Shloka 42
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
पित्रयं वा भजते शीलं मातृजं वा तथोभयम् । न कथंचन संकीर्ण: प्रकृतिं स्वां नियच्छति,वर्णसंकर पुरुष अपने पिता या माताके अथवा दोनोंके ही स्वभावका अनुसरण करता है। वह किसी तरह अपनी प्रकृतिको छिपा नहीं सकता
pitryaṃ vā bhajate śīlaṃ mātṛjaṃ vā tathobhayam | na kathaṃcana saṃkīrṇaḥ prakṛtiṃ svāṃ niyacchati ||
Bhishma berkata: “Seseorang menuruti tabiat yang diwarisi daripada ayahnya, atau daripada ibunya, atau gabungan kedua-duanya. Betapa pun bercampur asal kelahirannya, dia tidak dapat menahan atau menyembunyikan fitrah dirinya sendiri.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Innate disposition (prakṛti/śīla), shaped by parental inheritance, asserts itself; one cannot truly suppress or hide one’s natural tendencies, so ethical life must account for and discipline one’s nature rather than pretend it is absent.
In Bhishma’s instruction in the Anushasana Parva, he explains to his listener that a person’s character typically reflects paternal, maternal, or combined traits, emphasizing the inevitability of one’s inborn nature even in cases of mixed lineage.