Shloka 45
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
जो सुन्दरी नारी पतिके सिवा पुरुष नामधारी चन्द्रमा, सूर्य और किसी वृक्षकी ओर भी दृष्टि नहीं डालती, वही पातिव्रतधर्मका पालन करनेवाली है। जो नारी अपने दरिद्र, रोगी, दीन अथवा रास्तेकी थकावटसे खिन्न हुए पतिकी पुत्रके समान सेवा करती है, वह धर्मफलकी भागिनी होती है ।। या नारी प्रयता दक्षा या नारी पुत्रिणी भवेत् पतिप्रिया पतिप्राणा सा नारी धर्मभागिनी,जो स्त्री अपने हृदयको शुद्ध रखती, गृहकार्य करनेमें कुशल और पुत्रवती होती, पतिसे प्रेम करती और पतिको ही अपने प्राण समझती है, वही धर्मफल पानेकी अधिकारिणी होती है। जो सदा प्रसन्नचित्तसे पतिकी सेवा-शुश्रूषामें लगी रहती है, पतिके ऊपर पूर्ण विश्वास रखती और उसके साथ विनयपूर्ण बर्ताव करती है, वही नारी धर्मके श्रेष्ठ फलकी भागिनी होती है
śrīmaheśvara uvāca | yā sundarī nārī patike sivā puruṣa-nāmadhārī candramā sūrya anyasya vṛkṣasya vā api ora dṛṣṭiṁ na dālayati, sā eva pātivratadharmasya pālanakartrī | yā nārī sva-daridraṁ rogīnaṁ dīnaṁ athavā patha-śramena khinnaṁ patiṁ putrasya iva sevate, sā dharma-phalasyā bhāginī bhavati || yā nārī prayatā dakṣā yā nārī putriṇī bhavet | patipriyā patiprāṇā sā nārī dharmabhāginī || yā strī sva-hṛdayaṁ śuddhaṁ rakṣati, gṛhakāryeṣu kuśalā, putravatī, patyā saha premṇā vartate, patiṁ ca eva prāṇān iva manyate, sā eva dharma-phalaprāptaye adhikāriṇī | yā sadā prasanna-cittena patyāḥ sevā-śuśrūṣāyāṁ yuktā tiṣṭhati, patyau pūrṇa-viśvāsaṁ karoti, tena saha vinaya-pūrvaṁ vyavaharati, sā nārī dharmasya śreṣṭha-phalasya bhāginī bhavati |
Śrī Maheśvara said: A virtuous wife is she who, apart from her husband, does not even cast her gaze toward any male—whether the Moon, the Sun, or any other object that might be imagined as masculine. The woman who serves her husband—though he be poor, sick, destitute, or wearied by the road—as tenderly as she would serve a son, becomes a sharer in the fruits of dharma. The woman who is disciplined and capable, who is blessed with children, who loves her husband and holds him as her very life-breath—she is entitled to the reward of righteousness. She who keeps her heart pure, is skilled in household duties, remains devoted in affection, and treats her husband as her own vital principle; and she who, with a cheerful mind, continually attends upon him, trusts him fully, and behaves toward him with humility—such a woman attains the highest fruit of dharma.
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच