Shloka 24
Adhyāya 122 — Śruta-vṛtta-yukta Brāhmaṇa and the Ethics of Dāna
Maitreya–Vyāsa Saṃvāda
तिर्यग्योन्या: शूद्रताम भ्युपैति शूद्रो वैश्य॑ क्षत्रियत्वं च वैश्य: । वृत्तश्लाघी क्षत्रियो ब्राह्मणत्वं स्वर्ग पुण्यं ब्राह्मण: साधुवृत्त:
tiryagyonyāḥ śūdratām abhyupaiti śūdro vaiśyaṃ kṣatriyatvaṃ ca vaiśyaḥ | vṛttaślāghī kṣatriyo brāhmaṇatvaṃ svargaṃ puṇyaṃ brāhmaṇaḥ sādhuvṛttaḥ ||
Vyāsa said: A being born in an animal womb, when it rises upward in its course, first attains the state of a Śūdra. A Śūdra attains birth among Vaiśyas; a Vaiśya attains birth among Kṣatriyas; and a Kṣatriya, praised for upright conduct, attains birth among Brāhmaṇas. Then the Brāhmaṇa who is firmly established in good conduct reaches the meritorious heaven. The passage frames social ascent not as mere status, but as a moral trajectory governed by conduct and accumulated merit.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents an ethical ladder of rebirth: upward movement from non-human birth through human social categories is linked to merit and especially to good conduct (vṛtta/ācāra). The culminating reward is not merely higher birth but the attainment of puṇya-bearing svarga for the sādhuvṛtta Brāhmaṇa.
Vyāsa is speaking in Anuśāsana Parva, giving didactic instruction about dharma and the fruits of conduct. Here he outlines a schematic progression of births—animal to Śūdra to Vaiśya to Kṣatriya to Brāhmaṇa—and then heaven for the Brāhmaṇa established in good conduct.