Shloka 21
आदि पर्व — अध्याय ८३: ययाति-इन्द्र-संवादः तथा अष्टक-प्रश्नः
Yayāti–Indra Dialogue and Aṣṭaka’s Inquiry
यदा त्वया वृतो भर्ता वृत एव तदा मया । सखीभर्ता हि धर्मेण भर्ता भवति शोभने,(त्वत्पित्रा गुरुणा मे च सह दत्ते उभे शुभे । तव भर्ता च पूज्यश्न पोष्यां पोषयतीह माम् ।।) जब तुमने पतिका वरण किया था, उसी समय मैंने भी कर लिया। शोभने! जो सखीका स्वामी होता है, वही उसके अधीन रहनेवाली अन्य अविवाहिता सखियोंका भी धर्मतः पति होता है। तुम ज्येष्ठ हो, ब्राह्मणकी पुत्री हो, अतः मेरे लिये माननीय एवं पूजनीय हो; परंतु ये राजर्षि मेरे लिये तुमसे भी अधिक पूजनीय हैं। क्या यह बात तुम नहीं जानतीं?
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
yadā tvayā vṛto bhartā vṛta eva tadā mayā |
sakhībhartā hi dharmeṇa bhartā bhavati śobhane ||
(tvatpitrā guruṇā me ca saha datte ubhe śubhe |
tava bhartā ca pūjyaś ca poṣyāṃ poṣayatīha mām ||)
Vaiśampāyana said: “When you chose your husband, at that very time I too was chosen. O fair one, by the rule of dharma, the husband of a woman becomes, in a lawful sense, the husband also of her dependent unmarried companions. Your father, who is also my revered elder, gave us both together. Therefore your husband is worthy of honor; and as one who must be cared for, he maintains me here. Do you not understand this?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage appeals to dharma as a social-legal principle: once a marriage arrangement is made, the husband’s protective and sustaining duty can extend to dependent women connected to the bride (here framed as her unmarried companions), especially when the elders have sanctioned the arrangement.
The speaker justifies a marital/household relationship by stating that the husband was chosen at the same time for both women, citing the father/elder’s act of giving them together and arguing that, by dharma, the husband is entitled and obligated to support the dependent companion as well.