Shloka 32
स्त्रीर॒त्नं दुष्कुलाच्चापि विषादप्यमृतं पिबेत् । अदृष्या हि स्त्रियो रत्नमाप इत्येव धर्मतः,नीच कुलसे भी उत्तम स्त्रीको ग्रहण कर ले, विषके स्थानसे भी अमृत मिले तो उसे पी ले; क्योंकि स्त्रियाँ, रतन और जल--ये धर्मतः दूषणीय नहीं होते हैं
strīratnaṃ duṣkulāccāpi viṣād apy amṛtaṃ pibet | adṛśyā hi striyo ratnam āpa ity eva dharmataḥ ||
قال بهيشما: «ليُقبل بالمرأة الفاضلة وإن كانت من بيتٍ وضيع، وإن وُجد الرحيق (أمرتَه/أمريتا) في موضع السمّ فليشربه. فإن النساء والجواهر والماء—بحكم الدارما—لا ينبغي ردّها بزعم أنها “مدنّسة”.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Judge by intrinsic worth rather than origin: an excellent woman should be accepted even if her family is low, and true benefit should be taken even if found in an unlikely or impure-seeming place; dharma discourages blanket rejection of women, jewels, and water as inherently ‘defiled’.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Bhishma gives a proverbial rule to Yudhishthira: practical dharma requires discernment—embracing genuine virtue and benefit, not merely social pedigree or superficial notions of purity.