Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 10
Adhyāya 122 — Śruta-vṛtta-yukta Brāhmaṇa and the Ethics of Dāna
Maitreya–Vyāsa Saṃvāda
तमृषिं द्रष्टमगमत् सर्वास्वन्यासु योनिषु । श्वाविद्वोधावराहाणां तथैव मृगपक्षिणाम्
tam ṛṣiṁ draṣṭum agamat sarvāsv anyāsu yoniṣu | śvāvid-uddhā-varāhāṇāṁ tathaiva mṛga-pakṣiṇām | śvapāka-śūdra-vaiśyānāṁ kṣatriyāṇāṁ ca yoniṣu |
Vyāsa disse: Depois de vagar por muitos outros ventres e formas de nascimento—entre porcos-espinhos, camelos, javalis, e igualmente entre cervos e aves, e até entre párias, śūdras, vaiśyas e kṣatriyas—ele nasceu por fim numa família de kṣatriyas. Em seguida, tendo passado por esses nascimentos passo a passo, e pela graça do poderoso e radiante Vyāsa, foi ver aquele sábio.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores karmic causality and the long arc of rebirth: a being may traverse many forms of existence, and only after such experience—assisted by the grace of a realized guide like Vyāsa—attains a human birth conducive to seeking sages and higher dharma.
Vyāsa narrates that a person (previously moving through many animal and human social births) is finally born as a Kṣatriya; then, in that life, he goes to meet and behold a particular ṛṣi, implying a turning toward instruction, purification, or resolution of a prior account.