Shloka 46

Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma

Devanagari script

न चैतेभ्य: प्रदातव्या न वोढव्या तथाविधा । न होव भार्या क्रेतव्या न विक्रय्या कथंचन

Transliteration

na caitebhyaḥ pradātavyā na voḍhavyā tathāvidhā | naiva bhāryā kretavyā na vikrayyā kathaṃcana ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“不可将女儿嫁与此等之人，也不可迎娶那般被‘出卖’的少女；因为妻子无论在何种情形下，都不是可以买卖之物。”

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

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

• एतेभ्यः: to these (persons)
• एतेभ्यः: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: masculine, dative/ablative, plural

• प्रदातव्याः: should be given (in marriage)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + दा
• Form: तव्यत् (gerundive/obligative), feminine, nominative, plural, passive sense

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• वोढव्याः: should be married/taken as wife
• Type: Verb
• Root: वह्
• Form: तव्यत् (gerundive/obligative), feminine, nominative, plural, passive sense

• तथा: thus; in that manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• विधाः: of such a kind
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विधा
• Form: feminine, nominative, plural

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• ह: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह

• उ: also/indeed (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उ

• भार्या: wife
• भार्या: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भार्या
• Form: feminine, nominative, singular

• क्रेतव्या: to be bought / should be bought
• Type: Verb
• Root: क्री
• Form: तव्यत् (gerundive/obligative), feminine, nominative, singular, passive sense

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• विक्रय्या: to be sold / should be sold
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + क्री
• Form: यत्/य्य (gerundive/obligative; irregular form), feminine, nominative, singular, passive sense

• कथंचन: in any way; at all
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथंचन

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• bhāryā (wife)
• kanyā (daughter/maiden)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma teaches that marriage must not treat a woman as property: a wife is not a commodity, so buying or selling in the context of marriage is ethically condemned, and alliances with those who practice it should be avoided.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma, he lays down a rule about proper marital conduct: do not give one’s daughter to men of such conduct, and do not accept a bride through a transaction resembling sale, because it violates the moral status of marriage.