Shloka 18
Varṇasaṃkara: Causes, Classifications, and Conduct-based Recognition (वर्णसंकरः—हेतु-जाति-आचारनिर्णयः)
यो मनुष्य: स्वकं पुत्र विक्रीय धनमिच्छति । कन्यां वा जीवितार्थाय यः शुल्केन प्रयच्छति
yo manuṣyaḥ svakaṃ putraṃ vikrīya dhanam icchati | kanyāṃ vā jīvitārthāya yaḥ śulkena prayacchati |
Bhīṣma dijo: «Aquel hombre que, tras vender a su propio hijo, busca riqueza—o que, por mero sustento, entrega a una doncella a cambio de un precio nupcial—obra en la ilusión y comete una grave falta moral.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns treating close kin—especially one’s child or a maiden given in marriage—as commodities for profit. It frames such acts as adharma: a violation of familial responsibility and human dignity, motivated by greed or desperate livelihood.
In the Anuśāsana-parvan’s dharma-instruction, Bhīṣma is teaching Yudhiṣṭhira about sinful social practices and their moral gravity. Here he singles out the selling of one’s son and the giving of a maiden for a price (śulka) as reprehensible conduct.