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

Duṣyanta berkata: “Jika isteri meninggal terlebih dahulu, setelah pergi ke alam sana dia menunggu suaminya di situ. Dan jika suami meninggal terlebih dahulu, maka isteri yang suci dan setia akan mengikutinya kemudian.”

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.