Shloka 27
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
आहिण्डको निषादेन वैदेहाां सम्प्रसूयते । चण्डालेन तु सौपाकश्नण्डालसमतवृत्तिमान्
āhiṇḍako niṣādena vaidehāṃ samprasūyate | caṇḍālena tu saupākaś caṇḍālasamatavṛttimān ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «De la unión de un hombre Niṣāda con una mujer Vaidehā nace el llamado Āhiṇḍaka. Pero de la unión de un hombre Caṇḍāla con esa misma mujer Vaidehā nace un Saupāka, cuyo modo de vida y condición social se tienen por comparables a los de un Caṇḍāla.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is part of Bhīṣma’s normative cataloging of social categories arising from specific unions and the customary livelihoods attributed to them, illustrating how traditional dharma literature attempted to map social order through birth, lineage, and occupation.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he lists outcomes of particular inter-community unions: Niṣāda with Vaidehā producing Āhiṇḍaka, and Caṇḍāla with Vaidehā producing Saupāka, noting the Saupāka’s livelihood is considered similar to that of a Caṇḍāla.