Shloka 40
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
भीष्म उवाच योनिसंकलुषे जातं नानाभावसमन्वितम् । कर्मभि: सज्जनाचीर्ण॑विज्ञेया योनिशुद्धता
bhīṣma uvāca | yoni-saṅkaluṣe jātaṁ nānā-bhāva-samanvitam | karmabhiḥ sajjanācīrṇa-vijñeyā yoni-śuddhatā ||
Bhīṣma sprach: «Yudhiṣṭhira, wer aus befleckter Herkunft geboren ist, zeigt vielerlei Neigungen und Verhaltensweisen, die dem Wandel der Tugendhaften zuwiderlaufen; darum erkennt man ihn an seinen Taten. Ebenso ist die Reinheit der Herkunft aus Handlungen zu verstehen, die dem Maßstab guter Menschen entsprechen.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that moral identity is inferred from conduct: tainted origins tend to manifest in unvirtuous behavior, while purity of origin is recognized through actions aligned with the practices of the virtuous (sajjana). Deeds, not claims, are the practical criterion.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira in the Anushasana Parva, he is laying down ethical criteria for judging character and social standing, emphasizing observable behavior as the basis for assessing purity or impurity of one’s background.