Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 50
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
वैश्यापुत्रस्तु भागांस्त्रीन् शूद्रापुत्रस्तथाष्टमम् । सो<पि दत्तं हरेत् पित्रा नादत्तं हर्तुमहति
vaiśyāputras tu bhāgāṁs trīn śūdrāputras tathāṣṭamam | so 'pi dattaṁ haret pitrā nādattaṁ hartum arhati |
वैश्यायाः पुत्रस्तु त्रीन् भागान् हरेत्, शूद्रायाः पुत्रस्तथाष्टमम्। सोऽपि पित्रा दत्तमेव हरेत्; नादत्तं हर्तुमर्हति।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Inheritance is regulated by dharma: specified fractional shares may be received, but only through the father’s explicit grant; taking ungranted property is unethical and unauthorized.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he lays down a rule about inheritance portions for sons born of Vaiśyā and Śūdrā mothers, emphasizing that even these portions are to be taken only when the father gives them, not by self-appropriation.