Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 15
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
यथा चतुर्ष वर्णेषु द्वयोरात्मास्य जायते । आनन्तर्यात् प्रजायन्ते तथा बाह्या: प्रधानत:
yathā caturṣu varṇeṣu dvayor ātmāsya jāyate | ānantaryāt prajāyante tathā bāhyāḥ pradhānataḥ ||
ພີສະມະກ່າວວ່າ: “ເຊັ່ນໃນສີ່ວັນນະ ລູກຊາຍທີ່ເກີດຈາກຍິງໃນວັນນະດຽວກັນ—ຫຼືຈາກຍິງທີ່ຕ່ຳກວ່າໜຶ່ງຂັ້ນໂດຍບໍ່ຂ້າມຂັ້ນກາງ—ຖືກນັບເປັນວັນນະຂອງພໍ່. ແຕ່ຖ້າຂ້າມຂັ້ນກາງໄປຫາຍິງທີ່ຕ່ຳກວ່າ ລູກນັ້ນໂດຍຫຼັກຈະຖືກນັບວ່າ ‘ຢູ່ນອກ’ ຈາກວັນນະຂອງພໍ່ ແລະຖືກຈັດຕາມສະຖານະຕ່ຳຂອງແມ່. ໃນທຳນອງດຽວກັນ ໃນໝູ່ຊຸມຊົນປົນເກົ້າຢ່າງ (ເຊັ່ນ ອຳບັດຖະ, ປາຣາຊະວະ, ອຸກຣະ, ຊູຕະ, ໄວເດຫະກະ, ຈັນດາລະ, ມາກະດະ, ນິສາດະ, ອາໂຢກະວະ) ຖ້າເຂົາໃຫ້ກຳເນີດໃນກຸ່ມຂອງຕົນ ຫຼືກັບກຸ່ມທີ່ຕ່ຳກວ່າໜຶ່ງຂັ້ນ ລູກຖືກນັບຕາມກຸ່ມຂອງພໍ່; ແຕ່ຖ້າຂ້າມໄປອີກໜຶ່ງກຸ່ມ ລູກຈະຖືກຖືວ່າເປັນຂອງກຸ່ມຕ່ຳຂອງແມ່.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma lays out a rule-of-thumb for assigning a child’s social status in cases of unions across groups: if the union is within the same group or with the immediately lower group (no skipped intermediary), the child is counted with the father; if an intermediate group is skipped, the child is treated as ‘outside’ the father’s group and aligned with the mother’s inferior status.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instructional setting, Bhīṣma is explaining to Yudhiṣṭhira normative classifications of mixed communities and descent. This verse extends a principle stated for the four varṇas to nine named mixed jāti-groups, describing how offspring are categorized depending on whether the union crosses adjacent or non-adjacent social boundaries.