Shloka 37
अध्याय २९ — वासुदेव–संजय संवादः
Karma, Varṇa-Dharma, and the Ethics of Governance
कन्या: स्वजेथा: सदनेषु संजय अनामयं मद्वगचनेन पृष्टवा । कल्याणा व: सन्तु पतयोडनुकूला यूयं पतीनां भवतानुकूला:
kanyāḥ svajeṭhāḥ sadaneṣu sañjaya anāmayaṃ mad-vacanena pṛṣṭvā | kalyāṇā vaḥ santu patayo ’nukūlā yūyaṃ patīnāṃ bhavatānukūlāḥ, sañjaya ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „O Sañjaya, umarme in der königlichen Residenz die jungen Mädchen, als wären sie deine eigenen, und erkundige dich in meinem Namen nach ihrem Wohlergehen. Dann sprich zu ihnen: ‚Töchter, möget ihr glückverheißende Gatten erhalten, die euch gewogen sind; und möget ihr wiederum euren Männern gewogen und treu bleiben.‘“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models dharmic kingship and social ethics: a ruler (and elder) shows care for dependents’ health and future, and blesses marital life as mutual harmony—husbands being favorable to wives and wives reciprocally being favorable to husbands—emphasizing reciprocity, welfare, and stability in household order.
In Udyoga Parva, amid tense diplomacy before the great war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to Sañjaya and instructs him to convey affectionate greetings to the young women in the palace, inquire about their health on his behalf, and deliver a blessing for auspicious, mutually harmonious marriages.