Shloka 55
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
पाणिग्रहणमन्त्राणां निष्ठा स्यात् सप्तमे पदे । पाणिग्रहस्य भार्या स्याद् यस्य चाद्ि: प्रदीयते । इति देयं वदन्त्यत्र त एन॑ निश्चयं विदु:,'सप्तपदीके सातवें पदमें पाणिग्रहणके मन्त्रोंकी सफलता होती है (और तभी पति- पत्नीभावका निश्चय होता है)। जिस पुरुषको जलसे संकल्प करके कन्याका दान दिया जाता है वही उसका पाणिग्रहीता पति होता है और उसीकी वह पत्नी मानी जाती है। विद्वान् पुरुष इसी प्रकार कन्यादानकी विधि बताते हैं। वे इसी निश्चयपर पहुँचे हुए हैं
pāṇigrahaṇamantrāṇāṁ niṣṭhā syāt saptame pade | pāṇigrahasya bhāryā syād yasya cādiḥ pradīyate | iti deyaṁ vadanty atra te enaṁ niścayaṁ viduḥ |
Bhishma said: “The binding efficacy of the marriage mantras reaches its completion at the seventh step (of the saptapadī); only then is the marital status decisively established. The woman becomes the wife of that man to whom she is formally given—after the ritual resolve and the offering of water—so he alone is her ‘pāṇigrahītā’ (the one who takes her hand in marriage). Learned authorities describe the procedure of giving the maiden in precisely this way, having arrived at this settled determination.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma states a dharma-rule about marriage: the marriage mantras are considered fully effective at the seventh step of the saptapadī, and the woman is regarded as the wife of the man to whom she is ritually given with the formal resolve and water-offering—this establishes the definitive marital bond.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and proper conduct. Here he clarifies the authoritative determination of when marriage becomes binding and who is recognized as the lawful husband in the context of pāṇigraha and kanyā-dāna.