Shloka 22
Chapter 2: Sudarśana Upākhyāna — Atithi-Dharma and the Conquest of Mṛtyu
Gṛhastha-Vrata
दरिद्रश्चनासवर्णश्र॒ ममायमिति पार्थिव: । न दित्सति सुतां तस्मै तां विप्राय सुदर्शनाम्,राजा यह सोचकर कि एक तो यह दरिद्र है और दूसरे मेरे समान वर्णका नहीं है, अपनी पुत्री सुदर्शनाको उस ब्राह्मणके हाथमें नहीं देना चाहते थे
daridraś cānāsavarṇaś ca mamāyam iti pārthivaḥ | na ditsati sutāṃ tasmai tāṃ viprāya sudarśanām ||
Bhīṣma said: The king, thinking, “This man is poor, and moreover not of my own social class,” was unwilling to give his daughter Sudarśanā in marriage to that brāhmaṇa.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse critiques exclusion based on poverty and varṇa-identification: a ruler’s attachment to status (“not of my class”) can lead to adharma by denying a worthy match or failing in generosity and fairness.
Bhīṣma narrates that a king refuses to give his daughter Sudarśanā to a brāhmaṇa because he considers the man poor and not of the same varṇa as himself.