Shloka 25
च्यवन-कुशिक-संवादः
Cyavana–Kuśika Dialogue on Hospitality, Service, and Lineage Questions
संस्कर्तु वर्णगोत्रं च मातृवर्णविनि श्चये । कानीनाध्यूढजौ वापि विज्ञेयौ पुत्र किल्बिषौ
saṁskartu varṇagotraṁ ca mātṛvarṇaviniścaye | kānīnādhyūḍhajau vāpi vijñeyau putra kilbiṣau ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «Hijo mío, cuando se han establecido con claridad el varṇa y el gotra de la madre, entonces, para realizar los saṃskāra del niño, deben adoptarse el varṇa y el gotra de la propia madre. Además, los hijos llamados kānīna y adhyūḍhaja han de ser reconocidos como descendencia “manchada”, portadora de falta en su condición».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
If the mother’s varṇa and gotra are known with certainty, the child’s ritual identity for saṁskāras should follow the mother; and certain offspring categories (kānīna, adhyūḍhaja) are treated as carrying a juridical/ritual blemish in traditional dharma classifications.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma instruction, Bhīṣma is laying down rules about lineage and eligibility for rites, clarifying how to assign varṇa/gotra for a child and how specific types of birth are evaluated within the normative legal-ethical framework.