Shloka 25

च्यवन-कुशिक-संवादः

Cyavana–Kuśika Dialogue on Hospitality, Service, and Lineage Questions

Devanagari script

संस्कर्तु वर्णगोत्रं च मातृवर्णविनि श्चये । कानीनाध्यूढजौ वापि विज्ञेयौ पुत्र किल्बिषौ,बेटा! यदि उसकी माताके वर्ण और गोत्रका निश्चय हो जाय तो उस बालकका संस्कार करनेके लिये माताके ही वर्ण और गोत्रको ग्रहण करना चाहिये। कानीन और अध्यूढज--ये दोनों प्रकारके पुत्र निकृष्ट श्रेणीके ही समझे जाने योग्य हैं

Transliteration

saṁskartu varṇagotraṁ ca mātṛvarṇaviniścaye | kānīnādhyūḍhajau vāpi vijñeyau putra kilbiṣau ||

Translation

भीष्म उवाच— मातृवर्णगोत्रयोर्निश्चये सति संस्कर्तुः वर्णगोत्रं मातृवर्णगोत्रमेव ग्राह्यम्। कानीनाध्यूढजौ चापि पुत्रौ किल्बिषौ विज्ञेयौ।

Word by Word

संस्कर्तुंto perform (the rite), to consecrate

वर्णcaste/class

गोत्रंclan/lineage

चand

मातृवर्णविनिश्चयेin the determination of the mother's varna

कानीनa 'kānīna' son (born to an unmarried girl)

अध्यूढजौan 'adhyūḍhaja' son (born of a woman married while pregnant)

वाor

अपिalso/even

विज्ञेयौare to be known/considered

पुत्रsons

किल्बिषौtainted/blameworthy (of sinful origin)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

If the mother’s varṇa and gotra are known with certainty, the child’s ritual identity for saṁskāras should follow the mother; and certain offspring categories (kānīna, adhyūḍhaja) are treated as carrying a juridical/ritual blemish in traditional dharma classifications.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma instruction, Bhīṣma is laying down rules about lineage and eligibility for rites, clarifying how to assign varṇa/gotra for a child and how specific types of birth are evaluated within the normative legal-ethical framework.