Shloka 42
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
तस्य भार्यत्रवीद् वाक्य मद्भागो दीयतामिति । गच्छत्वेष यथाकामं परितुष्टो द्विजोत्तम:,तब ब्राह्णकी पत्नीने कहा--'नाथ! यह मेरा भाग इन्हें दे दीजिये, जिससे ये ब्राह्मणदेवता इच्छानुसार तृप्तिलाभ करके यहाँसे पधारें'
tasya bhāryātruvīd vākyaṁ mad-bhāgo dīyatām iti | gacchatveṣa yathākāmaṁ parituṣṭo dvijottamaḥ ||
Then his wife spoke these words: “Let my share be given to him.” May this best of Brahmins depart from here as he wishes, fully satisfied. The verse highlights household dharma: voluntary self-sacrifice and honoring a worthy guest so that charity is complete not merely in act, but in the recipient’s contentment.
नकुल उवाच
Educational Q&A
True charity and dharma include prioritizing a worthy guest’s well-being; the wife’s willingness to give her own share models selfless generosity and the ideal of atithi-satkara (honoring the guest).
A Brahmin guest is to be fed or provided for; the householder’s wife intervenes and asks that her portion be given to him so that he may leave satisfied and according to his wish.