Shloka 47
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
ये च क्रीणन्ति दासीं च विक्रीणन्ति तथैव च । भवेत् तेषां तथा निष्ठा लुब्धानां पापचेतसाम्
ye ca krīṇanti dāsīṃ ca vikrīṇanti tathaiva ca | bhavet teṣāṃ tathā niṣṭhā lubdhānāṃ pāpacetasām ||
Bhīṣma dit : « Ceux qui achètent des esclaves femmes et, de même, les vendent, sont mus par la cupidité et par une disposition pécheresse. Chez de tels hommes naît la même attitude enracinée — traiter même l’épouse comme une chose que l’on peut acheter et vendre — révélant un grave effondrement moral dans leur compréhension du dharma. »
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma condemns the commodification of human beings: those who habitually buy and sell women (here, female slaves) develop a corrupt moral disposition, and this same mindset can extend to treating even a wife as property. The verse warns that greed erodes dharma and distorts relationships into transactions.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma is advising on righteous conduct and social/moral norms. Here he criticizes exploitative practices—buying and selling women—and highlights the ethical danger that such habits normalize viewing marriage and women through a market lens.