Mahabharata 1.13.30 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 13, Shloka 30
आस्तीक-उपाख्यान-प्रस्तावः | Introduction to the Āstīka Narrative
दरिद्राय हि मे भार्या को दास्यति विशेषत: । प्रतिग्रहीष्ये भिक्षां तु यदि कश्चित् प्रदास्यति
daridrāya hi me bhāryā ko dāsyati viśeṣataḥ | pratigrahīṣye bhikṣāṃ tu yadi kaścit pradāsyati ||
ഞാൻ ദരിദ്രനാണ്; ചോദിച്ചാലും ആരാണ് തന്റെ കന്യയെ ഭാര്യയായി നൽകുക? അതുകൊണ്ട് ഞാൻ നിശ്ചയിച്ചു—ആരെങ്കിലും ഭിക്ഷപോലെ കന്യയെ നൽകുകയാണെങ്കിൽ, ഞാൻ അവളെ സ്വീകരിക്കും.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds how poverty can distort social institutions: marriage, ideally governed by dharma and proper consent/ritual, is here imagined as something obtainable only through charity. It invites reflection on dignity, social obligation, and the ethical limits of ‘gift’ language in intimate relationships.
Śaunaka speaks of his inability, due to poverty, to obtain a bride through ordinary means. He states that if anyone were to offer a daughter as ‘alms,’ he would accept—revealing desperation and setting up a discussion of social custom and propriety.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.