Shloka 8
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
वैषम्यादथवा लोभात् कामाद् वापि परंतप । ब्राह्मणस्य भवेच्छूद्रा न तु दृष्टान्तत: स्मृता
vaiṣamyād athavā lobhāt kāmād vāpi paraṃtapa | brāhmaṇasya bhavec chūdrā na tu dṛṣṭāntataḥ smṛtā ||
قال بهيشما: «يا مُحْرِقَ الأعداء، سواء كان ذلك بدافع المحاباة أو الطمع أو الشهوة، فقد تصير امرأةٌ من الشودرَة (Śūdra) زوجةً لبرهمن (Brāhmaṇa)؛ غير أنّ الشاسترا (śāstra) لا تذكره سابقةً مُقَرَّةً ولا قاعدةً مُجازة».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma distinguishes between what may happen in practice due to bias, greed, or desire and what is actually authorized by śāstra: an occurrence does not automatically become dharma unless supported by recognized scriptural precedent.
In his instruction to the king, Bhishma discusses norms of conduct and social regulation, noting that certain cross-varṇa marital outcomes can occur through human failings, but he denies that such cases are upheld as a formal rule in the remembered tradition.