Shloka 13
नास्ति यज्ञक्रिया काचिन्न श्राद्धं नोपवासकम् | धर्म: स्वभर्तशुश्रूषा तया स्वर्ग जयन्त्युत,(स्त्रियोंके कर्तव्यके विषयमें) विदेहग़ाज जनककी पुत्रीने एक श्लोकका गान किया है, जिसका सारांश इस प्रकार है--स्त्रीके लिये कोई यज्ञ आदि कर्म, श्राद्ध और उपवास करना आवश्यक नहीं है। उसका धर्म है अपने पतिकी सेवा। उसीसे स्त्रियाँ सस््वर्गलोकपर विजय पा लेती हैं
bhīṣma uvāca | nāsti yajñakriyā kācin na śrāddhaṃ nopavāsakam | dharmaḥ svabhartuśuśrūṣā tayā svargaṃ jayanti uta |
Bhishma said: “For a woman there is no obligatory sacrificial rite, nor the performance of śrāddha, nor fasting. Her dharma is devoted attendance upon her own husband; by that alone women indeed win (attain) heaven.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that a woman’s primary religious-ethical duty is devoted service to her husband; this is presented as sufficient for attaining heavenly merit, without requiring separate obligations like sacrifice, śrāddha, or fasting.
In the Anushasana Parva’s instructional discourse, Bhishma is laying down norms of conduct (dharma). Here he states a rule about women’s duties, emphasizing household devotion over independent ritual observances.