Shloka 20
कामबन्धन-निवृत्ति तथा शान्तिलक्षण-उपदेशः | Release from Desire-Bondage and the Marks of Peace
भ्राता ज्येष्ठ: सम: पित्रा भार्या पुत्र: स्वका तनु: । छाया सवा दासवर्गश्व दुहिता कृपणं परम्,बड़ा भाई पिताके समान है। पत्नी और पुत्र अपने ही शरीर हैं तथा सेवकगण अपनी छायाके समान हैं। बेटी तो और भी अधिक दयनीय है
bhrātā jyeṣṭhaḥ samaḥ pitrā bhāryā putraḥ svakā tanuḥ | chāyā sā vā dāsavargaś ca duhitā kṛpaṇaṃ param ||
Vyāsa said: “An elder brother is to be regarded as equal to one’s father. A wife and a son are as one’s own body. Servants are like one’s shadow, ever following. But a daughter is the most vulnerable—most deserving of compassion and protection.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks familial and social relationships in terms of duty and care: honor the elder brother as a father, treat wife and son as inseparable from oneself, recognize servants as dependents who follow one’s household, and extend special compassion and protection to a daughter as especially vulnerable.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa delivers moral instruction on household and kinship dharma, defining how different relations should be regarded and what ethical responsibilities they entail.