Shloka 29
दमयन्त्याः अरण्यविहारः — Damayantī’s Passage through the Wilderness
न च भार्यासमं किंचिद् विद्यते भिषजां मतम् | औषध॑ सर्वदु:खेषु सत्यमेतद् ब्रवीमि ते,“चिकित्सकोंका मत है कि समस्त दु:ःखोंकी शान्तिके लिये पत्नीके समान दूसरी कोई औषध नहीं है; यह मैं आपसे सत्य कहती हूँ”
na ca bhāryāsamaṁ kiñcid vidyate bhiṣajāṁ matam | auṣadhaṁ sarvaduḥkheṣu satyam etad bravīmi te |
And, according to the considered view of physicians, there is nothing comparable to a wife. For all sorrows, she is a remedy—this I tell you in truth.
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the wife as a uniquely powerful source of solace and healing in human life—so essential that even “physicians” are said to regard her as the best remedy for all sorrows. Ethically, it underscores the dharmic value of companionship, mutual support, and the stabilizing role of marriage within the gṛhastha-āśrama.
Bṛhadaśva, speaking in the Vana Parva context, offers counsel framed as a truthful maxim: in the face of suffering, no external medicine equals the comfort and support provided by a wife. The statement functions as moral instruction and consolation within the ongoing dialogue.