Shloka 6
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
अभिप्रेता च या यस्य तस्मै देया युधिष्ठिर । गान्धर्वमिति तं॑ धर्म प्राहुरवेदविदो जना:
abhipretā ca yā yasya tasmai deyā yudhiṣṭhira | gāndharvam iti taṁ dharmaṁ prāhur avedavido janāḥ ||
Sinabi ni Bhīṣma: “O Yudhiṣṭhira, ang babaeng kapwa pinili at ninanais ng isang lalaki—na may pagnanais na magkatugma—ay dapat ipagkaloob sa kanya. Ipinahahayag ng mga pantas, yaong mga nakaaalam ng Veda, na ang anyo ng pag-aasawang iyon ay tinatawag na ‘Gāndharva’, na nakasalig sa pagsang-ayon at sariling pagpili.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma defines the Gāndharva form of marriage as one based on mutual desire and consent: when a woman and a man choose each other, she should be given to him, and this is affirmed as dharma by Veda-knowers.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social duties, he is classifying and explaining marriage norms, here identifying the consent-based union as the Gāndharva mode and grounding it in authoritative tradition.