Shloka 55
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
पाणिग्रहणमन्त्राणां निष्ठा स्यात् सप्तमे पदे । पाणिग्रहस्य भार्या स्याद् यस्य चाद्ि: प्रदीयते । इति देयं वदन्त्यत्र त एन॑ निश्चयं विदु:
pāṇigrahaṇamantrāṇāṁ niṣṭhā syāt saptame pade | pāṇigrahasya bhāryā syād yasya cādiḥ pradīyate | iti deyaṁ vadanty atra te enaṁ niścayaṁ viduḥ |
Sinabi ni Bhishma: “Ang ganap na bisa ng mga mantra ng paghawak‑kamay sa kasal ay natatapos sa ikapitong hakbang ng saptapadī. Ang babae ay nagiging asawa ng lalaking pinagkalooban sa kanya sa pormal na paraan—pagkaraan ng ritwal na panata at pag‑aalay ng tubig—at siya lamang ang ‘pāṇigrahītā’, ang tumanggap sa kanyang kamay sa pag‑aasawa. Ganito inilalarawan ng mga pantas ang paraan ng kanyādāna, sapagkat ito ang kanilang tiyak na pasya.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma states a dharma-rule about marriage: the marriage mantras are considered fully effective at the seventh step of the saptapadī, and the woman is regarded as the wife of the man to whom she is ritually given with the formal resolve and water-offering—this establishes the definitive marital bond.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and proper conduct. Here he clarifies the authoritative determination of when marriage becomes binding and who is recognized as the lawful husband in the context of pāṇigraha and kanyā-dāna.