Shloka 21
Dyumatsena’s Restoration and Sāvitrī’s Disclosure of Yama’s Boons (आरण्यकपर्व, अध्याय २८२)
परदारास्म्यलभ्या च सततं च पतिव्रता । न चैवोपयिकी भार्या मानुषी कृपणा तव,“मैं परायी स्त्री हूँ, पतिव्रता हूँ। तुम कभी किसी तरह मुझे नहीं पा सकते। एक दीन मानवकन्या होनेके कारण मैं तुम-जैसे निशाचरकी भार्या होने योग्य नहीं हूँ
paradārāsmy alabhyā ca satataṃ ca pativratā | na caivopayikī bhāryā mānuṣī kṛpaṇā tava ||
Markandeya said: “I belong to another; I am unattainable to you, and I am ever faithful to my husband. Nor am I fit to be your wife—being a helpless human woman, I am not a suitable bride for a night-roaming demon like you.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse upholds dharma through the ethic of marital fidelity (pativratā-dharma) and the inviolability of another’s spouse (paradārā). It asserts moral boundaries: desire does not justify transgression, and a woman’s vow and consent are decisive.
Within Mārkaṇḍeya’s narration, a human woman addresses a night-roaming demon figure who seeks her as a wife. She refuses firmly, declaring herself ‘another’s wife,’ perpetually devoted to her husband, and therefore unattainable and unsuitable for him.