the floor and asked her to bring a light to look for it. She lit a light and brought it immediately to him though it was a bright day. The guest found his answer and left them wiser. In another story it is said that Tiruvalluvar instructed her to place a shell with water and a needle in it at every meal time. She did it every day without fail though she found that they were never used by her husband. Only on her deathbed she wanted to know why they were required by him every day and why they were left unused all these years. The sage told her that he wanted the needle to pick up any grain of rice dropped on the floor and the water in the shell to wash the grain by dipping it in. He also told her that she had been so careful in serving meals as not to drop even a single grain throughout her life-time and hence there had been no occasion for him to use them. When the good lady died, Tiruvalluvar was moved to tears. There is a verse that is said to have been sung by him on the occasion: "Oh, you who cooked such delicious food for me! Oh my dear lady! you have never disobeyed my words! You chafed my feet every night and slept after I had slept and woke up before I was awake! Are you going away from me now? When shall my eyes sleep again?"