Shloka 48
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
अस्मिन्नर्थे सत्यवन्तं पर्यपृच्छन्त वै जना: । कन्याया: प्राप्तशुल्काया: शुल्कद: प्रशमं गत:
asminn arthe satyavantaṃ paryapṛcchanta vai janāḥ | kanyāyāḥ prāptaśulkāyāḥ śulkadaḥ praśamaṃ gataḥ |
ビーシュマは言った。「この件について、昔の人々はサティヤヴァーンにこう問うた。『大いなる賢者よ。ある乙女のための花嫁代（bride-price）がすでに受け取られ、その代価を支払うはずの男が死んだなら、別の者が婚姻の儀—手を取る儀（pāṇigrahaṇa）—を行ってよいのか、否か。われらはダルマについて疑いを抱いた。賢者に敬われるあなたが、その疑いを断ってください。』」
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-question about marriage validity and obligation: when a bride-price has been accepted but the payer dies, does the prior transaction authorize another man to marry the maiden, or must the arrangement be reconsidered? It highlights that social contracts around marriage are subordinate to dharma and require authoritative clarification.
Bhīṣma introduces an older precedent: people once approached Satyavān with a legal-ethical doubt concerning a maiden whose bride-price had been received, but whose intended payer died. They request Satyavān—respected by the learned—to resolve their uncertainty about whether another person may perform her pāṇigrahaṇa (marriage hand-taking).