Shloka 23
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
न हाकामेन संवासं मनुरेवं प्रशंसति । अयशस्यथमधर्म्य च यन्मृषा धर्मकोपनम्
na hākāmena saṃvāsaṃ manur evaṃ praśaṃsati | ayaśasyam adharmyaṃ ca yan mṛṣā dharmakopanam ||
भीष्म उवाच—न ह्यकामेन संवासं मनुरेवं प्रशंसति; अयशस्यं तदधर्म्यं च यन्मृषा धर्मकोपनम्। अकामेन पुरुषेण सह सकामा कन्याया यः संवासः स मनुना न प्रशस्यते। अतः सर्वसम्मत्या निश्चितं विवाहं मिथ्याकर्तुं यत्नः अयशोऽधर्मयोः कारणं भवति; स धर्मविघातक इति मन्यते।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cohabitation and marital union should not be forced or one-sided; attempting to overturn a mutually settled marriage is condemned as disgraceful and adharmic, because it destabilizes the moral-legal order (dharma).
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he cites Manu’s authority to frame a rule of ethical conduct regarding marriage: lack of consent and attempts to nullify a socially agreed marriage are treated as violations that damage dharma.