Shloka 14
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
एते5पि सदृशान् वर्णान् जनयन्ति स्वयोनिषु । मातृजात्या: प्रसूयन्ते हवरा हीनयोनिषु
Bhīṣma uvāca: ete 'pi sadṛśān varṇān janayanti svayoniṣu | mātṛjātyāḥ prasūyante 'varā hīna-yoniṣu ||
Bahkan mereka yang lahir dari percampuran varṇa pun, bila bersatu dengan perempuan dari golongan mereka sendiri, melahirkan keturunan yang sepadan dengan golongan itu. Namun bila mereka bergaul dengan perempuan yang kelahirannya lebih rendah, lahirlah keturunan yang dipandang lebih hina; dan anak demikian dinilai menurut garis keturunan sang ibu.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a dharma-śāstra style claim: unions within one’s own varṇa are said to yield offspring of the same status, while unions with lower-born women are said to produce ‘inferior’ offspring, whose social identity is counted by the mother’s lineage.
Bhishma is instructing (as a dharma-teacher figure in Anuśāsana Parva) on norms of marriage, lineage, and social classification, explaining how different kinds of unions are traditionally believed to affect the status of children.