Shloka 22
आदि पर्व — अध्याय ८३: ययाति-इन्द्र-संवादः तथा अष्टक-प्रश्नः
Yayāti–Indra Dialogue and Aṣṭaka’s Inquiry
पूज्यासि मम मान्या च ज्येष्ठा च ब्राह्मणी हासि । त्वत्तोडपि मे पूज्यतमो राजर्षि: कि न वेत्थ तत्,(त्वत्पित्रा गुरुणा मे च सह दत्ते उभे शुभे । तव भर्ता च पूज्यश्न पोष्यां पोषयतीह माम् ।।) जब तुमने पतिका वरण किया था, उसी समय मैंने भी कर लिया। शोभने! जो सखीका स्वामी होता है, वही उसके अधीन रहनेवाली अन्य अविवाहिता सखियोंका भी धर्मतः पति होता है। तुम ज्येष्ठ हो, ब्राह्मणकी पुत्री हो, अतः मेरे लिये माननीय एवं पूजनीय हो; परंतु ये राजर्षि मेरे लिये तुमसे भी अधिक पूजनीय हैं। क्या यह बात तुम नहीं जानतीं?
vaiśampāyana uvāca | pūjyāsi mama mānyā ca jyeṣṭhā ca brāhmaṇī hāsi | tvatto 'pi me pūjyatamo rājarṣiḥ ki na vettha tat | (tvat-pitrā guruṇā me ca saha datte ubhe śubhe | tava bhartā ca pūjyaś ca poṣyāṃ poṣayatīha mām ||)
Vaiśampāyana said: “You are worthy of my worship and respect; you are the elder, and you are a Brahmin woman. Yet this royal sage is even more worthy of reverence to me than you are—do you not know this? For your father, who is also my teacher, gave us both in marriage together. And your husband, who is himself venerable, maintains me here as one who is under his protection.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes dharma within household life: honoring seniority and Brahmin status, while also upholding a higher reverence for the husband/royal sage who functions as protector and moral authority; it frames respect as structured by relational duties (guru, spouse, dependent).
The speaker addresses an elder Brahmin woman, acknowledging her as worthy of honor, but explains that the rājarṣi (their husband) is even more venerable. The justification is that her father—also the speaker’s guru—gave both women together in marriage, and the husband supports the speaker as one under his protection.