Mahabharata 1.74.46 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 74, Shloka 46

अध्याय ७४: अक्रोध–क्षमा–निवासनीति

Chapter 74: Non-anger, Forbearance, and the Ethics of Residence

Devanagari script

प्रथम संस्थिता भार्या पतिं प्रेत्य प्रतीक्षते । पूर्व मृतं च भर्तारें पश्चात्‌ साध्व्यनुगच्छति

Transliteration

prathamasaṁsthitā bhāryā patiṁ pretya pratīkṣate | pūrvaṁ mṛtaṁ ca bhartāraṁ paścāt sādhvī anugacchati |

Translation

ດຸສຍັນຕະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ຖ້າພັນລະຍາຕາຍກ່ອນ ນາງໄປຮອດໂລກໜ້າແລ້ວຄອຍຖ້າຜົວຢູ່ທີ່ນັ້ນ. ແລະຖ້າຜົວຕາຍກ່ອນ ພັນລະຍາຜູ້ດີງາມ ແລະສັດຊື່ ຍ່ອມຕາມໄປພາຍຫຼັງ».

Word by Word

• प्रथमम्: first/earlier (in time)
• प्रथमम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रथम
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• संस्थिता: having departed; deceased
• संस्थिता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-स्था (स्था धातु)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• भार्या: wife
• भार्या: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भार्या
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• पतिम्: husband
• पतिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पति
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• प्रेत्य: having gone (to the next world)
• प्रेत्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्र-इ (इ धातु)
• Form: Gerund (त्वान्त/ल्यप्), true

• प्रतीक्षते: waits for
• प्रतीक्षते: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्रति-ईक्ष्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Ātmanepada

• पूर्वम्: earlier/first
• पूर्वम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्व
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• मृतम्: dead; deceased
• मृतम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृ (मरणे)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च
• Form: true

• भर्तारम्: husband
• भर्तारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भर्तृ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• पश्चात्: afterwards; later
• पश्चात्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पश्चात्
• Form: true

• साध्वी: virtuous/chaste (woman)
• साध्वी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: साध्वी (साधु)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अनुगच्छति: follows
• अनुगच्छति: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु-गम्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

दुष्यन्त उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duṣyanta
• bhāryā (wife)
• pati/bhartā (husband)
• paraloka (the next world, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents an ideal of marital fidelity (pativratā/ sādhvī) as a form of dharma: if the wife dies first she waits for her husband in the next world; if the husband dies first, the virtuous wife follows him afterward—highlighting steadfast devotion and moral constancy within marriage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Duṣyanta is articulating a normative principle about the conduct and destiny of a faithful wife and her husband, using it as an ethical assertion within the surrounding discussion in the Ādi Parva.