Shloka 34
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
अन्न पानं च माल्यं च वासांस्याभरणानि च । ब्राह्मण्यैतानि देयानि भर्तु: सा हि गरीयसी
anna-pānaṃ ca mālyaṃ ca vāsāṃsy ābharaṇāni ca | brāhmaṇyaitāni deyāni bhartuḥ sā hi garīyasī ||
பீஷ்மர் கூறினார்—உணவும் பானமும், மாலையும், ஆடைகளும், ஆபரணங்களும்—இவை அனைத்தையும் கணவருக்கு பிராமணியே அர்ப்பணிக்க வேண்டும்; ஏனெனில் இந்தக் கடமையில் அவளே மிக உயர்ந்த மரியாதைக்குரியவள்.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a norm of household dharma: the Brahmin wife is enjoined to offer and manage key items of hospitality and honor—food, drink, garlands, clothing, and ornaments—for her husband, emphasizing her dignified precedence in this domestic-ethical role.
Bhīṣma is instructing on conduct and duties (dharma) in the Anuśāsana Parva. Here he specifies what a brāhmaṇī should offer to her husband, presenting it as an authoritative guideline within the broader discourse on righteous living.