Shloka 15
Śuka’s Nirveda: Vyāsa’s Admonition on Dharma, Impermanence, and ‘Imperishable Wealth’ (अक्षय-धन)
सत्कृता चैकपत्नी च जात्या योनिरिहेष्यते । ऋग्यजु:सामगो विद्वान् षट्कर्मा पात्रमुच्यते
satkṛtā caikapatnī ca jātyā yoniriheṣyate | ṛgyajuḥsāmago vidvān ṣaṭkarmā pātram ucyate ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: Una mujer honrada (por su esposo), fiel a un solo marido y nacida en un linaje respetable es tenida aquí por un «vientre excelente»; por ello, quien nace de tal madre se considera puro por nacimiento. Además, el brāhmaṇa versado en el Ṛg-, el Yajur- y el Sāma-veda, que cumple constantemente los seis deberes prescritos (oficiar y hacer oficiar el sacrificio, estudiar y enseñar, dar y aceptar dones), es llamado puro por su conducta y apto para recibir dádivas.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma distinguishes two bases of worthiness: purity by birth (being born from a respected, faithful, well-born mother) and purity by conduct (a Brāhmaṇa’s Vedic learning and steady performance of the six prescribed duties), concluding that such a person is a ‘pātra’—a fit recipient of gifts and social trust.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira by describing markers of social and ritual eligibility: the mother’s recognized virtue and lineage, and the Brāhmaṇa’s Vedic competence together with disciplined performance of traditional obligations.