Shloka 34
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
स्त्रीधर्म: पूर्व एवायं विवाहे बन्धुभि: कृत: । सहधर्मचरी भर्तुर्भवत्यग्निसमीपत:
strī-dharmaḥ pūrva evāyaṃ vivāhe bandhubhiḥ kṛtaḥ | saha-dharma-carī bhartur bhavaty agni-samīpataḥ ||
মহেশ্বৰে ক’লে—“স্ত্ৰীৰ এই ধৰ্ম বিবাহৰ সময়তে তাইৰ বংশীয়ে আগতেই স্থিৰ কৰি দিয়ে। কিয়নো পবিত্ৰ অগ্নিৰ সান্নিধ্যতেই তাই স্বামীৰ সহধৰ্মচাৰিণী হয়—ধৰ্মপথত তেওঁৰ সহযাত্রী।”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that a wife’s dharma is formally affirmed at marriage by her family, and that the marital bond is a dharmic partnership: she becomes the husband’s saha-dharma-carī in the presence of Agni, the ritual witness.
Śrī Maheśvara explains the social-ritual foundation of marriage: during the wedding, the bride’s relatives instruct her in strī-dharma, and by the rite performed near the sacred fire she is established as her husband’s companion in religious and ethical duties.