Shloka 11
Vītahavya’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya (Vītahavya–Vipratva) | वीतहव्यस्य ब्राह्मण्यप्राप्तिः
ब्रह्मबन्धुश्चिरं कालं॑ ततस्तु परिवर्तते । ततस्तु द्विशते काले लभते काण्डपृष्ठताम्
brahmabandhuś ciraṁ kālaṁ tataḥ tu parivartate | tataḥ tu dviśate kāle labhate kāṇḍapṛṣṭhatām ||
قال بيشما: «يمكث زمناً طويلاً مجردَ “براهماباندهو”؛ يحمل اسم البراهمن ولا يحمل سلوكه. ثم إذا تبدّلت حاله، وبعد مضيّ مئتي وحدة من الزمن، ينال حالة “كاندَپْرِشْثا”؛ أي يولد بين براهمةٍ يتّخذون السلاح والقتال معيشةً لهم».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person who retains only the Brahmin label (brahmabandhu) but abandons Brahminical conduct accrues long-term karmic consequences; over time this decline manifests as a lower, weapon-dependent mode of life, indicating that livelihood and birth align with one’s sustained behavior rather than mere lineage.
Bhishma is describing the karmic trajectory of a degraded Brahmin: after remaining a brahmabandhu for a long period, his condition ‘turns’ and, after a stated span (two hundred time-units), he is said to be born among Brahmins who sustain themselves through arms and weapons—an illustrative step in a broader discussion of conduct and its results.