Shloka 15
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
शूद्रायां ब्राह्म॒णाज्जातो नित्यादेयधन: स्मृतः । अल्पं चापि प्रदातव्यं शूद्रापुत्राय भारत
śūdrāyāṁ brāhmaṇāj jāto nityādeyadhanaḥ smṛtaḥ | alpaṁ cāpi pradātavyaṁ śūdrāputrāya bhārata ||
ভীষ্মে ক’লে—শূদ্ৰা নাৰীৰ গৰ্ভত ব্ৰাহ্মণৰ পৰা জন্ম লোৱা পুত্ৰক শাস্ত্ৰত ‘নিত্য-আদেয়-ধন’ বুলি স্মৰণ কৰা হয়। আৰু, হে ভাৰত, শূদ্ৰৰ পুত্ৰক দান দিব লাগিলেও অতি অলপেই দিব লাগে।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse states a traditional normative rule about social status affecting property rights and the scale of gifts: a son born of a Brāhmaṇa by a Śūdra woman is described as having wealth that is ‘always liable to be taken/levied,’ and gifts to a Śūdra’s son are advised to be small—reflecting a hierarchy-based dharma framework in this section on conduct and giving.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, including rules concerning dāna (gift-giving) and social regulations. Here he articulates a prescriptive tradition about how gifts and property are to be treated in relation to varṇa and birth.