Shloka 182
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
पृथक्त्वादाश्रमाणां च वर्णन्यत्वे तथैव च । परस्परपृथक्त्वाच्च कथं ते वर्णसंकर:,सारे आश्रम पृथक्-पृथक् हैं तथा चारों वर्ण भी भिन्न हैं। जब इनमें परस्पर पार्थक्य बना हुआ है, तब पृथक्त्वको जाननेवाले आपके वर्णका संकर कैसे हो सकता है?
pṛthaktvād āśramāṇāṁ ca varṇānyatve tathaiva ca | paraspara-pṛthaktvāc ca kathaṁ te varṇa-saṅkaraḥ ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Oleh sebab āśrama-āśrama itu berbeza antara satu sama lain, demikian juga empat varṇa itu berlainan, dan kerana wujud pemisahan yang jelas sesama mereka, bagaimana mungkin ‘percampuran varṇa’ timbul pada dirimu yang memahami perbezaan itu? Jika batas-batasnya dipelihara, atas dasar apakah kekeliruan tertib sosial dan etika dapat didakwa?”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma argues that when āśramas and varṇas are clearly distinguished and their boundaries are understood, the claim of inevitable varṇa-saṅkara (social/ethical confusion through intermixture) lacks basis; the point is to ground social-ethical anxieties in careful reasoning rather than assumption.
In the Śānti Parva’s dharma-discourse, Bhīṣma addresses a concern about varṇa-saṅkara and challenges it by pointing to the conceptual and practical separations between āśramas and varṇas, pressing the interlocutor to justify how ‘mixing’ could occur if distinctions are maintained.