Shloka 52
Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma
देवरं प्रविशेत् कन्या तप्येद् वापि तप: पुन: । तमेवानुगता भूत्वा पाणिग्राहस्य काम्यया
devaraṃ praviśet kanyā tapyed vāpi tapaḥ punaḥ | tamevānugatā bhūtvā pāṇigrāhasya kāmyayā ||
毗湿摩说：若那位付出聘财之人身亡，少女应当或与其幼弟结为夫妇（依于法度），或再行苦行——终身守贞，于心念中唯随彼一人，愿于来世亦得与之相会相成。
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
When a marriage arrangement is disrupted by the death of the bridegroom (the one who paid the bride-price), dharma offers two sanctioned paths: accept the younger brother as husband to preserve familial continuity, or maintain chastity and practice austerity with steadfast fidelity to the intended husband, aspiring to reunion even beyond this life.
In Bhishma’s instruction on conduct and social-religious law, he addresses the proper course for a maiden whose intended husband dies after paying the bride-price, outlining either a substitute marriage within the same family (with the devara) or a life of ascetic fidelity.