Shloka 39
पापात्म-धर्मात्म-लक्षणम् तथा निर्वेदेन मोक्षमार्गः | Marks of the Sinful and the Righteous; Dispassion (Nirveda) as a Path to Liberation
स्त्रिया हि परमो भर्ता दैवतं परमं स्मृतम् तस्यात्मना तु सदृशमात्मानं परमं ददौ
striyā hi paramo bhartā daivataṁ paramaṁ smṛtam | tasyātmanā tu sadṛśam ātmānaṁ paramaṁ dadau ||
Bhishma said: “For a woman, her husband is held to be the highest lord; he is remembered as her supreme divinity. Therefore she gives her very self—her highest possession—to one who is like him in person (and identity).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse states a traditional dharma-ideal: a wife’s highest reverence is directed toward her husband, who is treated as her supreme ‘daivata’ (object of sacred regard). It frames marital fidelity and self-giving as a central ethical norm within the householder order.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma is explaining a principle of household conduct and women’s dharma. He emphasizes the culturally authoritative view that a wife entrusts her very self to the husband, understood as her primary protector and revered figure.