Shloka 9
च्यवन-कुशिक-संवादः
Cyavana–Kuśika Dialogue on Hospitality, Service, and Lineage Questions
चाण्डालो व्रात्यवैद्यौ च ब्राह्म॒ण्यां क्षत्रियासु च वैश्यायां चैव शूद्रस्य लक्ष्यन्तेडपसदास्त्रय:
cāṇḍālo vrātyavaidyau ca brāhmaṇyāṃ kṣatriyāsu ca vaiśyāyāṃ caiva śūdrasya lakṣyante ’pasadās trayaḥ
Bhīṣma berkata: “Bila seorang Śūdra memperanakkan putra pada perempuan Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, dan Vaiśya, maka putra-putra itu dikenali sebagai tiga macam ‘apasada’: masing-masing disebut Cāṇḍāla, Vrātya, dan Vaidya. Inilah tiga ragam apasada.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a dharma-śāstra style classification of offspring from unions considered outside the prescribed varṇa marriage norms, labeling them as three types of apasada and naming them Cāṇḍāla, Vrātya, and Vaidya according to the mother’s varṇa.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social regulations; here he enumerates categories of mixed-varṇa progeny as part of a broader didactic discussion on conduct, lineage, and social order.