Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 31 Shloka 6 - Mahabharata | Spanish | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 6

Vītahavya’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya (Vītahavya–Vipratva) | वीतहव्यस्य ब्राह्मण्यप्राप्तिः

Devanagari script

तिर्यग्योनिगत: सर्वो मानुष्यं यदि गच्छति । स जायते पुल्कसो वा चण्डालो वाप्यसंशय:

Transliteration

tiryagyoni-gataḥ sarvo mānuṣyaṃ yadi gacchati | sa jāyate pulkaso vā caṇḍālo vāpy asaṃśayaḥ ||

Translation

Dijo Bhīṣma: Cualquier ser que haya caído en un vientre de animal o de ave, si después alcanza nacimiento humano, primero nace como Pulkaśa o como Caṇḍāla; de ello no hay duda.

Word by Word

तिर्यक्-योनि-गतःgone to an animal-birth (in an animal womb)

सर्वःall (every one)

मानुष्यंhuman state/birth

यदिif

गच्छतिgoes/attains

सःhe/that one

जायतेis born

पुल्कसःa Pulkaśa (a low caste/tribe)

वाor

चण्डालःa Caṇḍāla (outcaste)

वाor

अपिalso/even

असंशयःwithout doubt

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Pulkaśa

Caṇḍāla

tiryagyoni (animal/bird realm)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a karmic gradation of rebirth: transition from animal/bird existence to human birth is depicted as occurring first through a low and stigmatized human condition, emphasizing that prior actions shape the quality and social circumstances of one’s next embodiment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is instructing (in a dharma-teaching context) about consequences of conduct across births, stating a rule-like assertion about how beings move from non-human wombs to human birth, using Pulkaśa and Caṇḍāla as illustrative categories.