Shloka 36

उपदेशदोषप्रसङ्गः (Upadeśa-doṣa-prasaṅgaḥ) — The Risk of Misapplied Counsel

Devanagari script

पुरोहितकुले विप्र आजातो भरतर्षभ । एवं तौ तत्र सम्भूतावुभौ शूद्रमुनी तदा

Transliteration

purohitakule vipra ājāto bharatarṣabha | evaṃ tau tatra sambhūtāv ubhau śūdramunī tadā ||

Translation

Bhishma sprach: „O Stier unter den Bharatas, in der Familie eines königlichen Hauspriesters (purohita) wurde ein Brahmane geboren. So kamen damals dort zwei zur Welt—beide galten als Weise von Śūdra-Herkunft.“

Word by Word

पुरोहितकुलेin the family of a priest

विप्रःa brahmin

आजातःborn

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

एवम्thus

तौthose two

तत्रthere

सम्भूतौarisen / come into being

उभौboth

शूद्रमुनीthe two sages who were shudras

तदाthen

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Bharatarṣabha (addressee, typically Yudhiṣṭhira)

purohita-kula (royal priestly lineage)

vipra (brahmin)

śūdra-munī (two sages of Śūdra origin)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a tension central to the Anuśāsana Parva: spiritual stature (muni-hood) and ethical worth are not reducible to social origin alone. It frames a narrative where birth-status categories and realized wisdom can intersect in unexpected ways.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses the Bharata king and states that a brahmin was born in a purohita lineage, and that, in that same context, two individuals arose who are described as ‘Śūdra-sages,’ setting up a discussion about lineage, status, and the recognition of virtue.