Shloka 5
लुब्धक-कपोत-कपोती-आख्यानम्
The Hunter and the Pigeon Couple: Expiation and Refuge-Ethics
“क्या इस वनमें मेरी प्रिया कुशलसे होगी? उसके बिना आज मेरा यह घर-यह घोंसला सूना लग रहा है ।। पुत्रपौत्रवधू भृत्यैराकीर्णमपि सर्वतः । भारयहिीनं गृहस्थस्य शून्यमेव गृहं भवेत्,“पुत्र, पौत्र, पतोहू तथा अन्य भरण-पोषणके योग्य कुट॒म्बीजनोंसे भरा होनेपर भी गृहस्थका घर उसकी पत्नीके बिना सूना ही रहता है
bhīṣma uvāca | putra-pautra-vadhū-bhṛtyair ākīrṇam api sarvataḥ | bhāryā-vihīnaṃ gṛhasthasya śūnyam eva gṛhaṃ bhavet ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Kahit mapuno ang tahanan ng isang maybahay ng mga anak, apo, manugang na babae, at mga lingkod sa bawat panig, kung wala ang kanyang asawa, ang bahay na iyon ay tunay na hungkag.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that in gṛhastha-dharma the wife is the essential support of the household; material fullness and even a large family do not remove the sense of emptiness when the spouse—the partner in dharma and daily life—is absent.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Bhishma is articulating a reflective maxim about domestic life: despite a home being crowded with relatives and dependents, the householder experiences the home as truly ‘empty’ without his wife, highlighting her central role in the household order.