Shloka 17
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
अब्राह्माणं तु मन्यन्ते शूद्रापुत्रमनैपुणात् । त्रिषु वर्णेषु जातो हि ब्राह्मणाद् ब्राह्मणो भवेत्
abhāhmaṇaṁ tu manyante śūdrāputram anaipuṇāt | triṣu varṇeṣu jāto hi brāhmaṇād brāhmaṇo bhavet ||
भीष्म म्हणाले—शूद्रा स्त्रीच्या गर्भात ब्राह्मणापासून झालेल्या पुत्राला ब्राह्मण मानत नाहीत; कारण त्याच्यात ब्राह्मणोचित निपुणता आढळत नाही. परंतु उरलेल्या तीन वर्णांच्या स्त्रियांपासून ब्राह्मणाने उत्पन्न केलेला पुत्र ब्राह्मणच होतो.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse states a normative rule about social recognition (varṇa-status): a child’s acceptance as ‘brāhmaṇa’ is linked to perceived brāhmaṇa-qualities (naipuṇya) and, in the stated scheme, to paternity by a brāhmaṇa across unions with women of other varṇas, while excluding the son of a Śūdra woman from brāhmaṇa recognition.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social norms. Here he addresses rules of lineage and varṇa-classification, explaining how certain births were traditionally categorized and socially acknowledged.