Shloka 5
Brāhmaṇa-Dharma, Āśrama Eligibility, and the Primacy of Rāja-Dharma (Śānti Parva 63)
या संज्ञा विहिता लोके दासे शुनि वृके पशौ | विकर्मणि स्थिते विप्रे सैव संज्ञा च पाण्डव
yā saṁjñā vihitā loke dāse śuni vṛke paśau | vikarmaṇi sthite vipre saiva saṁjñā ca pāṇḍava ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “The same contemptuous label that society assigns to a slave, a dog, a wolf, or other beasts is also applied, O Pāṇḍava, to a brāhmaṇa who engages in actions contrary to his own ordained duty. When one abandons proper conduct, the world judges him by that fall, not by birth alone.”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Social and moral identity is tied to conduct: a brāhmaṇa who acts against prescribed duty (vikarma) is judged with the same contempt reserved for degraded or despised categories; birth alone does not protect one from ethical accountability.
In the Śānti Parva’s dharma-discourse, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a principle of moral evaluation: society assigns labels based on behavior, and a learned person who abandons rightful conduct is treated as fallen despite status.