Shloka 10
Vītahavya’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya (Vītahavya–Vipratva) | वीतहव्यस्य ब्राह्मण्यप्राप्तिः
ततः षष्टिगुणे काले राजन्यो नाम जायते । ततः षष्टिगुणे काले लभते ब्रह्मबन्धुताम्
tataḥ ṣaṣṭiguṇe kāle rājanyo nāma jāyate | tataḥ ṣaṣṭiguṇe kāle labhate brahmabandhutām ||
ভীষ্ম বললেন— তারপর ষাটগুণ কাল অতিবাহিত হলে সে রাজন্য, অর্থাৎ ক্ষত্রিয়যোনিতে জন্মায়; এবং আবার ষাটগুণ কাল পেরোলে সে ব্রহ্মবন্ধুর গৃহে জন্মলাভ করে—যে বংশে ব্রাহ্মণ, কিন্তু আচরণে পতিত।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma emphasizes karmic consequence unfolding over vast stretches of time: moral and spiritual decline can lead to progressively lower or compromised social-spiritual conditions of birth, culminating in being a ‘brahma-bandhu’—Brahmin by lineage but deprived of true Brahminical conduct.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma, he describes a sequence of rebirths measured by ‘sixtyfold’ periods: first a birth as a Kṣatriya, and later a birth in the family of a fallen Brahmin, illustrating delayed but inevitable fruition of actions.