Shloka 17
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
यथा शाद्रो5पि ब्राह्मण्यां जन्तुं बाह्ां प्रसूयते । एवं बाह्यृतराद् बाह्दाश्षातुर्वर्ण्यात् प्रजायते
bhīṣma uvāca | yathā śūdro 'pi brāhmaṇyāṃ jantuṃ bāhyaṃ prasūyate | evaṃ bāhyatarād bāhyaś cāturvarṇyāt prajāyate |
Bhishma berkata: Sebagaimana seorang Śūdra, melalui persatuan dengan wanita Brāhmaṇa, memperanakkan zuriat buangan—yang tersingkir daripada tertib varṇa—yang disebut Cāṇḍāla; demikian juga seseorang yang sudah berada di luar tertib sosial itu, apabila bersatu dengan wanita daripada keempat-empat varṇa (dan juga wanita daripada kelompok yang lebih tersisih lagi), akan melahirkan keturunan yang dianggap lebih rendah daripada dirinya sendiri.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Within Bhishma’s normative discussion of dharma and social order, the verse asserts that unions crossing prescribed boundaries are regarded as producing offspring classified as socially excluded, and that exclusion is portrayed as compounding across generations.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira on rules and consequences related to varṇa/jāti conduct; here he uses an analogy about birth and lineage to explain how certain unions are viewed in that framework.