Mahabharata 1.103.12 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 103, Shloka 12
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 103 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Gāndhārī Vivāha: Proposal, Consent, and the Vow
रथमारोप्य ता: कन्या भीष्म: प्रहरतां वर: । आहूय दान कन्यानां गुणवद्भ्य: स्मृतं बुध:
ratham āropya tāḥ kanyā bhīṣmaḥ praharatāṁ varaḥ | āhūya dānaṁ kanyānāṁ guṇavadbhyaḥ smṛtaṁ budhaiḥ ||
তেতিয়া যোদ্ধাসকলৰ মাজত শ্ৰেষ্ঠ ভীষ্মে সেই কন্যাসকলক ৰথত উঠালে। আৰু সকলো ৰজাক আহ্বান কৰি, মেঘগর্জনৰ দৰে গম্ভীৰ বাণীত তেওঁ জ্ঞানীসকলে স্মৰণ কৰা বিধান ক’লে—“যথাশক্তি বস্ত্ৰ-অলংকাৰৰে কন্যাক সজাই, গুণৱান বৰক মাতি, উপযুক্ত দানসহ কন্যাদান কৰাই ধৰ্মসন্মত বুলি স্মৃতিত কোৱা হৈছে।”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse invokes traditional dharma regarding kanyādāna: a bride should be given to a guṇavat (worthy, virtuous) groom, with adornment and appropriate gifts according to one’s capacity—presenting marriage as a regulated ethical rite rather than mere possession or power.
Bhīṣma physically places the maidens onto his chariot and challenges the rival kings, while simultaneously justifying the situation by citing the remembered rule of the wise about giving maidens to a worthy man—blending martial action with an appeal to normative tradition.
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