Shloka 24
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
नैकान्तो दोष एकस्मिंस्तदा केनोपपद्यते | धर्मतो यां प्रयच्छन्ति यां च क्रीणन्ति भारत
naikānto doṣa ekasmiṁs tadā kenopapadyate | dharmato yāṁ prayacchanti yāṁ ca krīṇanti bhārata ||
Bhishma dit : «La faute ne naît pas absolument d’un seul côté ; comment, dès lors, établir le blâme en un tel cas ? Ô Bharata ! Lorsque les parents d’une jeune fille la donnent en mariage selon le dharma par le rite du pāṇigrahaṇa, ou même lorsqu’ils la cèdent contre un prix, si l’homme qui l’épouse selon la forme requise — ou celui qui a payé ce prix — l’emmène dans sa maison, aucune faute morale n’est encourue. En une telle situation, comment pourrait-on dire que la culpabilité surgit ?»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma argues that moral blame cannot be assigned absolutely to one party when a marriage occurs through socially recognized means—whether by lawful gifting of the bride or by a transaction accepted in that context; thus, taking the bride home in such a case is not, by itself, a doṣa.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social conduct. Here he addresses a question about the legitimacy and fault (doṣa) in certain forms of marriage acquisition, asserting that in the described circumstances culpability does not arise.