Shloka 11
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
शूद्रश्नाण्डालमत्युग्रं वध्यघ्नं बाह्वासिनम् । ब्राह्मण्यां सम्प्रजायन्त इत्येते कुलपांसना: । एते मतिमतां श्रेष्ठ वर्णसंकरजा: प्रभो
śūdraś caṇḍālam atyugraṃ vadhyaghnaṃ bāhvāsinam | brāhmaṇyāṃ samprajāyanta ity ete kulapāṃsanāḥ | ete matimatāṃ śreṣṭha varṇasaṅkarajāḥ prabho ||
Bhīṣma said: “From a Brāhmaṇī, a Śūdra begets an exceedingly fierce Caṇḍāla—one who lives outside the settlement and is employed in the killing or execution of those condemned to death. O lord, best among the wise! Such offspring, born from the union of a low man with a Brāhmaṇī, are regarded as the defilement of a lineage and are called ‘born of varṇa-mixture’ (varṇa-saṅkara).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma presents a dharma-śāstra style warning that unions crossing prescribed varṇa boundaries—especially a ‘low’ man with a Brāhmaṇī—are said to produce socially stigmatized offspring termed varṇa-saṅkara, viewed as a blemish upon lineage and linked with marginal occupations.
In his instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social norms, Bhīṣma lists types of offspring described in traditional classifications of mixed unions, here stating that a Śūdra with a Brāhmaṇī produces a Caṇḍāla who lives outside the village and performs executions.