Shloka 59
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
एष देव मया प्रोक्तः स्त्रीधर्मो वचनात् तव । या त्वेवंभाविनी नारी सा पतिव्रतभागिनी,देव! आपकी आज्ञासे मैंने यह स्त्रीधर्मका वर्णन किया है। जो नारी ऊपर बताये अनुसार अपना जीवन बनाती है, वह पातिव्रत-धर्मके फलकी भागिनी होती है
eṣa deva mayā proktaḥ strīdharmaḥ vacanāt tava | yā tv evaṃbhāvinī nārī sā pativratabhāginī ||
Maheshvara said: “O Lord, in obedience to your command I have set forth this dharma of women. The woman who shapes her life in the manner described becomes a rightful sharer in the fruit of pativratā—steadfast, devoted fidelity to her husband as a sacred vow.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms that the previously described strīdharma, taught under divine instruction, yields spiritual merit: a woman who lives in accordance with that code becomes a participant in the fruit of pativratā—devotional fidelity understood as a sacred vow.
Maheśvara concludes or seals his exposition by stating that he has delivered the teaching on women’s dharma at the Lord’s command, and he declares the promised result: the woman who embodies that teaching attains the merit associated with pativratā.