Shloka 8
Udyoga Parva Adhyāya 103: Garuḍa’s Protest, Viṣṇu’s Demonstration, and Counsel Toward Śama
यथा विष्णुकुले लक्ष्मीर्यथा स्वाहा विभावसो: । कुले तव तथैवास्तु गुणकेशी सुमध्यमा,जैसे भगवान् विष्णुके घरमें लक्ष्मी और अग्निके घरमें स्वाहा शोभा पाती हैं, उसी प्रकार सुन्दरी गुणकेशी तुम्हारे कुलमें प्रतिष्ठित हो
yathā viṣṇukule lakṣmīr yathā svāhā vibhāvasoḥ | kule tava tathaivāstu guṇakeśī sumadhyamā ||
Nārada said: “Just as Lakṣmī shines in the household of Viṣṇu, and just as Svāhā is honored in the domain of Agni, so too may the beautiful Guṇakeśī, slender-waisted, be firmly established and esteemed in your lineage.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys an auspicious benediction: a worthy woman’s presence in a family is likened to divine, ritually sanctioned pairings (Lakṣmī with Viṣṇu; Svāhā with Agni). Ethically, it affirms the dharmic ideal of honoring a virtuous bride/wife as a source of prosperity, harmony, and good repute for the lineage.
Nārada speaks a blessing, using well-known divine associations as similes, wishing that Guṇakeśī may be established with honor in the addressed person’s family—suggesting a marriage or formal acceptance into the lineage and the hope of auspicious continuity.