Shloka 115
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
संकरं कांस्यभाण्डैश्व बलिं चैव कुपात्रके: । चातुर्वर्ण्य यदा कृत्स्नममर्यादं भविष्यति
saṅkaraṃ kāṃsyabhāṇḍaiś ca baliṃ caiva kupātrakeḥ | cāturvarṇyaṃ yadā kṛtsnam amaryādaṃ bhaviṣyati ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Quand l’ordre social s’effondrera, il y aura mélange indiscriminé et confusion ; les offrandes seront faites dans des récipients impropres, et le tribut sera levé par des mains indignes. Alors l’ensemble de l’ordre social en quatre varṇa deviendra sans règle, ayant perdu ses bornes et ses normes.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that when dharma weakens, both ritual practice and social ethics lose their standards: offerings and honors go to unworthy recipients, and the structured responsibilities of the four varṇas become confused and boundaryless.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance. Here he describes signs of societal decline—misplaced offerings/tributes and the breakdown of cāturvarṇya—illustrating how disorder manifests when norms (maryādā) are ignored.