The woman has the difficult task of remaining chaste and submissive to her husband. This is a tremendous austerity since most men are not very mature in their youth. But she must serve him submissively anyway so that later, when he has matured, he is deeply indebted to her for her faithful service. If he is actually sincere, then he must repay her by fully devoting the last years of his life to Krsna (1.15.44). If he becomes pure, she will automatically reap the benefits of his advancement. She may even live the last years of her life not even seeing her husband, but when she leaves her body, she will join him. If he has become pure, and she has been chaste, then she will go back to Godhead immediately upon leaving her body. This is the ideal husband/wife relationship. She is a fit candidate for entering the spiritual kingdom because of her chastity toward her devotee husband. A woman's chastity toward her husband is the same as chastity toward one's guru. It completely purifies the soul. In one sense it's easier for the woman since she can directly see and serve her husband. The man has to surrender in the same way to his guru, but he does so more on the basis of shastric study and faith, since he cannot daily receive instructions from his guru.
Women in Vedic culture would voluntarily enter the funeral pyre so they would not become contaminated in the absence of their husbands. Similarly, Prabhupada says that if one cannot execute the mission of his guru after the guru departs, then he should also decide to die. A woman invests her energy in faithfully serving her husband on his promise that he will repay her by sincerely striving to become pure. If he becomes pure, and she remains chaste, then they both go home together. She does not get paid for her faithfulness until she leaves her body. That is the meaning of faith. He accepts her service on the condition that as soon as he is over the "strong waves of youth," at fifty to sixty years, he will take vanaprastha and then sannyasa. If she's been a good wife, he won't be allured by another woman. This cooperative relationship can be compared to a relay race. She passes the stick to him at fifty and then relaxes while he finishes the race alone. If the wife is resentful of him for her having to do so much running in the beginning of the race, that means she does not understand that he will also have to carry the burden in due course of time.