Shloka 10
Vītahavya’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya (Vītahavya–Vipratva) | वीतहव्यस्य ब्राह्मण्यप्राप्तिः
ततः षष्टिगुणे काले राजन्यो नाम जायते । ततः षष्टिगुणे काले लभते ब्रह्मबन्धुताम्
tataḥ ṣaṣṭiguṇe kāle rājanyo nāma jāyate | tataḥ ṣaṣṭiguṇe kāle labhate brahmabandhutām ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Puis, après une période multipliée soixante fois, il naît dans l’ordre des Kṣatriyas. Puis encore, après un autre laps de temps, lui aussi soixante fois plus long, il obtient naissance dans la maison d’un “brahma-bandhu” — brahmane par la lignée, mais déchu de la conduite brahmanique.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma emphasizes karmic consequence unfolding over vast stretches of time: moral and spiritual decline can lead to progressively lower or compromised social-spiritual conditions of birth, culminating in being a ‘brahma-bandhu’—Brahmin by lineage but deprived of true Brahminical conduct.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma, he describes a sequence of rebirths measured by ‘sixtyfold’ periods: first a birth as a Kṣatriya, and later a birth in the family of a fallen Brahmin, illustrating delayed but inevitable fruition of actions.