Shloka 13

Putra-Bheda: Kṣetraja, Kṛtaka, Apasada, and Saṃskāra Determinations (पुत्रभेद-निर्णयः)

Devanagari script

नास्ति यज्ञक्रिया काचिन्न श्राद्धं नोपवासकम्‌ | धर्म: स्वभर्तशुश्रूषा तया स्वर्ग जयन्त्युत

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | nāsti yajñakriyā kācin na śrāddhaṃ nopavāsakam | dharmaḥ svabhartuśuśrūṣā tayā svargaṃ jayanti uta |

Translation

Бхишма сказал: «Для женщины нет обязательного жертвенного обряда, нет шраддхи и нет поста. Её дхарма — преданное служение своему супругу; одним этим женщины воистину обретают небеса».

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अस्ति: is/exists
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (अस्ति)
• Form: Present, 3, Singular, Parasmaipada

• यज्ञक्रिया: sacrificial rite
• यज्ञक्रिया: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञक्रिया
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• काचित्: any (one)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: काचित् (किम्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• न: nor/not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• श्राद्धम्: śrāddha (ancestral rite)
• श्राद्धम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्राद्ध
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• न: nor/not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• उपवासकम्: fasting/observance of fasting
• उपवासकम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपवासक
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• धर्मः: duty/dharma
• धर्मः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• स्वभर्तृशुश्रूषा: service/attendance upon one’s own husband
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वभर्तृशुश्रूषा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• तया: by that (by it)
• तया: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• स्वर्गम्: heaven
• स्वर्गम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वर्ग
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• जयन्ति: they conquer/attain
• Type: Verb
• Root: जि (जयति)
• Form: Present, 3, Plural, Parasmaipada

• उत: indeed/also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उत

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Svarga (heaven)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts that a woman’s primary religious-ethical duty is devoted service to her husband; this is presented as sufficient for attaining heavenly merit, without requiring separate obligations like sacrifice, śrāddha, or fasting.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anushasana Parva’s instructional discourse, Bhishma is laying down norms of conduct (dharma). Here he states a rule about women’s duties, emphasizing household devotion over independent ritual observances.