Shloka 42
Virāṭa-parva Adhyāya 21 — Kīcaka’s clandestine approach and Bhīma’s covert intervention (नर्तनागारे कीचकवध-प्रसङ्गः)
भर्ता तु भार्यया रक्ष्य: कथं जायान्ममोदरे | वदतां वर्णधर्मश्ने ब्राह्मणानामिति श्रुत:,मैंने वर्णधर्मका उपदेश देनेवाले ब्राह्मणोंके मुँहले सुना है, पत्नीको पतिकी रक्षा इसलिये करनी चाहिये कि यह किसी दिन मेरे पेटसे पुत्ररूपमें जन्म लेगा
bhartā tu bhāryayā rakṣyaḥ kathaṃ jāyān mamodare | vadatāṃ varṇadharmajñe brāhmaṇānām iti śrutaḥ ||
Bhīmasena berkata: “Aku telah mendengar daripada mulut para Brāhmaṇa yang mengajarkan dharma menurut varṇa bahawa seorang suami harus dilindungi oleh isterinya—kerana jika tidak, bagaimana mungkin dia akan lahir semula dalam rahimnya?”
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse invokes a dharma-based norm: a wife has a duty to protect her husband, linked to the continuation of family and the possibility of progeny. Bhīma frames this as something he has ‘heard from Brāhmaṇas who teach varṇa-dharma,’ using traditional authority to support the ethical claim.
Bhīmasena is speaking and cites what he has heard from learned Brāhmaṇas about household duty. He uses a sharp rhetorical question—‘how else could he be born in my womb?’—to stress the importance of safeguarding the husband for the sake of future offspring and lineage.