Shloka 3
Adhyaya 72 — The Reconciliation Rite, Sarasvati Sacrifice, and the Birth of Uttama Manu (Auttama Manvantara Prelude)
राजोवाच कृतार्थस्त्वं द्विजश्रेष्ठ ! निजधर्मानुपालनात् ।
वयं सङ्कटिनो विप्र ! येषां पत्नी न वेष्मनि ॥
rājovāca kṛtārthas tvaṃ dvijaśreṣṭha! nijadharmānupālanāt | vayaṃ saṅkaṭino vipra! yeṣāṃ patnī na veśmani ||
The king said: “You are fulfilled, O best of the twice-born, by following your own duty. But we are the ones in distress, O brāhmaṇa—those whose wife is not in the home.”
FAQs
The verse underscores the Purāṇic view that household dharma is structurally incomplete without the spouse; the king’s ‘distress’ is not romantic sentiment alone but anxiety about dharmic and social stability.
Anucarita: moral psychology and social ethics illustrated through dialogue within a Manvantara account.
Home (veśman) symbolizes the inner seat of order; the ‘absent wife’ can indicate the absence of harmonizing śakti in one’s life, leading to inner and outer disorder.