Knowing that the time for giving her away had come, Matali with his wife became very anxious, thinking, O monarch, of what he was to do next. And he thought within himself, “Alas, the birth of a daughter in the families of those that are well-behaved and high-born and possess reputation and humility of character, is always attended with evil results. Daughters, when born in respectable families, always endanger the honour of three families, viz., their maternal and paternal families and the family into which they are adopted by marriage. Glancing in my mind’s eye the worlds of gods and men, I have searched both, but no eligible bridegroom have I found.”’Mbh 5.97.2b · Mahabharata · UDYOGA PARVA
Mbh 5.97.2b
Mahabharata · translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Themes in this passage
MarriageChildrenAnxietyCharityFamilyHumility
Marriage in other traditions
The same theme, as Christianity, Islam and Hellenism address it.
Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.1 Corinthians 7:3 · Bible · 1 Corinthians
Allah citeth an example for those who disbelieve: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot, who were under two of Our righteous slaves yet betrayed them so that they (the husbands) availed them naught against Allah and it was said (unto them): Enter the Fire along with those who enter.Quran 66:10 · Quran · The Prohibition
“Then I saw Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, who also bore to Jove indomitable Hercules; and Megara who was daughter to great King Creon, and married the redoubtable son of Amphitryon.Odyssey 11.22 · Odyssey · 11
Helen, after the death of Paris, married Deiphobus his brother, and at the taking of Troy betrayed him, in order to reconcile herself to Menelaus her first husband, who received her again into favour.Iliad 24.79 · Iliad · 24
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