Shloka 57
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
यद्यकार्यमधर्म वा यदि वा प्राणनाशनम् । पतिर्ब्रूयाद् दरिद्रो वा व्याधितो वा कथंचन
yady akāryam adharmaṁ vā yadi vā prāṇanāśanam | patir brūyād daridro vā vyādhito vā kathaṁcana ||
Wika ni Mahādeva: “Kahit ang asawa—maging siya man ay naghirap o tinamaan ng karamdaman sa anumang paraan—ay mag-utos ng bagay na hindi dapat gawin, o ng di-matuwid (adharma), o maging ng magbubunga ng pagkamatay, kung gayon, ituring iyon bilang tungkulin sa panahon ng kapahamakan (āpaddharma) at isakatuparan agad nang walang pag-aalinlangan.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an extreme principle of āpaddharma: in a crisis, a wife is urged to follow the husband’s command without doubt, even when it appears improper or unrighteous, treating it as a special duty applicable to calamity.
Śrī Maheśvara is instructing on household and crisis-ethics, describing situations like poverty or illness and stating how one should respond to a husband’s directive under such distressing conditions.