Shloka 18
Vipula’s Yogic Protection of the Guru’s Household (विपुलस्य योगरक्षा / Vipulasya Yogarakṣā)
न भयानज्नाप्यनुक्रोशान्नार्थहेतो: कथंचन । न ज्ञातिकुलसम्बन्धात् स्त्रियस्तिष्ठन्ति भर्तृषु,स्त्रियाँ न तो भयसे, न दयासे, न धनके लोभसे और न जाति या कुलके सम्बन्धसे ही पतियोंके पास टिकती हैं
na bhayān nāpy anukrośān nārthahetoḥ kathaṃcana | na jñātikulasambandhāt striyas tiṣṭhanti bhartṛṣu ||
Bhishma sprach: Frauen bleiben nicht bei ihren Gatten bloß aus Furcht, nicht aus Mitleid, nicht um des Reichtums willen und auch nicht allein wegen der Bande von Verwandtschaft oder Geschlecht.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that a wife’s continued companionship is not secured by fear, pity, money, or mere family pressure; stability in marriage rests on dharmic conduct and genuine mutual respect rather than coercive or transactional motives.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma is instructing on dharma and social ethics. Here he makes a pointed observation about marital bonds, correcting simplistic assumptions about why women remain with husbands and implying the need for righteous behavior within the household.