Shloka 49
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
अग्निकार्यपरा नित्यं सदा पुष्पबलिप्रदा । देवतातिथि भृत्यानां निर्वाप्प पतिना सह
agnikāryaparā nityaṃ sadā puṣpabalipradā | devatātithi-bhṛtyānāṃ nirvāpaṃ patinā saha ||
Maheshvara dijo: “La que está siempre dedicada a los ritos del fuego sagrado, la que ofrece sin cesar flores y oblaciones rituales, y la que—junto con su esposo—satisface primero a los dioses, a los huéspedes y a quienes dependen del hogar con las porciones de alimento que les corresponden, encarna el orden disciplinado de una casa justa. Tal mujer, por el fruto del satī-dharma (la virtud fiel de la esposa), queda colmada de mérito.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches gṛhastha-dharma as an ethical discipline: a virtuous wife (with her husband) sustains the household’s sacred order by maintaining fire-rites, making offerings, honoring guests, and feeding dependents before eating herself—thereby accruing the merit associated with satī-dharma.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s didactic setting, Maheśvara describes the qualities and daily conduct of an exemplary householder woman, emphasizing ritual observance and social responsibility (deities, guests, dependents) as marks of righteous domestic life.