Shloka 11
Vītahavya’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya (Vītahavya–Vipratva) | वीतहव्यस्य ब्राह्मण्यप्राप्तिः
ब्रह्मबन्धुश्चिरं कालं॑ ततस्तु परिवर्तते । ततस्तु द्विशते काले लभते काण्डपृष्ठताम्,'दीर्घकालतक ब्राह्मणाधम रहकर जब उसकी अवस्था परिवर्तित होती है तब वह अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंसे जीविका चलानेवाले ब्राह्मणके यहाँ जन्म लेता है
brahmabandhuś ciraṁ kālaṁ tataḥ tu parivartate | tataḥ tu dviśate kāle labhate kāṇḍapṛṣṭhatām ||
Bhishma said: “For a long time he remains a mere brahmabandhu—Brahmin in name, not in conduct. Then, when his condition turns, after two hundred measures of time he attains the state called kāṇḍapṛṣṭha: he is born among Brahmins who make their living by arms and weapons.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person who retains only the Brahmin label (brahmabandhu) but abandons Brahminical conduct accrues long-term karmic consequences; over time this decline manifests as a lower, weapon-dependent mode of life, indicating that livelihood and birth align with one’s sustained behavior rather than mere lineage.
Bhishma is describing the karmic trajectory of a degraded Brahmin: after remaining a brahmabandhu for a long period, his condition ‘turns’ and, after a stated span (two hundred time-units), he is said to be born among Brahmins who sustain themselves through arms and weapons—an illustrative step in a broader discussion of conduct and its results.