Shloka 11
Vītahavya’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya (Vītahavya–Vipratva) | वीतहव्यस्य ब्राह्मण्यप्राप्तिः
ब्रह्मबन्धुश्चिरं कालं॑ ततस्तु परिवर्तते । ततस्तु द्विशते काले लभते काण्डपृष्ठताम्
brahmabandhuś ciraṁ kālaṁ tataḥ tu parivartate | tataḥ tu dviśate kāle labhate kāṇḍapṛṣṭhatām ||
അവൻ ദീർഘകാലം ‘ബ്രഹ്മബന്ധു’—പേരിൽ മാത്രം ബ്രാഹ്മണൻ, ആചാരരഹിതൻ—ആയി തുടരുന്നു. പിന്നെ അവസ്ഥ മാറുമ്പോൾ ഇരുനൂറ് കാലം കഴിഞ്ഞ ശേഷം ‘കാണ്ഡപൃഷ്ഠ’ നില പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു—അഥവാ ആയുധങ്ങളാൽ ഉപജീവനം നടത്തുന്ന ബ്രാഹ്മണരുടെ വീട്ടിൽ ജനിക്കുന്നു.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person who retains only the Brahmin label (brahmabandhu) but abandons Brahminical conduct accrues long-term karmic consequences; over time this decline manifests as a lower, weapon-dependent mode of life, indicating that livelihood and birth align with one’s sustained behavior rather than mere lineage.
Bhishma is describing the karmic trajectory of a degraded Brahmin: after remaining a brahmabandhu for a long period, his condition ‘turns’ and, after a stated span (two hundred time-units), he is said to be born among Brahmins who sustain themselves through arms and weapons—an illustrative step in a broader discussion of conduct and its results.