Shloka 3
Aṣṭāvakra–Strī-saṃvāda: Dhṛti, hospitality, and a dispute on autonomy
संदेह: सुमहानेष विरुद्ध इति मे मतिः । इह यः सहधर्मों वै प्रेत्यायं विहितः क्व नु
saṁdehaḥ sumahān eṣa viruddha iti me matiḥ | iha yaḥ sahadharmo vai pretyāyaṁ vihitaḥ kva nu ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “This is a very great doubt, and to me it seems self-contradictory. The duty called ‘saha-dharma’ that is prescribed here in this world—where, indeed, is it ordained for the state after death?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds a dharmic problem: Yudhiṣṭhira tests whether a duty prescribed for life in this world can coherently be claimed to operate after death. It emphasizes careful scrutiny of injunctions and the need for consistency between worldly ethics and claims about post-mortem consequences.
Yudhiṣṭhira, in a dialogue on dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva, raises a serious doubt. He perceives a contradiction regarding ‘saha-dharma’—a duty performed in association with another (often understood in spousal/companionship contexts)—and asks where such a rule is established with respect to the afterlife.