Shloka 29
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
ब्राह्मणे कीदृशो धर्म: क्षत्रिये कीदृशो5भवत् | वैश्ये किलक्षणो धर्म: शूद्रे किलक्षणो भवेत्
brāhmaṇe kīdṛśo dharmaḥ kṣatriye kīdṛśo 'bhavat | vaiśye ki-lakṣaṇo dharmaḥ śūdre ki-lakṣaṇo bhavet ||
Wika ni Śrī Maheśvara: “Ano ang likas na dharma para sa isang Brāhmaṇa? Ano naman para sa isang Kṣatriya? Sa anong mga tanda makikilala ang nararapat na dharma ng isang Vaiśya, at sa anong mga tanda makikilala ang dharma ng isang Śūdra?”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a systematic inquiry into varṇadharma—how dharma is defined differently for Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, and Śūdra—by asking for the distinguishing characteristics (lakṣaṇas) of each.
Śrī Maheśvara speaks in a didactic context, posing questions that set up a subsequent explanation of the duties and ethical norms appropriate to the four social orders.