Shloka 19
ययाति–शक्रसंवादः
Speech-Ethics and Forbearance in the Celestial Court
शर्मिष्टोवाच समावेतौ मतौ राजन् पति: सख्याश्न यः पति: । सम॑ विवाहमित्याहु: सख्या मेडसि वृत: पति:,शर्मिष्ठाने कहा--राजन्! अपना पति और सखीका पति दोनों बराबर माने गये हैं। सखीके साथ ही उसकी सेवामें रहनेवाली दूसरी कन्याओंका भी विवाह हो जाता है। मेरी सखीने आपको अपना पति बनाया है, अतः मैंने भी बना लिया
śarmiṣṭhovāca samāvetau matau rājan patiḥ sakhyāś ca yaḥ patiḥ | samāṁ vivāham ity āhuḥ sakhyā meḍasi vṛtaḥ patiḥ |
Śarmiṣṭhā dijo: «Oh rey, se sostiene que mi esposo y el esposo de mi amiga deben ser tenidos por uno y el mismo. Dicen que el matrimonio se comparte por igual, pues el marido elegido por la compañera es también aceptado para las doncellas que permanecen con ella en servicio. Puesto que mi amiga te ha tomado por esposo, yo también te he tomado por esposo.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse appeals to a claimed social convention: the husband chosen by a principal woman is treated as shared by her attendant companion(s). Ethically, it highlights how custom is invoked to justify intimate relationships and raises questions about consent, hierarchy, and the limits of dharma when power and service relationships are involved.
Śarmiṣṭhā argues before the king that since her friend has accepted him as husband, she too may accept him, citing a notion of ‘shared marriage’ connected with attendants who remain with the friend in service. This is part of the Yayāti–Devayānī–Śarmiṣṭhā episode in the Ādi Parva.