Shloka 21
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
यद्यप्येष सपुत्र: स्यादपुत्रो यदि वा भवेत् । नाधिकं दशमादू दद्याच्छूद्रापुत्राय भारत,भारत! ब्राह्मणके अन्य वर्णकी स्त्रियोंसे पुत्र हों या न हों, वह शूद्राके पुत्रको दसवें भागसे अधिक धन न दे
yady apy eṣa saputraḥ syād aputro yadi vā bhavet | nādhikaṁ daśamād dadyāc chūdrāputrāya bhārata ||
Bhīṣma disse: “Ó Bhārata, quer um brāhmaṇa tenha filhos, quer porventura não os tenha, não deve dar ao filho de uma mulher Śūdrā mais do que uma décima parte.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse lays down a normative limit: regardless of whether a Brahmin has legitimate sons or is sonless, he should not allot more than one-tenth of his wealth to a son born of a Śūdra woman. The teaching reflects the text’s concern with regulating inheritance and maintaining established dharma-based social conventions.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, including rules of household conduct and distribution of property. Here he states a specific guideline about how much may be given to a Śūdra-born son, framing it as a restraint within customary inheritance practice.