Shloka 34
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
स्त्रीधर्म: पूर्व एवायं विवाहे बन्धुभि: कृत: । सहधर्मचरी भर्तुर्भवत्यग्निसमीपत:
strī-dharmaḥ pūrva evāyaṃ vivāhe bandhubhiḥ kṛtaḥ | saha-dharma-carī bhartur bhavaty agni-samīpataḥ ||
ಮಹೇಶ್ವರನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—“ಪತ್ನಿಯ ಈ ಧರ್ಮವು ವಿವಾಹಕಾಲದಲ್ಲೇ ಅವಳ ಬಂಧುಗಳಿಂದ ಪೂರ್ವವೇ ಸ್ಥಾಪಿತವಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಪವಿತ್ರ ಅಗ್ನಿಯ ಸಮೀಪದಲ್ಲೇ ಅವಳು ಪತಿಯ ಸಹಧರ್ಮಚಾರಿಣಿಯಾಗುತ್ತಾಳೆ—ಧರ್ಮಮಾರ್ಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಬಂಧಿತ ಸಹಗಾಮಿನಿ.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that a wife’s dharma is formally affirmed at marriage by her family, and that the marital bond is a dharmic partnership: she becomes the husband’s saha-dharma-carī in the presence of Agni, the ritual witness.
Śrī Maheśvara explains the social-ritual foundation of marriage: during the wedding, the bride’s relatives instruct her in strī-dharma, and by the rite performed near the sacred fire she is established as her husband’s companion in religious and ethical duties.