The Maiden Whose Price Is Paid; the Sale of Daughters Condemned

Verse 1 (13.80.1)

कन्यायां प्राप्तशुल्कायां पतिश्चेन्नास्ति कश्चन । तत्र का प्रतिपत्तिः स्यात्तन्मे ब्रूहि पितामह ॥

kanyāyāṃ prāptaśulkāyāṃ patiścennāsti kaścana | tatra kā pratipattiḥ syāttanme brūhi pitāmaha

If the bride-price on a maiden has been received and she has no husband at all, what is then to be done? Tell me that, grandfather.

Verse 2 (13.80.2)

या पुत्रकस्य ऋद्धस्य प्रतिपाल्या तदा भवेत् । अथवा सा हरेच्छुल्कं क्रीता शुल्कप्रदस्य सा ॥

yā putrakasya ṛddhasya pratipālyā tadā bhavet | athavā sā harecchulkaṃ krītā śulkapradasya sā

She is then to be looked after by the prosperous son of the household; or else, being bought, she goes to the one who paid the price.

Note on the text: The page's couplet = CE 13.45.2a and 13.45.3a (the critical edition's one-line verse 2 and the first line of verse 3). First line varies from CE ('yāputrakasyāpy arikthasya pratipat sā tadā bhavet'); the page's 'या पुत्रकस्य ऋद्धस्य प्रतिपाल्या तदा भवेत्' is valid and kept.

Verse 3 (13.80.3)

तस्यार्थेऽपत्यमीहेत येन न्यायेन शक्नुयात् । न तस्मान्मन्त्रवत्कार्यं कश्चित्कुर्वीत किञ्चन ॥

tasyārthe'patyamīheta yena nyāyena śaknuyāt | na tasmānmantravatkāryaṃ kaścitkurvīta kiñcana

For his sake she should seek offspring in whatever lawful way she can. Therefore no one should perform any rite with mantras for her at all.

Note on the text: Corrected ईहेव → ईहेत (misprint in Wikisource; CE 'īheta'). The page's couplet = CE 13.45.3c and 4a; second line varies from CE 4a ('na tasyā mantravat kāryam'): the page's 'न तस्मान्मन्त्रवत्' is a valid variant, kept.

Verse 4 (13.80.4)

स्वयंवृतेन साज्ञप्ता पित्रा वै प्रत्यपद्यत । तत्तस्यान्ये प्रशंसन्ति धर्मज्ञा नेतरे जनाः ॥

svayaṃvṛtena sājñaptā pitrā vai pratyapadyata | tattasyānye praśaṃsanti dharmajñā netare janāḥ

She who had chosen her own husband, though bidden by her father, accepted him; some who know dharma praise this in her, but not others.

Note on the text: The page's couplet = CE 13.45.5a,c. First line varies from CE ('svayaṃ vṛteti sāvitrī pitrā vai pratyapadyata'); the page's 'स्वयंवृतेन साज्ञप्ता' is a valid variant (the page's apparatus notes the other reading), kept. Aligned by hand.

Verse 5 (13.80.5)

एतत्तु नापरे चक्रुरपरे जातु साधवः । साधूनां पुनराचारो गरीयान्धर्मलक्षणः ॥

etattu nāpare cakrurapare jātu sādhavaḥ | sādhūnāṃ punarācāro garīyāndharmalakṣaṇaḥ

Other good people never did this either; but the conduct of the good is the weightier mark of dharma.

Verse 6 (13.80.6)

अस्मिन्नेव प्रकारे तु सुक्रतुर्वाक्यमब्रवीत् । नप्ता विदेहराजस्य जनकस्य महात्मनः ॥

asminneva prakāre tu sukraturvākyamabravīt | naptā videharājasya janakasya mahātmanaḥ

On this very point Sukratu, the grandson of Janaka, the great-souled king of Videha, spoke.

Note on the text: Separated तुसुक्रतुर्वाक्यमब्रवीत् → तु सुक्रतुर्वाक्यमब्रवीत् (word-division misprint in Wikisource; CE 'prakaraṇe sukratur vākyam abravīt'); aligned by hand to CE 13.45.7.

Verse 7 (13.80.7)

असदाचरिते मार्गे कथं स्यादनुकीर्तनम् । अनुप्रश्नः संशयो वा सतामेवमुपालभेत् ॥

asadācarite mārge kathaṃ syādanukīrtanam | anupraśnaḥ saṃśayo vā satāmevamupālabhet

How could a path of improper conduct be praised? To question it or doubt it would be a reproach to the good.

