Shloka 6
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
अभिप्रेता च या यस्य तस्मै देया युधिष्ठिर । गान्धर्वमिति तं॑ धर्म प्राहुरवेदविदो जना:
abhipretā ca yā yasya tasmai deyā yudhiṣṭhira | gāndharvam iti taṁ dharmaṁ prāhur avedavido janāḥ ||
ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു— ഹേ യുധിഷ്ഠിരാ! പരസ്പരം ഇഷ്ടപ്പെടുകയും തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്ന പുരുഷനോടാണ് ആ സ്ത്രീയെ നൽകേണ്ടത്. വേദവിദഗ്ധർ ആ വിവാഹധർമ്മത്തെ ‘ഗാന്ധർവ്വം’ എന്നു പറയുന്നു.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma defines the Gāndharva form of marriage as one based on mutual desire and consent: when a woman and a man choose each other, she should be given to him, and this is affirmed as dharma by Veda-knowers.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social duties, he is classifying and explaining marriage norms, here identifying the consent-based union as the Gāndharva mode and grounding it in authoritative tradition.