Shloka 383
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
भूयो भूयो<5पि संहार्य: पितृवित्ताद् युधिष्ठिर । क्षत्रियकन्या संसारमें अपनी जातिद्दारा ब्राह्मण-कन्याके बराबर नहीं हो सकती। नृपश्रेष्ठ! इसी प्रकार ब्राह्मणीका पुत्र क्षत्रियाके पुत्रसे प्रथम एवं ज्येष्ठ होगा। युधिष्ठिर! इसलिये पिताके धनमेंसे ब्राह्मणीके पुत्रको अधिक-अधिक भाग देना चाहिये
bhūyo bhūyo 'pi saṃhāryaḥ pitṛvittād yudhiṣṭhira | kṣatriyakanyā saṃsāre svajātyā brāhmaṇa-kanyāsamā na bhavati | nṛpaśreṣṭha! tathā brāhmaṇyāḥ putraḥ kṣatriyaputrāt prathama eva jyeṣṭhaś ca bhavati | yudhiṣṭhira! tasmāt pitṛdhane brāhmaṇyāḥ putrāya bhūyobhūyaḥ bhāgo dātavyaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Again and again, O Yudhiṣṭhira, this must be kept in view when distributing a father’s wealth. In the social order, a Kṣatriya maiden, by virtue of her birth, is not regarded as equal to a Brāhmaṇa maiden. Likewise, O best of kings, the son born of a Brāhmaṇa wife is considered prior and elder to the son of a Kṣatriya. Therefore, O Yudhiṣṭhira, from the father’s property a larger share should be allotted to the son of the Brāhmaṇa wife.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches a rule of precedence in inheritance: when allocating a father’s property, the son of a Brāhmaṇa wife is to be treated as senior and given a larger share than the son of a Kṣatriya wife, reflecting the text’s varṇa-based hierarchy.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues advising King Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma—here, specifically on social precedence and the distribution of paternal wealth among sons born of wives of different varṇas.