Shloka 10
च्यवन-कुशिक-संवादः
Cyavana–Kuśika Dialogue on Hospitality, Service, and Lineage Questions
मागधो वामकइश्नैव द्वौ वैश्यस्योपलक्षितौ । ब्राह्माण्यां क्षत्रियायां च क्षत्रियस्यैक एव तु
bhīṣma uvāca |
māgadho vāmakaiś caiva dvau vaiśyasyopalakṣitau |
brāhmaṇyāṁ kṣatriyāyāṁ ca kṣatriyasyaika eva tu ||
Bhīṣma dit : «D’un vaiśya, on reconnaît deux sortes de descendance lorsqu’elle naît dans le sein d’une femme brāhmaṇa et dans celui d’une femme kṣatriya : on les nomme respectivement Māgadha et Vāmaka. Mais pour un kṣatriya, une seule est admise : le fils né d’une femme brāhmaṇa, appelé Sūta. Ceux-ci sont comptés parmi les ‘apasada’ (pratiloma), les naissances d’ordre inverse. Ô roi, de telles classifications sont énoncées comme établies dans ce discours du dharma et ne sauraient être rejetées comme mensongères.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a normative dharma classification of certain ‘pratiloma’ (reverse-order) unions and the names assigned to their offspring, treating these categories as authoritative within the traditional social-ethical framework being taught by Bhishma.
In the Anushasana Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma is explaining to the king a set of traditional social categories: which mixed-lineage sons are said to arise from a Vaishya father with Brahmin/Kshatriya mothers (Māgadha, Vāmaka), and from a Kshatriya father with a Brahmin mother (Sūta).