Shloka 9
Adhyaya 71 — The King’s Remorse and the Sage’s Counsel on the Necessity of a Wife
पत्नी धर्मार्थकामानां कारणं प्रबलं नृणाम् । विशेषतश्च धर्मस्य सन्त्यक्तस्त्यजता हि ताम् ॥
patnī dharmārtha-kāmānāṃ kāraṇaṃ prabalaṃ nṛṇām / viśeṣataś ca dharmasya saṃtyaktas tyajatā hi tām
A wife is a powerful cause for men to attain dharma, artha, and kāma; and especially for dharma. Indeed, by abandoning her, one becomes (as though) abandoned by dharma.
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FAQs
Householder life is treated as a dhārmic institution: the spouse is not merely social companionship but a co-participant in yajña, lineage, and ethical order; discarding that bond undermines one’s dharma.
Dharma-upadeśa within narrative; indirectly supports vaṃśānucarita by showing how royal/householder conduct preserves or damages social order.
On an inner level, ‘patnī’ can be read as the stabilizing śakti of one’s life—discipline, conscience, and relational responsibility—without which the pursuit of goals becomes unmoored.