Shloka 34
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
स्त्रीधर्म: पूर्व एवायं विवाहे बन्धुभि: कृत: । सहधर्मचरी भर्तुर्भवत्यग्निसमीपत:,विवाहके समय कन्याके भाई-बन्धु पहले ही उसे स्त्री-धर्मका उपदेश कर देते हैं। जब कि वह अग्निके समीप अपने पतिकी सहधर्मिणी बनती है
strī-dharmaḥ pūrva evāyaṃ vivāhe bandhubhiḥ kṛtaḥ | saha-dharma-carī bhartur bhavaty agni-samīpataḥ ||
Maheshvara sprach: „Diese Pflicht der Ehefrau ist bereits im Voraus, zur Zeit der Eheschließung, von ihren eigenen Verwandten festgesetzt. Denn am heiligen Feuer wird sie zur Gefährtin ihres Gatten im Dharma – gebunden, seinen rechtschaffenen Lebensweg zu teilen.“
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.