Mother once saw a film about Anusuya where she turned the Tirumurthis into children. She said it was lovely to watch the power of Anusuya invoking the Supreme Being - Brahman - to render the petulance of the gods null and void. In that sense, the Rishis are sometimes more powerful than Gods. The Power of Anusuya was the power of Chastity. Nalayini conquered Time while Savitri restored the life of Satyavan, but Anusuya could overcome the Tirumurthis. The components of chastity are many. The two that stand out are will and its goodness - good will. Man crosses over from the human domain to that of the divine domain when he attains perfection in any of his capacities.
The historian Will Durant says that chastity had its origins in property. No man would like to give the property he earned to another man's child. To secure that property, the woman had the necessity to prove to the Man that it was his own child. According to him, that is the origin of chastity. He adds there is no word for male chastity in any language. That is the social part of it. Psychologically, it is loyalty to the spouse, a reliable behaviour towards the other. An unreliable man or woman cannot go far in life. Spiritually, chastity is not only for the woman but it is also for the Man. A man who is not chaste cannot come near the divine. Actually it is not only that chastity is demanded of him, but he is expected to practice celibacy, brahmacharya. I would like to consider its significance to the householder, both men and women.
Man or woman in life loves to rise. Chastity in this restricted domestic sense is a powerful instrument for career development. The main strand of this is pure original GOODWILL to the spouse. Absence of ill-will is not what I call good will. Selfish good will is greed, and will not have that power. To generate GOOD WILL for another is not in human power except for good souls born with it. It will not get generated easily. But it is not enough. It must be pure, pure of mercenary motives. Further, it must reach an intensity that is capable of crossing the human limit and passing into the divine arena. Should a couple develop such original, pure, intense Good will for each other, whatever they attempt will be easily accomplished. In families that rapidly rise, we see this type of good will present, after a fashion, during the period of that growth.