Shloka 19
ययाति–शक्रसंवादः
Speech-Ethics and Forbearance in the Celestial Court
शर्मिष्टोवाच समावेतौ मतौ राजन् पति: सख्याश्न यः पति: । सम॑ विवाहमित्याहु: सख्या मेडसि वृत: पति:,शर्मिष्ठाने कहा--राजन्! अपना पति और सखीका पति दोनों बराबर माने गये हैं। सखीके साथ ही उसकी सेवामें रहनेवाली दूसरी कन्याओंका भी विवाह हो जाता है। मेरी सखीने आपको अपना पति बनाया है, अतः मैंने भी बना लिया
śarmiṣṭhovāca samāvetau matau rājan patiḥ sakhyāś ca yaḥ patiḥ | samāṁ vivāham ity āhuḥ sakhyā meḍasi vṛtaḥ patiḥ |
Śarmiṣṭhā disse: “Ó rei, sustenta-se que meu marido e o marido de minha amiga devem ser considerados um só. Dizem que o casamento é partilhado de igual modo, pois o esposo escolhido pela companheira também é aceito para as donzelas que permanecem com ela em serviço. Já que minha amiga te fez seu marido, eu também te tomei por marido.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse appeals to a claimed social convention: the husband chosen by a principal woman is treated as shared by her attendant companion(s). Ethically, it highlights how custom is invoked to justify intimate relationships and raises questions about consent, hierarchy, and the limits of dharma when power and service relationships are involved.
Śarmiṣṭhā argues before the king that since her friend has accepted him as husband, she too may accept him, citing a notion of ‘shared marriage’ connected with attendants who remain with the friend in service. This is part of the Yayāti–Devayānī–Śarmiṣṭhā episode in the Ādi Parva.