Shloka 34
Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)
स्त्रीधर्म: पूर्व एवायं विवाहे बन्धुभि: कृत: । सहधर्मचरी भर्तुर्भवत्यग्निसमीपत:,विवाहके समय कन्याके भाई-बन्धु पहले ही उसे स्त्री-धर्मका उपदेश कर देते हैं। जब कि वह अग्निके समीप अपने पतिकी सहधर्मिणी बनती है
strī-dharmaḥ pūrva evāyaṃ vivāhe bandhubhiḥ kṛtaḥ | saha-dharma-carī bhartur bhavaty agni-samīpataḥ ||
مہیشور نے کہا—“بیوی کا یہ فریضہ نکاح کے وقت ہی اس کے اپنے رشتہ دار پہلے سے قائم کر دیتے ہیں۔ کیونکہ مقدس آگ کے پاس ہی وہ شوہر کی سہ دھرم چارِنی بنتی ہے—دھرم کے راستے میں اس کی ہم سفر اور ہم بندھن۔”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that a wife’s dharma is formally affirmed at marriage by her family, and that the marital bond is a dharmic partnership: she becomes the husband’s saha-dharma-carī in the presence of Agni, the ritual witness.
Śrī Maheśvara explains the social-ritual foundation of marriage: during the wedding, the bride’s relatives instruct her in strī-dharma, and by the rite performed near the sacred fire she is established as her husband’s companion in religious and ethical duties.