Shloka 16
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
भारत! ब्राह्मणसे शूद्रामें जो पुत्र उत्पन्न होता है, उसे तो धन न देनेका ही विधान है तो भी शूद्राके पुत्रको पैतृक धनका स्वल्पतम भाग--एक अंश दे देना चाहिये ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | bhārata! brāhmaṇe śūdrāyāṃ yo putra utpadyate, tasmai tu dhanaṃ na dātavyam iti vidhānam; tathāpi śūdrāyāḥ putrāya paitṛkasya dhanasya svalpatamaṃ bhāgam—ekam aṃśaṃ—dātavyaḥ || daśadhā pravibhaktasya dhanasya eṣa bhavet kramaḥ | savarṇāsu tu jātānāṃ samān bhāgān prakalpayet ||
भीष्म उवाच—भारत! ब्राह्मणात् शूद्रायां जातस्य पुत्रस्य धनं न दातव्यमिति विधिः; तथापि शूद्रापुत्राय पैतृकधनस्य स्वल्पतमो भागः—एकोऽंशः—प्रदातव्यः। दशधा प्रविभक्तस्य धनस्यैष भवेत् क्रमः। सवर्णासु तु जातानां समान् भागान् प्रकल्पयेत्॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma outlines a dharma-based rule for inheritance: in a ten-part division, sons born from women of the same varna receive equal shares, while a son connected with a Shudra mother is assigned only the smallest portion, reflecting the text’s normative social-legal framework.
In the Anushasana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira on household and legal duties—specifically, how paternal wealth should be apportioned among sons under different marital/varna circumstances.