Shloka 51
एकैव हि भवेद् भार्या वैश्यस्य कुरुनन्दन । द्वितीया तु भवेत् शूद्रा न तु दृष्टान्ततः स्मृता,कुरुनन्दन! वैश्यकी एक ही वैश्यकन्या धर्मानुसार भार्या हो सकती है। दूसरी शूद्रा भी होती है, परंतु शास्त्रसे उसका समर्थन नहीं होता है
ekaiva hi bhaved bhāryā vaiśyasya kurunandana | dvitīyā tu bhavec chūdrā na tu dṛṣṭāntataḥ smṛtā ||
Bhīṣma said: “O joy of the Kurus, for a Vaiśya there should be only one lawful wife—one taken from the Vaiśya class. A second wife may indeed be a Śūdrā woman, yet the tradition does not uphold this as a sanctioned model or exemplary precedent.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma states a normative rule: a Vaiśya’s proper, dharmic wife is one from the same varṇa; while a second union with a Śūdrā woman is mentioned as a possibility, it is not presented as an approved exemplar grounded in authoritative tradition (smṛti/dṛṣṭānta).
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira about social and marital norms, distinguishing between what is considered fully sanctioned practice and what is merely reported without being upheld as a model precedent.