Shloka 27
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
युधिछिर उवाच शूद्रायां ब्राह्मणाज्जातो यद्यदेयधन: स्मृत: । केन प्रतिविशेषेण दशमो<प्यस्य दीयते
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—
Śūdrāyāṁ brāhmaṇāj jāto yady adeya-dhanaḥ smṛtaḥ |
Kena prati-viśeṣeṇa daśamo ’py asya dīyate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dijo: «Si la tradición recuerda que un hijo nacido de un brāhmana con una mujer śūdrā es alguien a quien no debe darse propiedad, ¿por qué distinción particular se le asigna, sin embargo, incluso una décima parte de la riqueza paterna?»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-śāstric problem: how to reconcile a general rule of ineligibility for inheritance with an acknowledged exception granting a limited share. It highlights the Mahābhārata’s method of ethical inquiry—testing rules against nuanced cases and asking for the rationale (viśeṣa) behind exceptions.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira questions an elder/teacher about inheritance: if a son born to a brāhmaṇa from a śūdrā woman is said to be ‘not to receive property,’ why do some authorities still assign him a tenth portion of the father’s wealth?