Shloka 33
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
न तस्यां जातु तिष्ठन्त्यामन्या तत् कर्तुमहति । ब्राह्मणी त्वेव कुर्याद् वा ब्राह्मणस्य युधिष्ठिर
na tasyāṃ jātu tiṣṭhantyām anyā tat kartum arhati | brāhmaṇī tv eva kuryād vā brāhmaṇasya yudhiṣṭhira ||
Bhīṣma bersabda: “Wahai Yudhiṣṭhira, selama brāhmaṇī (istri Brahmana) masih hadir, tidak ada perempuan lain yang berhak menjalankan kewajiban-kewajiban itu. Hanya sang brāhmaṇī sajalah yang patut melaksanakan pelayanan yang ditetapkan bagi suami Brahmana—memandikannya, menyiapkan perlengkapan berhias, menyediakan kayu siwak dan bubuk pembersih gigi, mengoleskan anjana pada mata, menyiapkan sarana havya–kavya pada waktu homa dan pūjā harian, serta membantu pelaksanaan dharma-karya lainnya di rumah.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts an exclusivity of household-religious service within the Brahmin household: when the Brahmin wife is present, she alone is considered entitled to perform the prescribed domestic and ritual services for her Brahmin husband, reflecting the text’s varṇāśrama-based norms of duty and propriety.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he specifies a rule about who may perform certain household and ritual duties in a Brahmin home, emphasizing that these are to be done by the brāhmaṇī herself and not by another woman while she is present.