Shloka 6
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
अभिप्रेता च या यस्य तस्मै देया युधिष्ठिर । गान्धर्वमिति तं॑ धर्म प्राहुरवेदविदो जना:
abhipretā ca yā yasya tasmai deyā yudhiṣṭhira | gāndharvam iti taṁ dharmaṁ prāhur avedavido janāḥ ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «Oh Yudhiṣṭhira, la mujer que es escogida y deseada de manera recíproca por un hombre debe serle dada. Los sabios—conocedores del Veda—declaran que esa forma de matrimonio se llama “Gāndharva”, fundada en el consentimiento y la elección personal.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma defines the Gāndharva form of marriage as one based on mutual desire and consent: when a woman and a man choose each other, she should be given to him, and this is affirmed as dharma by Veda-knowers.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social duties, he is classifying and explaining marriage norms, here identifying the consent-based union as the Gāndharva mode and grounding it in authoritative tradition.