Shloka 6

Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)

Devanagari script

केन वा किं ततो हार्य पितृवित्तात्‌ पितामह । एतदिच्छामि कथितं विभागस्तेषु य: स्मृत:,पितामह! किस पुत्रको पिताके धनमेंसे कौन-सा भाग मिलना चाहिये? उनके लिये जो विभाग नियत किया गया है, उसका वर्णन मैं आपके मुहँसे सुनना चाहता हूँ

Transliteration

kena vā kiṁ tato hārya pitṛvittāt pitāmaha | etad icchāmi kathitaṁ vibhāgas teṣu yaḥ smṛtaḥ ||

Translation

“O Grandfather, by what rule, and in what measure, should a share be taken from a father’s wealth? I wish to hear from your own lips the established apportionment that the Smṛti prescribes in such cases.”

Word by Word

केनby whom/with what

वाor

किम्what

ततःthen/from that

हार्यO Har(y)a (proper name/epithet)

पितृवित्तात्from the father's wealth

पितामहO grandfather

एतत्this

इच्छामिI desire

कथितम्told/said (as a thing to be told)

विभागःthe division/share-allotment

तेषुamong them/for them

यःwhich/that (share)

स्मृतःis prescribed/remembered (in tradition)

पितामहO grandfather

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma)

pitṛ-vitta (father’s wealth)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That distribution of a father’s property is to be understood through dharma and Smṛti-based norms—inheritance is a regulated ethical duty, not merely personal desire.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira, seeking guidance on righteous conduct, asks the elder authority (Bhīṣma) to explain the traditionally prescribed shares and rules regarding what a son should receive from his father’s wealth.