Shloka 31
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
तिस््र: कृत्वा पुरो भार्या: पश्चाद् विन्देत ब्राह्मणीम् ।। सा ज्येष्ठा सा च पूज्या स्यात् सा च भार्या गरीयसी
tisraḥ kṛtvā puro bhāryāḥ paścād vindeta brāhmaṇīm || sā jyeṣṭhā sā ca pūjyā syāt sā ca bhāryā garīyasī
Bhishma said: “Having first taken three wives, one should thereafter marry a Brahmin woman. She is to be regarded as the eldest; she should be honored, and she is to be considered the most weighty and foremost among the wives.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a normative hierarchy within a polygynous household: if a Brahmin wife is taken after other wives, she is to be treated as senior, honored, and given the highest status—emphasizing reverence and precedence as a matter of dharma.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma-instructions, Bhishma is advising on household conduct and marital order, specifying how a Brahmin wife should be regarded relative to other wives.