Shloka 4
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
भायश्षितस्रो विप्रस्य द्वयोरात्मा प्रजायते | आनुपूर्व्याद् द्वयोहीनौ मातृजात्यौ प्रसूयत:
bhāryāś catasro viprasya dvayor ātmā prajāyate | ānupūrvyād dvayohīnau mātṛjātyau prasūyataḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「婆羅門には四人の妻がいると説かれる。そのうち二人――婆羅門の女とクシャトリヤの女――から生まれる男子は婆羅門と見なされる。だが残る二人、すなわちヴァイシャの女とシュードラの女から生まれる男子は、婆羅門としての位を欠く者とされ、順次、母のヴァルナに従うものと理解される。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse states a normative rule attributed to Bhishma: in the context of a Brahmin’s four possible wives, offspring from a Brahmin or Kshatriya wife are treated as Brahmin, while offspring from Vaishya or Shudra wives are regarded as lacking full Brahmin status and are classified according to the mother’s caste.
During Bhishma’s extended instruction on dharma in the Anushasana Parva, he lays out traditional social-legal classifications concerning marriage and the status of children born from unions across varṇas, presenting an ordered scheme for how such offspring are to be regarded.