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 ||
भीष्म ने कहा— हे युधिष्ठिर! जो स्त्री और पुरुष परस्पर एक-दूसरे को चाहें, उस स्त्री को उसी पुरुष को देना चाहिए। वेद के ज्ञाता जन उस विवाह-धर्म को ‘गान्धर्व’ कहते हैं।
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.