Shloka 37
Āśrama-dharma: Duties of the Four Life-Stages (आश्रमधर्मः)
न हि स्वमस्ति शूद्रस्य भर्तृहार्यधनो हि सः । उक्तस्त्रयाणां वर्णानां यज्ञस्तस्य च भारत । स्वाहाकारवषट्कारीौ मन्त्र: शूद्रे न विद्यते
bhīṣma uvāca |
na hi svam asti śūdrasya bhartṛhāryadhano hi saḥ |
uktas trayāṇāṁ varṇānāṁ yajñas tasya ca bhārata |
svāhākāravaṣaṭkārau mantro śūdre na vidyate |
Bhīṣma dit : «Le Śūdra ne possède pas de biens en propre ; sa richesse est tenue pour sujette au droit de son maître. Ô Bharata ! Le sacrifice (yajña) est prescrit aux trois ordres supérieurs—et l’on en parle aussi pour lui ; mais dans le rite du Śūdra, il n’est fait usage ni des mantras védiques, ni des exclamations rituelles “svāhā” et “vaṣaṭ”.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma distinguishes between the general obligation of yajña as a dharmic practice and the specific Vedic form of yajña that requires mantras and the exclamations svāhā/vaṣaṭ; he states that the Śūdra’s rite is not performed with those Vedic elements, reflecting a varṇa-based differentiation of ritual procedure.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he addresses social and ritual norms, explaining how sacrificial duties and their authorized liturgical components differ across varṇas.