Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 67
उपदेशदोषप्रसङ्गः (Upadeśa-doṣa-prasaṅgaḥ) — The Risk of Misapplied Counsel
एवं प्राप्तो महत्कृच्छुमृषि: सन्नपसत्तम । ब्राह्मणेन न वक्तव्यं तस्माद् वर्णावरे जने
evaṁ prāpto mahatkṛcchum ṛṣiḥ sann apasattama | brāhmaṇena na vaktavyaṁ tasmād varṇāvare jane, nūpaśiromaṇe ||
भीष्म ने कहा—इस प्रकार वह ऋषि, यद्यपि परम सदाचारी था, महान् संकट में पड़ गया। अतः, हे नृपशिरोमणे, ब्राह्मण को चाहिए कि वह नीच वर्ण के जन को उपदेश न दे।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma draws a normative rule from an example: instruction (upadeśa) should be given with discernment about the recipient; he states that a brāhmaṇa ought not to teach a person deemed of lower varṇa, because such teaching previously led a sage into grave trouble.
Bhīṣma is concluding an illustrative episode: an unnamed sage, despite being righteous, suffered severe hardship after giving counsel to a śūdra. Using that outcome as a caution, he advises the king (addressed as nūpaśiromaṇi) about restrictions on whom a brāhmaṇa should instruct.