Shloka 24
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
नैकान्तो दोष एकस्मिंस्तदा केनोपपद्यते | धर्मतो यां प्रयच्छन्ति यां च क्रीणन्ति भारत
naikānto doṣa ekasmiṁs tadā kenopapadyate | dharmato yāṁ prayacchanti yāṁ ca krīṇanti bhārata ||
ビーシュマは言った。「過失が絶対に一方だけに生ずることはない—そのような場合、いかにして咎を立て得ようか。おお、バーラタよ。娘が親族によってダルマに則り、手取りの儀（pāṇigrahaṇa）によって嫁がされるとき、あるいは代価を受け取って引き渡される場合でさえ、正しい作法で彼女を娶った男—または代価を支払った者—が彼女を自宅へ迎え入れても、道徳的な過失は生じない。その状況で、どうして責めが起こり得ようか。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma argues that moral blame cannot be assigned absolutely to one party when a marriage occurs through socially recognized means—whether by lawful gifting of the bride or by a transaction accepted in that context; thus, taking the bride home in such a case is not, by itself, a doṣa.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social conduct. Here he addresses a question about the legitimacy and fault (doṣa) in certain forms of marriage acquisition, asserting that in the described circumstances culpability does not arise.