Shloka 20
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
पाणिग्रहीता चान्य: स्यात् कस्य भार्या पितामह | तत्त्वं जिज्ञासमानानां चक्षुर्भवतु नो भवान्
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
pāṇigrahītā cānyaḥ syāt kasya bhāryā pitāmaha |
tattvaṃ jijñāsamānānāṃ cakṣur bhavatu no bhavān ||
Dijo Yudhiṣṭhira: «Abuelo, si uno ha asegurado el matrimonio pagando el precio de la novia, otro lo ha asegurado prometiendo el pago, un tercero pretende llevarse a la muchacha por la fuerza, un cuarto busca el consentimiento de sus parientes ofreciéndoles riquezas especiales, y un quinto ya le ha tomado la mano en el rito nupcial, ¿de quién debe considerarse esposa, conforme al dharma? Anhelamos conocer la verdad; sé nuestros ojos».
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-inquiry: when multiple competing claims arise—payment, promise, coercion, bribing relatives, and the completed hand-taking rite—one must determine legitimacy not by power or wealth but by the true legal-ethical principle (tattva) as explained by an authoritative elder.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Yudhiṣṭhira asks Bhīṣma to adjudicate a complex marriage dispute involving several suitors with different kinds of claims, requesting clear guidance on whose wife the girl is considered according to dharma.