Shloka 109
युधिष्ठिर बोले--तात यक्ष! सुनो न तो कुल ब्राह्मणत्वमें कारण है न स्वाध्याय और न शास्त्रश्रवण। ब्राह्मणत्वका हेतु आचार ही है, इसमें संशय नहीं है ।। वृत्तं यत्नेन संरक्ष्यं ब्राह्मणेन विशेषत: । अक्षीणवृत्तो न क्षीणो वृत्ततस्तु हतो हत:,इसलिये प्रयत्नपूर्वक सदाचारकी ही रक्षा करनी चाहिये। ब्राह्मणको तो उसपर विशेषरूपसे दृष्टि रखनी जरूरी है; क्योंकि जिसका सदाचार अक्षुण्ण है, उसका ब्राह्मणत्व भी बना हुआ है और जिसका आचार नष्ट हो गया, वह तो स्वयं भी नष्ट हो गया
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—tāta yakṣa! śṛṇu: na tu kulaṃ brāhmaṇatve kāraṇaṃ, na svādhyāyaḥ, na śāstraśravaṇam. brāhmaṇatvasya hetur ācāra eva; atra na saṃśayaḥ. vṛttaṃ yatnena saṃrakṣyaṃ brāhmaṇena viśeṣataḥ. akṣīṇavṛtto na kṣīṇaḥ; vṛttatas tu hato hataḥ.
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Dear Yakṣa, listen. Neither birth in a family, nor self-study, nor even hearing the scriptures is the true cause of Brahminhood. The real ground of Brahminhood is conduct alone—of this there is no doubt. Therefore one must guard one’s upright way of life with effort, and a Brahmin especially must keep watch over it. For one whose conduct remains unbroken is not diminished; but one who is ruined in conduct is ruined altogether.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral and social identity (here, ‘Brahminhood’) is grounded primarily in ācāra—lived ethical conduct—rather than in birth, mere study, or passive scriptural learning. One must actively preserve vṛtta (upright character), because integrity sustains one’s worth, while loss of conduct amounts to total ruin.
In the Yakṣa-prashna episode of the Vana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira answers the Yakṣa’s probing questions on dharma. Here he emphasizes that true qualification is measured by conduct, presenting an ethical criterion that overrides lineage and formal learning.