Shloka 5
अबुद्धिपूर्वकपापविमोचनप्रश्नः — Janamejaya’s Unintended Transgression and the Indrota Rebuke
भस्मीभवति सा नारी यस्या भर्ता न तुष्यति । अग्निको साक्षी बनाकर स्त्रीका जिसके साथ विवाह हो गया, वही उसका पति है और वही उसके लिये परम देवता है। जिसका पति संतुष्ट नहीं रहता, वह नारी दावानलसे दग्ध हुई पुष्पगुच्छोंसहित लताके समान भस्म हो जाती है ।।
bhasmībhavati sā nārī yasyā bhartā na tuṣyati | agniko sākṣī banākara strīkā jisake sātha vivāha ho gayā, vahī usakā pati hai aur vahī usake liye paramadevatā hai | yasyāḥ patiḥ saṃtuṣṭo na tiṣṭhati, sā nārī dāvānalena dagdhā puṣpagucchaiḥ sahitā latā iva bhasmībhavati || iti saṃcintya duḥkhārtā bhartāraṃ duḥkhitaṃ tadā
Wika ni Bhishma: “Nagiging abo ang babaeng hindi kinalulugdan ng kaniyang asawa. Ang lalaking pinakasalan niya—na ang Apoy ang saksi—siya ang tunay na asawa, at para sa kaniya, siya ang kataas-taasang diyos. Kapag hindi nananatiling nasisiyahan ang asawa, siya’y nalalanta at natutupok gaya ng baging na may mga kumpol ng bulaklak na sinunog ng sunog sa gubat at naging abo.” Sa pagninilay nang ganito, siya na pinahihirapan ng dalamhati ay nakita noon ang kaniyang asawa na nababalot din ng pagdurusa.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses the sanctity of marriage (sealed with Agni as witness) and frames a wife’s dharma as centered on maintaining harmony and her husband’s contentment, using the metaphor of a flowering creeper burned to ash to depict the ruin caused by marital discord.
Bhishma is instructing on household and marital duty in the Shanti Parva. After stating the principle and its consequences through vivid imagery, the passage transitions to a scene where a sorrow-stricken woman, having reflected on this, finds her husband distressed.