Shloka 1

Strī-dharma: Śiva’s Inquiry, Umā’s Consultation, and Gaṅgā’s Instruction

Devanagari script

नील (0) ++_अस+- एकोनत्रिशर्दाधिकशततमो<् ध्याय: लोमशद्ारा धर्मके रहस्यका वर्णन लोगश उवाच परदारेषु ये सक्ता अकृत्वा दारसंग्रहम्‌ | निराशा: पितरस्तेषां श्राद्धकाले भवन्ति वै

Transliteration

Lomaśa uvāca | paradāreṣu ye saktā akṛtvā dārasaṅgraham | nirāśāḥ pitaras teṣāṃ śrāddhakāle bhavanti vai ||

Translation

Lomaśa dijo: Quienes, sin entrar en matrimonio legítimo, se apegan a las esposas de otros—cuando llega el tiempo de los ritos de śrāddha, sus antepasados quedan en verdad decepcionados, pues tales actos contrarios al dharma socavan las ofrendas debidas y la continuidad del deber del hogar.

Word by Word

• {'Lomaśa uvāca': 'Lomaśa said', 'paradāreṣu': 'in others’ wives

• with respect to another man’s spouse', 'ye': 'who (those who)', 'saktāḥ': 'attached, addicted, engrossed', 'akṛtvā': 'not having done

• without doing', 'dāra-saṅgraham': 'taking a wife

• entering household life through marriage', 'nirāśāḥ': 'hopeless, disappointed, left without expectation', 'pitaraḥ': 'the ancestors (manes)', 'teṣām': 'of them', 'śrāddha-kāle': 'at the time of śrāddha (ancestral rite)', 'bhavanti': 'become, are', 'vai': 'indeed, certainly (emphatic particle)'}

Speaker

लोगश उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Lomaśa
• pitaraḥ (ancestors)
• śrāddha (ancestral rite)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse condemns attachment to others’ wives and stresses gṛhastha-dharma: lawful marriage and household responsibility sustain social and ritual obligations, including śrāddha; violating sexual ethics disrupts one’s duty to ancestors.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma-instructional context, the sage Lomaśa states a moral consequence: men who avoid proper marriage yet pursue illicit relations cause their ancestors to be ‘disappointed’ at śrāddha time, implying failure of ritual support and lineage duty.