Shloka 115
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
संकरं कांस्यभाण्डैश्व बलिं चैव कुपात्रके: । चातुर्वर्ण्य यदा कृत्स्नममर्यादं भविष्यति
saṅkaraṃ kāṃsyabhāṇḍaiś ca baliṃ caiva kupātrakeḥ | cāturvarṇyaṃ yadā kṛtsnam amaryādaṃ bhaviṣyati ||
ビーシュマは言った。「社会の秩序が崩れ落ちるとき、無差別の混交と混乱が起こる。供物は不浄の器に盛られ、貢納はふさわしからぬ手によって取り立てられる。そのとき四姓の秩序はことごとく無規矩となり、しかるべき境界と規範を失うであろう。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that when dharma weakens, both ritual practice and social ethics lose their standards: offerings and honors go to unworthy recipients, and the structured responsibilities of the four varṇas become confused and boundaryless.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance. Here he describes signs of societal decline—misplaced offerings/tributes and the breakdown of cāturvarṇya—illustrating how disorder manifests when norms (maryādā) are ignored.