Verse 8 (13.80.8)

असदेव हि धर्मस्य प्रदानं धर्म आसुरः । नानुशुश्रुम जात्वेनामिमां पूर्वेषु कर्मसु ॥

asadeva hi dharmasya pradānaṃ dharma āsuraḥ | nānuśuśruma jātvenāmimāṃ pūrveṣu karmasu

That "giving" in the name of dharma is itself improper; it is the Asura way. We have never heard of it in the rites of the ancients.

Note on the text: Both lines vary from CE 13.45.9 ('asad eva hi dharmasya pramādo dharma āsuraḥ / nānuśuśruma jātv etām imāṃ pūrveṣu janmasu'); the page's 'प्रदानं' and 'कर्मसु' are valid variants (the page's apparatus gives another reading), kept.

Verse 9 (13.80.9)

भार्यापत्योर्हि सम्बन्धः स्त्रीपुंसोस्तुल्य एव तु । रतिः साधारणो धर्म इति चाह स पार्थिवः ॥

bhāryāpatyorhi sambandhaḥ strīpuṃsostulya eva tu | ratiḥ sādhāraṇo dharma iti cāha sa pārthivaḥ

The bond between husband and wife is the same for woman and man; delight is a shared dharma. So that king said.

Verse 10 (13.80.10)

अथ केन प्रमाणेन पुंसामादीयते धनम् । पुत्रवद्धि पितुस्तस्य कन्या भवितुमर्हति ॥

atha kena pramāṇena puṃsāmādīyate dhanam | putravaddhi pitustasya kanyā bhavitumarhati

By what authority, then, is wealth taken by men? A daughter ought to be like a son to her father.

Verse 11 (13.80.11)

यथैवात्मा तथा पुत्रः पुत्रेण दुहिता समा । तस्यामात्मनि तिष्ठन्त्यां कथमन्यो धनं हरेत् ॥

yathaivātmā tathā putraḥ putreṇa duhitā samā | tasyāmātmani tiṣṭhantyāṃ kathamanyo dhanaṃ haret

As oneself, so is a son; a daughter is equal to a son. While she remains as one's own self, how can another take the wealth?

Verse 12 (13.80.12)

मातुश्च यौतकं यत्स्यात्कुमारीभाग एव सः । दौहित्र एव तद्रिक्थमपुत्रस्य पितुर्हरेत् ॥

mātuśca yautakaṃ yatsyātkumārībhāga eva saḥ | dauhitra eva tadrikthamaputrasya piturharet

Whatever a mother has as her marriage-gift is the maiden's share alone; her daughter's son, indeed, would take the estate of a father who has no son.

Verse 13 (13.80.13)

ददाति हि स पिण्डान्वै पितुर्मातामहस्य च । पुत्रदौहित्रयोरेव विशेषो नास्ति धर्मतः ॥

dadāti hi sa piṇḍānvai piturmātāmahasya ca | putradauhitrayoreva viśeṣo nāsti dharmataḥ

For he offers the funeral cakes to his father and to his mother's father; between a son and a daughter's son there is no difference in dharma.

Note on the text: Aligned by hand to CE 13.45.14 (the page's 'पितुर्मातामहस्य च / पुत्रदौहित्रयोरेव विशेषो नास्ति धर्मतः' varies from CE 'putradauhitrayor neha viśeṣo dharmataḥ smṛtaḥ'; valid variant, kept).

Verse 14 (13.80.14)

अन्यत्र जामया सार्धं प्रजानां पुत्र ईहते । दुहिताऽन्यत्र जातेन पुत्रेणापि विशिष्यते ॥

anyatra jāmayā sārdhaṃ prajānāṃ putra īhate | duhitā'nyatra jātena putreṇāpi viśiṣyate

Elsewhere a son seeks offspring along with a kinswoman; but a daughter, through a son born to her elsewhere, is preferred even to a son.

Note on the text: Aligned by hand to CE 13.45.15 (CE 'anyatra jātayā sā hi prajayā putra īhate / duhitānyatra jātena putreṇāpi viśiṣyate'; the page's first line varies, with a gloss noting another reading; kept).

