Shloka 23
न हाकामेन संवासं मनुरेवं प्रशंसति । अयशस्यथमधर्म्य च यन्मृषा धर्मकोपनम्,अकाम पुरुषके साथ सकामा कन्याका सहवास हो, इसे मनु अच्छा नहीं मानते हैं। अतः सर्वसम्मतिसे निश्चित किये हुए विवाहको मिथ्या करनेका प्रयत्न अयश और अधर्मका कारण होता है। वह धर्मको नष्ट करनेवाला माना गया है
na hākāmena saṃvāsaṃ manur evaṃ praśaṃsati | ayaśasyam adharmyaṃ ca yan mṛṣā dharmakopanam ||
Bhishma said: “Manu does not approve of cohabitation that is not mutually desired. Therefore, to attempt to invalidate a marriage settled by common consent is a cause of disgrace and adharma; it is regarded as an act that undermines dharma itself.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cohabitation and marital union should not be forced or one-sided; attempting to overturn a mutually settled marriage is condemned as disgraceful and adharmic, because it destabilizes the moral-legal order (dharma).
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he cites Manu’s authority to frame a rule of ethical conduct regarding marriage: lack of consent and attempts to nullify a socially agreed marriage are treated as violations that damage dharma.