Shloka 23
Vyādha–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda: Śāpa, Vṛtta-Dharma, and Counsel Against Viṣāda
Grief
या तु भर्तरि शुश्रूषा तया स्वर्ग जयत्युत । नारीके लिये किसी यज्ञकर्म, श्राद्ध और उपवासकी आवश्यकता नहीं है। वह जो पतिकी सेवा करती है, उसीके द्वारा स्वर्गलोकपर विजय प्राप्त कर लेती है ।। एतत् प्रकरणं राजन्नधिकृत्य युधिष्ठिर,राजा युधिष्छिर! इसी प्रकरणमें पतिव्रताओंके नियत धर्मका वर्णन किया जायगा। तुम सावधान होकर सुनो
yā tu bhartari śuśrūṣā tayā svargaṁ jayaty uta |
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “A woman who renders devoted service to her husband thereby conquers heaven itself. For her, there is no separate necessity of sacrificial rites, śrāddha offerings, or austerities such as fasting; the merit of faithful attendance upon her husband becomes her direct means to the heavenly goal.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that, within the framework of traditional dharma, a wife’s devoted service (śuśrūṣā) to her husband is presented as a complete and sufficient religious discipline, capable of yielding the highest merit symbolized by ‘conquering heaven’ (svargaṁ jayati).
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing (in a didactic section addressed to the royal listener) on the dharma of pativratā women, emphasizing that their primary religious path is faithful service to the husband, rather than independent ritual observances.