Shloka 37
Karma, Preta-gati, and the Continuity of Phala
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Instruction
जबतक बालकका संस्कार करके उसे वेदका स्वाध्याय न कराया जाय, तबतक वह शूद्रहीके समान है। जातिविषयक संदेह होनेपर स्वायम्भुव मनुने यही निर्णय दिया है। नागराज! यदि वैदिक संस्कार करके वेदाध्ययन करनेपर भी ब्राह्मणादि वर्णोमें अपेक्षित शील और सदाचारका उदय नहीं हुआ तो उसमें प्रबल वर्णसंकरता है, ऐसा विचारपूर्वक निश्चय किया गया है ।। यत्रेदानीं महासर्प संस्कृतं वृत्तमिष्यते । त॑ ब्राह्मणमहं पूर्वमुक्तवान् भुजगोत्तम,महासर्प! भुजंगमप्रवर! इस समय जिसमें संस्कारके साथ-साथ सदाचारकी उपलब्धि हो, वही ब्राह्मण है। यह बात मैं पहले ही बता चुका हूँ
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—
Yāvad bālakasya saṃskāraṃ kṛtvā na taṃ vedasya svādhyāye pravartayati, tāvat sa śūdra-samo bhavati. Jāti-viṣayake saṃśaye Svāyambhuvo Manuḥ evam eva nirṇayaṃ dattavān. Nāgarāja! yadi vaidikān saṃskārān kṛtvā vedādhyayanaṃ kṛte ’pi brāhmaṇādi-varṇeṣu yathāpekṣitaṃ śīlaṃ sadācāraś ca na prādurbhavet, tarhi tasmin prabalaṃ varṇa-saṅkaratvam iti vicāra-pūrvakaṃ niścitam.
Yatr’edānīṃ mahāsarpa saṃskṛtaṃ vṛttam iṣyate, taṃ brāhmaṇam ahaṃ pūrvam uktavān bhujagottama. Mahāsarpa! bhujaṅgama-pravara! asmin kāle yasmin saṃskāra-sahitaṃ sadācāra-lābhaḥ, sa eva brāhmaṇaḥ—etad ahaṃ pūrvam eva te ’bravam.
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “So long as a boy, even after undergoing the refining rites, is not set to the disciplined study of the Veda (svādhyāya), he is regarded as no different from a Śūdra. When there is doubt about one’s varṇa-status, Svāyambhuva Manu has given this very ruling. O king of serpents! Even if a person has received Vedic sacraments and has studied the Veda, if the expected virtues and good conduct that should arise in the Brahmin and other orders do not manifest, then—after due reflection—it is concluded that there is a strong admixture and confusion of varṇas (varṇa-saṅkara) in him. Therefore, O great serpent, O best of serpents: whoever is now found to possess cultivated conduct together with the refining sacraments—him I call a Brahmin. This is what I have already told you.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vedic rites and learning are not sufficient by themselves; true Brahminhood is affirmed where refined formation (saṃskāra) is matched by virtue and good conduct (śīla, sadācāra). Without Vedic study one remains unqualified, and without ethical excellence even a learned person is judged to show varṇa-confusion.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses the serpent-king (Nāgarāja), citing Manu’s authority to resolve doubts about caste-status and arguing that conduct and cultivated virtue are decisive markers, not merely birth or ritual.