Shloka 44
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
“यदि तुम्हारे मतमें मूल्य देनेमात्रसे ही विवाहका पूर्ण निश्चय हो जाता है, पाणिग्रहणसे नहीं, तब तो स्मृतिका यह कथन ही व्यर्थ होगा कि कन््याका पिता एक वरसे शुल्क ले लेनेपर भी दूसरे किसी गुणवान् वरका आश्रय ले सकता है। अर्थात् पहलेको छोड़कर दूसरे गुणवान् वरसे अपनी कन्याका विवाह कर सकता है ।। न हि धर्मविद: प्राहु: प्रमाणं वाक्यतः स्मृतम् । येषां वै शुल्कतो निष्ठा न पाणिग्रहणात् तथा,जिनका यह मत है कि शुल्कसे ही विवाहका निश्चय होता है, पाणिग्रहणसे नहीं, उनके इस कथनको धर्मज्ञ पुरुष प्रमाण नहीं मानते हैं इति श्रीमहाभारते अनुशासनपर्वणि दानधर्मपर्वणि विवाहधर्मक थने चतुश्नत्वारिंशो5ध्याय:
bhīṣma uvāca | yadi te matena mūlya-dāna-mātreṇaiva vivāhasya pūrṇa-niścayo bhavati, na pāṇigrahaṇena, tadā smṛter idaṃ vacanam eva vyarthaṃ syāt—yad uktaṃ: kanyāyāḥ pitā ekasmād varāt śulkaṃ gṛhītvāpi anyasya guṇavato varasya āśrayaṃ gantuṃ śaknoti; arthāt pūrvaṃ tyaktvā anyena guṇavatā varena svāṃ kanyāṃ vivāhayet || na hi dharmavidaḥ prāhuḥ pramāṇaṃ vākyataḥ smṛtam | yeṣāṃ vai śulkato niṣṭhā na pāṇigrahaṇāt tathā ||
Bhishma said: If, in your view, a marriage becomes fully settled merely by the giving of a bride-price, and not by the rite of taking the bride’s hand (pāṇigrahaṇa), then a well-known rule of the Smritis would become pointless—namely, that even after a girl’s father has accepted a fee from one suitor, he may still take refuge in another suitor of superior merit; that is, he may set aside the first and marry his daughter to the more worthy man. For the knowers of dharma do not accept as authoritative the claim that “finality” rests on the fee alone and not, as it should, on the solemn act of pāṇigrahaṇa. The ethical point is that commercial payment cannot override the dharmic completion of marriage, nor can it bind a family against choosing a more virtuous match.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
A marriage is not ethically or legally finalized merely by payment of a fee; its dharmic completion depends on the proper rite (pāṇigrahaṇa). Therefore, accepting a bride-price does not irrevocably bind the girl’s father if a more virtuous suitor is available.
Bhishma addresses a dispute about what makes a marriage binding. He refutes the view that payment alone finalizes the match, citing the dharma-tradition that even after taking a fee from one suitor, the father may choose another worthier groom, because the decisive act is the ritual hand-taking.