Shloka 52
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
देवरं प्रविशेत् कन्या तप्येद् वापि तप: पुन: । तमेवानुगता भूत्वा पाणिग्राहस्य काम्यया,“शुल्क देनेवालेकी मृत्यु हो जानेपर उसके छोटे भाईको वह कन्या पतिरूपमें ग्रहण करे अथवा जन्मान्तरमें उसी पतिको पानेकी इच्छासे उसीका अनुसरण (चिन्तन) करती हुई आजीवन कुमारी रहकर तपस्या करे
devaraṃ praviśet kanyā tapyed vāpi tapaḥ punaḥ | tamevānugatā bhūtvā pāṇigrāhasya kāmyayā ||
قال بهيشما: إذا مات الرجل الذي دفع ثمن العروس، فعلى الفتاة إمّا أن تقترن بأخيه الأصغر زوجًا (وفق الدharma)، وإمّا أن تعود إلى ممارسة الزهد والنسك، ثابتةَ الوفاء في خاطرها لذلك العريس بعينه، راجيةً نيله ولو في ميلادٍ آخر، وتعيش مدى الحياة عذراء.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
When a marriage arrangement is disrupted by the death of the bridegroom (the one who paid the bride-price), dharma offers two sanctioned paths: accept the younger brother as husband to preserve familial continuity, or maintain chastity and practice austerity with steadfast fidelity to the intended husband, aspiring to reunion even beyond this life.
In Bhishma’s instruction on conduct and social-religious law, he addresses the proper course for a maiden whose intended husband dies after paying the bride-price, outlining either a substitute marriage within the same family (with the devara) or a life of ascetic fidelity.