Shloka 37

Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma

Devanagari script

समीक्ष्य च बहून्‌ दोषान्‌ संवासाद्‌ विद्धि पाणयो: । यथा निष्ठाकरं शुल्क न जात्वासीत्‌ तथा शूणु,कन्याके क्रय-विक्रयमें बहुत-से दोष हैं। इस बातको तुम अधिक कालतक सोचने- विचारनेके बाद स्वयं समझ लोगे। केवल मूल्य दे देनेसे विवाहका अन्तिम निश्चय नहीं हो जाता है। पहले भी कभी ऐसा नहीं हुआ था, इस विषयमें तुम सुनो

Transliteration

samīkṣya ca bahūn doṣān saṃvāsād viddhi pāṇayoḥ | yathā niṣṭhākaraṃ śulkaṃ na jātva āsīt tathā śṛṇu ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Reflect well on the many faults that arise from treating marriage as a mere cohabitation secured by payment. Know that a ‘fee’ does not by itself bring a marriage to final certainty. Such a practice was never accepted as a settled norm in former times—listen as I explain.”

Word by Word

• {'samīkṣya': 'having examined, after considering carefully', 'bahūn': 'many', 'doṣān': 'faults, moral defects, harmful consequences', 'saṃvāsāt': 'from cohabitation

• from living together (as the defining basis)', 'viddhi': 'know, understand', 'pāṇayoḥ': 'of the two hands

• idiomatically connected with pāṇigraha (the taking of the bride’s hand in marriage)', 'yathā': 'as, in such a way that', 'niṣṭhākaraṃ': 'bringing finality/settlement

• making a matter firmly concluded', 'śulkam': 'price, fee, bride-price (payment connected with marriage)', 'na': 'not', 'jātva': 'ever, at any time', 'āsīt': 'was', 'tathā': 'thus, in that manner', 'śṛṇu': 'listen'}

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma warns that treating marriage as a transaction—where payment is assumed to finalize the union—creates serious moral and social defects. A legitimate marriage is grounded in dharma and proper rites/consent, not merely in money or cohabitation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing on dharma. Here he addresses the issue of ‘buying and selling’ a maiden (kanyā-kraya-vikraya), urging careful reflection on its faults and stating that a paid ‘fee’ has never been a valid basis for conclusively establishing marriage.