Shloka 55
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
पाणिग्रहणमन्त्राणां निष्ठा स्यात् सप्तमे पदे । पाणिग्रहस्य भार्या स्याद् यस्य चाद्ि: प्रदीयते । इति देयं वदन्त्यत्र त एन॑ निश्चयं विदु:
pāṇigrahaṇamantrāṇāṁ niṣṭhā syāt saptame pade | pāṇigrahasya bhāryā syād yasya cādiḥ pradīyate | iti deyaṁ vadanty atra te enaṁ niścayaṁ viduḥ |
Bhīṣma dit : «La force contraignante des mantras du mariage s’achève au septième pas de la saptapadī ; alors seulement l’état d’époux est établi sans équivoque. La femme devient l’épouse de l’homme à qui elle est donnée rituellement—après la résolution sacrée et l’offrande d’eau—et lui seul est son pāṇigrahītā, celui qui prend sa main en mariage. Ainsi les savants exposent la procédure du kanyādāna, parvenus à cette décision arrêtée.»
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma states a dharma-rule about marriage: the marriage mantras are considered fully effective at the seventh step of the saptapadī, and the woman is regarded as the wife of the man to whom she is ritually given with the formal resolve and water-offering—this establishes the definitive marital bond.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and proper conduct. Here he clarifies the authoritative determination of when marriage becomes binding and who is recognized as the lawful husband in the context of pāṇigraha and kanyā-dāna.