अथ त्व् इमं प्रवक्ष्यामि धर्मं त्व् एतं निबोध मे ॥
पुराणम् ऋषिभिर् दृष्टं धर्मविद्भिर् महात्मभिः ॥
अनावृताः किल पुरा स्त्रिय आसन् वरानने ॥
कामचारविहारिण्यः स्वतन्त्राश् चारुलोचने ॥
तासां व्युच्चरमाणानां कौमारात् सुभगे पतीन् ॥
नाधर्मो ऽभूद् वरारोहे स हि धर्मः पुराभवत् ॥
तं चैव धर्मं पौराणं तिर्यग्योनिगताः प्रजाः ॥
अद्याप्य् अनुविधीयन्ते कामद्वेषविवर्जिताः ॥
पुराणदृष्टो धर्मो ऽयं पूज्यते च महर्षिभिः ॥
उत्तरेषु च रम्भोरु कुरुष्व् अद्यापि वर्तते ॥
स्त्रीणाम् अनुग्रहकरः स हि धर्मः सनातनः ॥
atha tv imaṃ pravakṣyāmi dharmaṃ tv etaṃ nibodha me ||
purāṇam ṛṣibhir dṛṣṭaṃ dharmavidbhir mahātmabhiḥ ||
anāvṛtāḥ kila purā striya āsan varānane ||
kāmacāravihāriṇyaḥ svatantrāś cārulocane ||
tāsāṃ vyuccaramāṇānāṃ kaumārāt subhage patīn ||
nādharmo 'bhūd varārohe sa hi dharmaḥ purābhavat ||
taṃ caiva dharmaṃ paurāṇaṃ tiryagyonigatāḥ prajāḥ ||
adyāpy anuvidhīyante kāmadveṣavivarjitāḥ ||
purāṇadṛṣṭo dharmo 'yaṃ pūjyate ca maharṣibhiḥ ||
uttareṣu ca rambhoru kuruṣv adyāpi vartate ||
strīṇām anugrahakaraḥ sa hi dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
«But now I shall declare to you this dharma as well — hear it from me: an ancient dharma, seen by sages, knowers of dharma, great of soul. Unbound, they say, were women of old, O fair-faced one, roaming as they pleased, independent. For them, straying from their husbands since girlhood, there was no sin, for that was dharma of old. And that same ancient dharma the beings born in animal wombs still follow to this day, free from desire and hatred; this ancient dharma is honored by the great sages as well. And among the northern Kurus it is in practice even now; favorable to women — that is the eternal dharma».
de249c65207a · प्रकाशित 12 जुल॰ 2026, 4:41:49 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here Pandu recounts the tradition of an ancient, now-abolished custom of women's freedom. It is telling that the scripture openly acknowledges the changeability of particular ordinances of dharma across time: what was once no sin later became forbidden. Here is revealed the distinction between eternal dharma (sanātana — service to God, nonviolence, truthfulness) and ordinances (vidhi) suited to a given age and people: the latter change, while the essence remains. It is telling, too, that Pandu recalls the ancient custom not to justify licentiousness but only to show the lawfulness of an unusual path to offspring; and he himself, as we shall see, will choose a strictly ordered path. Thus the scripture teaches how to distinguish the unchanging core of dharma from its changing shell, without confusing the indulgence of the past with license in the present.