Shloka 83
The Account of Women
Householder Ethics, Fault, Merit, and Govinda-Nāma as Purification
तथैव बालवैधव्या दासीत्वमुपगच्छति । द्विज उवाच । कन्यादानफलं ब्रूहि वद दास्याः फलं च यत्
tathaiva bālavaidhavyā dāsītvamupagacchati | dvija uvāca | kanyādānaphalaṃ brūhi vada dāsyāḥ phalaṃ ca yat
তদ্রূপ অল্পবয়সে বিধবা হওয়া নারী দাসীত্বে পতিত হয়। দ্বিজ বললেন—“কন্যাদানের ফল বলুন, আর দাসী দানের ফলও বলুন।”
Dvija (a Brahmin interlocutor) — questioner
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Sandhi Resolution Notes: तथैव = तथा + एव; दासीत्वमुपगच्छति = दासीत्वम् + उपगच्छति; कन्यादानफलं = कन्या-दान-फलम् (समास); भवेद्ध्रुवम् इत्यादि अन्यत्र।
FAQs
The verse transitions into a discussion on the karmic “fruit” (phala) of different forms of giving (dāna), specifically kanyā-dāna (giving a maiden in marriage) and giving a female servant.
The speaker is identified as a “dvija” (a twice-born, typically a Brahmin), who asks the next teacher/narrator to explain the merits of these gifts.
It frames social vulnerability—such as early widowhood—alongside servitude, and then asks about the religious valuation of donations involving persons, prompting a dharma-oriented evaluation of intention, harm, and merit.