Mahabharata 1.103.60 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 103, Shloka 60
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 103 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Gāndhārī Vivāha: Proposal, Consent, and the Vow
सत्यवत्या सह मिथ: कृत्वा निश्चयमात्मवान् | विवाहं कारयिष्यन्तं भीष्म॑ं काशिपते: सुता | ज्येष्ठा तासामिदं वाक्यमब्रवीद्धसलती तदा
vaiśampāyana uvāca | satyavatyā saha mithaḥ kṛtvā niścayam ātmavān | vivāhaṃ kārayiṣyantaṃ bhīṣmaṃ kāśipateḥ sutā | jyeṣṭhā tāsām idaṃ vākyam abravīd dhāsalatī tadā ||
আত্মসংযমী ভীষ্ম সত্যবতীর সঙ্গে পরামর্শ করে দৃঢ় সিদ্ধান্তে উপনীত হয়ে বিবাহের আয়োজন করতে লাগলেন। তখন কাশীরাজের কন্যাদের মধ্যে জ্যেষ্ঠা কন্যা হাসিমুখে ভীষ্মকে এই কথা বলল।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharma as disciplined resolve in governance and family duty: Bhīṣma, after consulting Satyavatī, proceeds with a politically proper marriage arrangement. Yet it also sets up an ethical question—whether a dharma-framed royal decision adequately accounts for an individual woman’s prior commitment and agency—an issue that becomes central in the ensuing narrative.
Bhīṣma, having reached a decision with Satyavatī, prepares to arrange a marriage (for his younger brother). The eldest princess of Kāśī, smiling, begins to speak to Bhīṣma after hearing that he plans to marry her to his brother—introducing her objection and the conflict that follows.
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