Shloka 14
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
एते5पि सदृशान् वर्णान् जनयन्ति स्वयोनिषु । मातृजात्या: प्रसूयन्ते हवरा हीनयोनिषु
Bhīṣma uvāca: ete 'pi sadṛśān varṇān janayanti svayoniṣu | mātṛjātyāḥ prasūyante 'varā hīna-yoniṣu ||
قال بهيشما: إن هؤلاء أيضًا إذا اتحدوا بنساءٍ من جماعتهم وطبقتهم أنجبوا نسلًا مماثلًا لمرتبتهم. أمّا إذا عاشروا نساءً أدنى مولدًا، وُلد نسلٌ يُعَدّ أحطّ؛ ويُنسَب أولئك الأبناء في الحكم إلى سلالة الأمّ.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a dharma-śāstra style claim: unions within one’s own varṇa are said to yield offspring of the same status, while unions with lower-born women are said to produce ‘inferior’ offspring, whose social identity is counted by the mother’s lineage.
Bhishma is instructing (as a dharma-teacher figure in Anuśāsana Parva) on norms of marriage, lineage, and social classification, explaining how different kinds of unions are traditionally believed to affect the status of children.