Shloka 29
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
ब्राह्मणे कीदृशो धर्म: क्षत्रिये कीदृशो5भवत् | वैश्ये किलक्षणो धर्म: शूद्रे किलक्षणो भवेत्
brāhmaṇe kīdṛśo dharmaḥ kṣatriye kīdṛśo 'bhavat | vaiśye ki-lakṣaṇo dharmaḥ śūdre ki-lakṣaṇo bhavet ||
ব্ৰাহ্মণৰ ধৰ্মৰ স্বৰূপ কেনেকুৱা? ক্ষত্ৰিয়ৰ কেনেকুৱা? বৈশ্যৰ যথোচিত ধৰ্ম কোন লক্ষণৰে জনা যায়, আৰু শূদ্ৰৰ ধৰ্ম কোন লক্ষণৰে চিনাক্ত হয়?
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a systematic inquiry into varṇadharma—how dharma is defined differently for Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, and Śūdra—by asking for the distinguishing characteristics (lakṣaṇas) of each.
Śrī Maheśvara speaks in a didactic context, posing questions that set up a subsequent explanation of the duties and ethical norms appropriate to the four social orders.