Shloka 10
च्यवन-कुशिक-संवादः
Cyavana–Kuśika Dialogue on Hospitality, Service, and Lineage Questions
मागधो वामकइश्नैव द्वौ वैश्यस्योपलक्षितौ । ब्राह्माण्यां क्षत्रियायां च क्षत्रियस्यैक एव तु
bhīṣma uvāca |
māgadho vāmakaiś caiva dvau vaiśyasyopalakṣitau |
brāhmaṇyāṁ kṣatriyāyāṁ ca kṣatriyasyaika eva tu ||
Bhishma said: “From a Vaishya, two kinds of offspring are recognized when born in the womb of a Brahmin woman and in that of a Kshatriya woman—known respectively as Māgadha and Vāmaka. But for a Kshatriya, only one such offspring is recognized: the son born of a Brahmin woman, called Sūta. These are counted among the ‘apasada’ (pratiloma) births. O king, such classifications are stated as established in this dharma-discourse and are not to be dismissed as false.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a normative dharma classification of certain ‘pratiloma’ (reverse-order) unions and the names assigned to their offspring, treating these categories as authoritative within the traditional social-ethical framework being taught by Bhishma.
In the Anushasana Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma is explaining to the king a set of traditional social categories: which mixed-lineage sons are said to arise from a Vaishya father with Brahmin/Kshatriya mothers (Māgadha, Vāmaka), and from a Kshatriya father with a Brahmin mother (Sūta).