Shloka 17
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
यथा शाद्रो5पि ब्राह्मण्यां जन्तुं बाह्ां प्रसूयते । एवं बाह्यृतराद् बाह्दाश्षातुर्वर्ण्यात् प्रजायते
bhīṣma uvāca | yathā śūdro 'pi brāhmaṇyāṃ jantuṃ bāhyaṃ prasūyate | evaṃ bāhyatarād bāhyaś cāturvarṇyāt prajāyate |
Bhīṣma sagte: So wie selbst ein Śūdra durch die Verbindung mit einer Brāhmaṇa-Frau einen Ausgestoßenen zeugt—einen vom Varṇa-Gefüge Ausgeschlossenen, Cāṇḍāla genannt—, so bringt auch jemand, der bereits außerhalb der sozialen Ordnung steht, durch Verbindung mit Frauen der vier Varṇa (und mit Frauen noch stärker ausgeschlossener Gruppen) Nachkommen hervor, die als noch niedriger gelten als er selbst.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Within Bhishma’s normative discussion of dharma and social order, the verse asserts that unions crossing prescribed boundaries are regarded as producing offspring classified as socially excluded, and that exclusion is portrayed as compounding across generations.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira on rules and consequences related to varṇa/jāti conduct; here he uses an analogy about birth and lineage to explain how certain unions are viewed in that framework.