Shloka 37

Adhyāya 31: Rājasūya-samāgama — The Gathering of Kings and the Ordering of Hospitality

Devanagari script

तस्यां पुर्या तदा चैव माहिष्मत्यां कुरूद्वह । बभूवुरनतिग्राह्मा योषितश्छन्दत: किल

Transliteration

tasyāṃ puryāṃ tadā caiva māhiṣmatyāṃ kurūdvaha | babhūvur anatigrahmyā yoṣitaś chandataḥ kila ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「クル族の雄牛よ、その時マーヒシュマティーの都では、若い女たちは他者に容易く『取られて』妻となるような者ではなかった。彼女らは自らの望みのままに、自由に夫を選ぶことで知られていたからである。」

Word by Word

• तस्याम्: in that
• तस्याम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• पुर्याम्: in the city
• पुर्याम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरी
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• तदा: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• माहिष्मत्याम्: in (the city of) Māhiṣmatī
• माहिष्मत्याम्: Adhikarana
• Type: ProperNoun
• Root: माहिष्मती
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• कुरूद्वह: O best of the Kurus
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरूद्वह
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• बभूवुः: became/were
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Perfect, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• अनतिग्राह्याः: not to be taken/accepted (by others)
• अनतिग्राह्याः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनतिग्राह्य
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• योषितः: women/young women
• योषितः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: योषित्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• छन्दतः: according to (their) will/at pleasure
• छन्दतः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: छन्दस्
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• किल: indeed/it is said
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किल

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Janamejaya
• Māhiṣmatī

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse points to an ethical-social norm: women in Māhiṣmatī exercised personal choice in selecting a husband, implying that coercive ‘taking’ or overriding consent was not acceptable or workable there. It foregrounds consent and agency within the broader dharma-discourse on marriage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within Vaiśampāyana’s narration to King Janamejaya, the text describes conditions in Māhiṣmatī: the young women were not ‘easily taken’ because they independently chose husbands according to their own desire, indicating a local custom or social reality relevant to the surrounding episode.