Stripungadharma are the duties of husbands and wives. Manu, in his Manusmriti (IX, 1-25), lays down laws relating to the duties of husbands and wives, duties that will beneficial and auspicious to both of them. A later commentator, Kulluka, is of the view that the duties of married life, although not falling within the purview of the ordinary legal obligations of individuals, were dealt with in this work because violations were punishable by law as crimes, and the king’s court had the right to take cognizance of such violations.
Some of the laws and injunctions were as follows:
Men should help women engage in suitable pursuits. The father protects a girl during her childhood, the husband protects her during her youth and her sons protect her during her old age. The father who does not marry off his daughter at the proper age and the son who does not maintain his mother after the death of his father are sinners. Men should help women to avoid corrupting influences such as bad company, since these could bring disharmony to family life. Even diseased or physically deformed husbands should endeavor to protect their wives. By protecting his wife, a man proves himself responsible and also helps in preserving the sanctity of the family. A women gives birth to a child similar in every respect to the man who impregnates her, and so it is the equal responsibility of both the man and his wife to ensure the purity of their progeny.
Women should be entrusted with the task of storing and spending money, looking ater the expenses of the household, and ensuring the cleanliness of the house and clothes.
Manusmriti also prescribes the means of expiation from the sins committed by husbands and wives trespass the codes of conduct.