Verse 15 (13.80.15)

दौहित्रकेण धर्मेण तत्र पश्यामि कारणम् । विक्रीतासु हि ये पुत्रा भवन्ति पितुरेव ते ॥

dauhitrakeṇa dharmeṇa tatra paśyāmi kāraṇam | vikrītāsu hi ye putrā bhavanti pitureva te

On the daughter's-son rule of dharma, there I see the reason: sons born of girls who were sold belong to the father alone.

Verse 16 (13.80.16)

असूयवस्त्वधर्मिष्ठाः परस्वादायिनः शठाः । आसुरादधिसम्भूता धर्माद्विषमवृत्तयः ॥

asūyavastvadharmiṣṭhāḥ parasvādāyinaḥ śaṭhāḥ | āsurādadhisambhūtā dharmādviṣamavṛttayaḥ

They are envious, unrighteous, takers of others' property and rogues, born of the Asura rite, and crooked in their ways away from dharma.

Verse 17 (13.80.17)

अत्र गाथा यमोद्गीताः कीर्तयन्ति पुराविदः । धर्मज्ञा धर्मशास्त्रेषु निबद्धा धर्मसेतुषु ॥

atra gāthā yamodgītāḥ kīrtayanti purāvidaḥ | dharmajñā dharmaśāstreṣu nibaddhā dharmasetuṣu

On this the ancients recite the verses sung by Yama, set down by those who know dharma in the dharma-texts, the bridges of dharma.

Verse 18 (13.80.18)

यो मनुष्यः स्वकं पुत्रं विक्रीय धनमिच्छति । कन्यां वा जीवितार्थाय यः शुल्केन प्रयच्छति ॥

yo manuṣyaḥ svakaṃ putraṃ vikrīya dhanamicchati | kanyāṃ vā jīvitārthāya yaḥ śulkena prayacchati

The man who sells his own son and wants wealth for it, or who gives a daughter for a price to earn his living,

Verse 19 (13.80.19)

सप्तावरे महाघोरे निरये कालसाह्वये । स्वेदं मूत्रं पुरीषं च तस्मिन्मूढः समश्नुते ॥

saptāvare mahāghore niraye kālasāhvaye | svedaṃ mūtraṃ purīṣaṃ ca tasminmūḍhaḥ samaśnute

that fool eats sweat, urine and filth in the dreadful hell named Kala, seven levels down.

Note on the text: Second line varies from CE 13.45.20c ('tasmin preta upāśnute'); the page's 'तस्मिन्मूढः समश्नुते' is a valid variant, kept.

Verse 20 (13.80.20)

आर्षे गोमिथुनं शुल्कं केचिदाहुर्मृषैव तत् । अल्पो वा बहु वा राजन्विक्रयस्तावदेव सः ॥

ārṣe gomithunaṃ śulkaṃ kecidāhurmṛṣaiva tat | alpo vā bahu vā rājanvikrayastāvadeva saḥ

Some say a pair of cattle as bride-price belongs to the arsha rite; that too is false. Whether it is little or much, O king, it is a sale all the same.

Verse 21 (13.80.21)

यद्यप्याचरितः कैश्चिन्नैष धर्मः सनातनः । अन्येषामपि दृश्यन्ते लोभतः सम्प्रवृत्तयः ॥

yadyapyācaritaḥ kaiścinnaiṣa dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ | anyeṣāmapi dṛśyante lobhataḥ sampravṛttayaḥ

Even if some have practised it, this is not the eternal dharma; in others too one sees such ways arising from greed.

Verse 22 (13.80.22)

वश्यां कुमारीं बलतो ये तां समुपभुञ्जते । एते पापस्य कर्तारस्तमस्यन्धे च शेरते ॥

vaśyāṃ kumārīṃ balato ye tāṃ samupabhuñjate | ete pāpasya kartārastamasyandhe ca śerate

Those who by force enjoy a maiden who is under their control are doers of sin, and they lie in blind darkness.

Note on the text: Aligned by hand to CE 13.45.23 (first line varies: CE 'vaśyāṃ kumārīṃ vihitāṃ ye ca tām upabhuñjate'; valid variant, kept).

Verse 23 (13.80.23)

अन्योप्यथ न विक्रेयो मनुष्यः किं पुनः प्रजाः । अधर्ममूलैर्हि धनैस्तैर्न धर्मोऽथ कश्चन ॥

anyopyatha na vikreyo manuṣyaḥ kiṃ punaḥ prajāḥ | adharmamūlairhi dhanaistairna dharmo'tha kaścana

Not even any other man is to be sold, much less one's own offspring. No dharma at all can come from wealth whose root is unrighteousness.