Shloka 14
नामतो धर्मपत्न्यस्ता: कीर्त्यमाना निबोध मे । कीर्तिलिक्ष्मीर्धतिर्मेधा पुष्टि: श्रद्धा क्रिया तथा,अब मैं धर्मकी पत्नियोंके नाम बता रहा हूँ, सुनो-कीर्ति, लक्ष्मी, धृति, मेथा, पुष्टि, श्रद्धा, क्रिया, बुद्धि, लज्जा और मति--ये धर्मकी दस पत्रियाँ हैं। स्वयम्भू ब्रह्माजीने इन सबको धर्मका द्वार निश्चित किया है अर्थात् इनके द्वारा धर्ममें प्रवेश होता है
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
nāmato dharmapatnyās tāḥ kīrtyamānā nibodha me |
kīrti-lakṣmīr dhṛtir medhā puṣṭiḥ śraddhā kriyā tathā |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Learn from me the names of Dharma’s wives as they are being recited. They are: Kīrti (Fame), Lakṣmī (Fortune), Dhṛti (Steadfastness), Medhā (Intelligence), Puṣṭi (Nourishment/Prosperity), Śraddhā (Faith), and Kriyā (Right Action).”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is upheld and made practicable through supporting virtues—reputation grounded in goodness (kīrti), auspicious prosperity (lakṣmī), steadfast resolve (dhṛti), discerning intelligence (medhā), nourishment and flourishing (puṣṭi), faith/trust (śraddhā), and right action (kriyā). The list presents moral life as a harmony of inner qualities and outward conduct.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana is reciting a genealogical/didactic list, naming the consorts of the personified principle Dharma. This kind of enumeration situates ethical qualities as members of a cosmic and social order, explaining how righteousness is ‘entered’ and sustained through these attributes.