Shloka 37

Adhyāya 31: Rājasūya-samāgama — The Gathering of Kings and the Ordering of Hospitality

Devanagari script

तस्यां पुर्या तदा चैव माहिष्मत्यां कुरूद्वह । बभूवुरनतिग्राह्मा योषितश्छन्दत: किल

Transliteration

tasyāṃ puryāṃ tadā caiva māhiṣmatyāṃ kurūdvaha | babhūvur anatigrahmyā yoṣitaś chandataḥ kila ||

Translation

اے کُرُوؤں کے سردار! اُس وقت ماہِشمتی کے شہر میں نوجوان عورتیں گویا آسانی سے ‘حاصل’ کیے جانے کے قابل نہ تھیں، کیونکہ وہ اپنی مرضی کے مطابق خود ہی شوہر کا انتخاب کرتی تھیں۔

Word by Word

• तस्याम्: in that
• तस्याम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• पुर्याम्: in the city
• पुर्याम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरी
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• तदा: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

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

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• माहिष्मत्याम्: in (the city of) Māhiṣmatī
• माहिष्मत्याम्: Adhikarana
• Type: ProperNoun
• Root: माहिष्मती
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• कुरूद्वह: O best of the Kurus
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरूद्वह
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• बभूवुः: became/were
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Perfect, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• अनतिग्राह्याः: not to be taken/accepted (by others)
• अनतिग्राह्याः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनतिग्राह्य
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• योषितः: women/young women
• योषितः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: योषित्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• छन्दतः: according to (their) will/at pleasure
• छन्दतः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: छन्दस्
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• किल: indeed/it is said
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किल

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Janamejaya
• Māhiṣmatī

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse points to an ethical-social norm: women in Māhiṣmatī exercised personal choice in selecting a husband, implying that coercive ‘taking’ or overriding consent was not acceptable or workable there. It foregrounds consent and agency within the broader dharma-discourse on marriage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within Vaiśampāyana’s narration to King Janamejaya, the text describes conditions in Māhiṣmatī: the young women were not ‘easily taken’ because they independently chose husbands according to their own desire, indicating a local custom or social reality relevant to the surrounding episode.