Shloka 34

Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)

Devanagari script

अन्न पानं च माल्यं च वासांस्याभरणानि च । ब्राह्मण्यैतानि देयानि भर्तु: सा हि गरीयसी

Transliteration

anna-pānaṃ ca mālyaṃ ca vāsāṃsy ābharaṇāni ca | brāhmaṇyaitāni deyāni bhartuḥ sā hi garīyasī ||

Translation

بھیشم نے کہا—کھانا پینا، ہار، کپڑے اور زیورات—یہ سب شوہر کو برہمنی ہی پیش کرے؛ کیونکہ اس فریضے میں وہی سب عورتوں سے بڑھ کر عزت کی مستحق ہے۔

Word by Word

• अन्नम्: food
• अन्नम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्न
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• पानम्: drink
• पानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पान
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• माल्यम्: garland
• माल्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: माल्य
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• वासांसि: garments, clothes
• वासांसि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वासस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• आभरणानि: ornaments, jewelry
• आभरणानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आभरण
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• ब्राह्मण्यै: to the Brahmin woman
• ब्राह्मण्यै: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मणी
• Form: Feminine, Dative, Singular

• एतानि: these
• एतानि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• देयानि: to be given (should be given)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• भर्तुः: of the husband
• Type: Noun
• Root: भर्तृ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• सा: she
• सा: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• हि: indeed, for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• गरीयसी: more weighty, more venerable/superior
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गरियस्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• husband (bhartṛ)
• brāhmaṇī (Brahmin wife)
• food
• drink
• garland
• garments
• ornaments

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a norm of household dharma: the Brahmin wife is enjoined to offer and manage key items of hospitality and honor—food, drink, garlands, clothing, and ornaments—for her husband, emphasizing her dignified precedence in this domestic-ethical role.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is instructing on conduct and duties (dharma) in the Anuśāsana Parva. Here he specifies what a brāhmaṇī should offer to her husband, presenting it as an authoritative guideline within the broader discourse on righteous living.