Shloka 25
च्यवन-कुशिक-संवादः
Cyavana–Kuśika Dialogue on Hospitality, Service, and Lineage Questions
संस्कर्तु वर्णगोत्रं च मातृवर्णविनि श्चये । कानीनाध्यूढजौ वापि विज्ञेयौ पुत्र किल्बिषौ
saṁskartu varṇagotraṁ ca mātṛvarṇaviniścaye | kānīnādhyūḍhajau vāpi vijñeyau putra kilbiṣau ||
Bhīṣma said: “When the mother’s varṇa and gotra are clearly ascertained, then for performing the child’s saṃskāras one should adopt the mother’s very varṇa and gotra. Moreover, the sons known as kānīna and adhyūḍhaja are to be recognized as ‘fault-bearing’ offspring, tainted in status.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
If the mother’s varṇa and gotra are known with certainty, the child’s ritual identity for saṁskāras should follow the mother; and certain offspring categories (kānīna, adhyūḍhaja) are treated as carrying a juridical/ritual blemish in traditional dharma classifications.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma instruction, Bhīṣma is laying down rules about lineage and eligibility for rites, clarifying how to assign varṇa/gotra for a child and how specific types of birth are evaluated within the normative legal-ethical framework.