Shloka 26
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
चाण्डालात् पाण्डुसौपाकस्त्वक्सारव्यवहारवान्
cāṇḍālāt pāṇḍusaupākas tvaksāravyavahāravān | cāṇḍāla-puruṣa-niṣāda-jāti-strī-saṃyogena pāṇḍusaupāka-jātir jāyate | eṣā jātir vaṃśa-daliyā-ādi-nirmāṇena jīvikāṃ karoti | vaidehī-jāti-striyā niṣādena saṃparkāt āhiṇḍakaḥ jāyate, kintu sā eva strī cāṇḍālena saṃparkam āpadyate tadā tasyāḥ saupākaḥ prajāyate | saupākasya jīvikā-vṛttiś cāṇḍālasyaiva tulyā |
ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ചാണ്ഡാലപുരുഷനും നിഷാദസ്ത്രീയും ചേർന്നാൽ ‘പാണ്ഡു-സൗപാക’ ജനിക്കുന്നു എന്നു പറയുന്നു; അവന്റെ ഉപജീവനം മുളകൊണ്ട് കൂടകൾ മുതലായവ നിർമ്മിക്കുന്നതായാണ് വർണ്ണനം.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is part of Bhīṣma’s dharma-instruction that catalogues socially recognized groups (jātis) and assigns them origins and customary occupations. It reflects a normative classificatory framework used in the text’s discussion of social order and livelihood.
There is no battlefield action here; Bhīṣma is delivering didactic instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira in the Anuśāsana Parva, listing the names, supposed parentage, and livelihoods of certain communities as understood by the tradition represented in the passage.