Shloka 143
Devaśarmā–Vipula Dialogue on Ahorātra–Ṛtu as Moral Witnesses (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय ४३)
न शक्या रक्षितुं नार्यस्ता हि नित्यमसंयता: । वाणीके द्वारा एवं वध और बन्धनके द्वारा रोककर अथवा नाना प्रकारके क्लेश देकर भी स्त्रियोंकी रक्षा नहीं की जा सकती; क्योंकि वे सदा असंयमशील होती हैं
na śakyā rakṣituṃ nāryas tā hi nityam asaṃyatāḥ |
ビーシュマは言った。女たちは—彼の主張では—確かな意味で「監護の下に置く」ことができない。常に自制を欠くとされるからである。閉じ込めても、刑罰で脅しても、殺すことや縛ることに及んでも、あるいは種々の苦痛を与えても、その振る舞いを真に保証することはできない—ゆえに彼は、これは保護の成功ではなく、強制的統制の不首尾であると語る。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse argues that coercive measures—confinement, threats, punishment, even violence—do not constitute genuine ‘protection’ of moral conduct; it frames the matter as rooted in self-restraint (saṃyama) rather than external force, though it does so through a generalized and polemical claim about women.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues delivering didactic counsel on dharma and social conduct; here he voices a strong, proverbial-sounding assertion about the limits of guarding women, embedded within broader normative discourse on household and societal regulation.