Shloka 18
च्यवन-कुशिक-संवादः
Cyavana–Kuśika Dialogue on Hospitality, Service, and Lineage Questions
क्वचिच्च कृतक: पुत्र: संग्रहादेव लक्ष्यते । न तत्र रेत: क्षेत्र वा यत्र लक्ष्येत भारत
kvacic ca kṛtakaḥ putraḥ saṃgrahād eva lakṣyate | na tatra retaḥ kṣetra vā yatra lakṣyeta bhārata ||
Bhīṣma said: “In some cases a son is known as ‘kṛtaka’—made and established as a son—solely by the act of taking him in and formally receiving him. There, O Bhārata, one does not look to seed or to the ‘field’ (the mother’s womb) as proof; where acceptance is plain, neither seed nor field is sought.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that in certain dharma-legal situations, social and ritual recognition of sonship can rest on formal acceptance (saṃgraha) rather than biological paternity or maternity; the ethical emphasis is on acknowledged responsibility and established status within the family order.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma explains categories of sons and principles of lineage and inheritance to Yudhiṣṭhira. Here he notes that a ‘kṛtaka’ (constituted/adopted) son is identified by being taken and accepted, without requiring proof of ‘seed’ or ‘field’.