Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 15
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
शूद्रायां ब्राह्म॒णाज्जातो नित्यादेयधन: स्मृतः । अल्पं चापि प्रदातव्यं शूद्रापुत्राय भारत
śūdrāyāṁ brāhmaṇāj jāto nityādeyadhanaḥ smṛtaḥ | alpaṁ cāpi pradātavyaṁ śūdrāputrāya bhārata ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «El hijo que un brāhmaṇa engendra en una mujer śūdra es tenido por la tradición como alguien cuya propiedad está sujeta a apropiación obligatoria (esto es, no plenamente amparada por las reclamaciones ordinarias de dominio). Y, oh Bhārata, incluso al hijo de un śūdra sólo debe dársele un don pequeño.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse states a traditional normative rule about social status affecting property rights and the scale of gifts: a son born of a Brāhmaṇa by a Śūdra woman is described as having wealth that is ‘always liable to be taken/levied,’ and gifts to a Śūdra’s son are advised to be small—reflecting a hierarchy-based dharma framework in this section on conduct and giving.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, including rules concerning dāna (gift-giving) and social regulations. Here he articulates a prescriptive tradition about how gifts and property are to be treated in relation to varṇa and birth.