"Amanbrokehismother-in-law'sskullwithahammer,hisbrother-in-
lawthenbecamefuriouswithhimandafterwoundinghimwithaknife,
escaped."
"Mr...,whowasangrywithhismother-in-law,pouredthecontentsof
ahotstewoverherhead.Shescreamedandfaintedonthefloor.Shewas
takentohospitalandafterrecoverysaidherdaughterhadinformedher
husband that she wanted a divorce and could not live with himany
longer."' "A man who was fed up with his mother-in-law committed
suicide."'
Here it is perhaps worth mentioning two points:
(a)Obviouslyamother-in-law,not onlyis notanenemyto herson-in-
law,butitisnaturalforhertoLikehimasisevidentatthebeginningof
amarriage.Besidesshefindsherselfclosetohimbecauseoftheinterest
that shebasin her daughter’shappiness. Therefore,whena mother-in-
lawinterferesin herdaughter's life,itcannotbe meantto be anything
butwithgoodintentions.She meanstobesympatheticbutsometimes
outof ignoranceshe takesthe wrongstepsor atakes harmfulsugges-
tions. Thus one should not be too critical of such women.
(b)Amotherandchildrelationshipisanaturalbondwhichcannotbe
easilybroken,andwhoevermakeseffortsinthisdirection,wouldsurety
fail.Sucheffortiscontrarytothelawsofnatureandcannotbejustified
in any way.just as a manis interested in his parents,so isa woman.
Consequentlyitisbesttohaveakindofrelationshipwith one'sin4aws
thatisbeneficialtobothparties.Thisisonlypossibleifoneexercisesre-
spectandkindness.Amancan,throughwisdom,respectobedience.etc
haveagoodrelationshipwithhismother-andfather-in-law.Heshould
showhislove fortheirdaughter.He shouldnotcriticiseherin frontof
them.Heshouldseekadviceandspiritualhelpfromthem.Intheevent
oftheirsuggestingordoingsomething'wrong,heshouldkindlyandlo-
gicallypoint outto themthat they are not right.He should not speak
harshly to them.
Amarriedmanshouldregardagoodrelationshipwithhisin4aws,as
hisdutyandasecretto asuccessfulmarriage.Asaresultmanyfamily
problems are prevented while many more can be resolved.