Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 36
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
अथ चेदन्यथा कुर्याद् यदि कामाद् युधिष्ठिर । यथा ब्राह्मण चाण्डाल: पूर्वदृष्टस्तथैव स:
atha ced anyathā kuryād yadi kāmād yudhiṣṭhira | yathā brāhmaṇa-cāṇḍālaḥ pūrvadṛṣṭas tathaiva saḥ ||
Sinabi ni Bhīṣma: “Ngunit kung ang isang brāhmaṇa, dahil sa pagnanasa, ay kumilos nang taliwas—laban sa itinakdang disiplina—kung gayon, O Yudhiṣṭhira, siya’y dapat ituring na gaya ng ‘brāhmaṇa-cāṇḍāla’ na inilarawan noon; magiging gayon din siya sa katayuan at asal.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is upheld by disciplined conduct; if a brāhmaṇa, overcome by kāma, acts against the śāstric path, he is treated as fallen—likened to a ‘brāhmaṇa-cāṇḍāla’—showing that ethical behavior, not mere status, determines moral standing.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on right conduct, he reinforces an earlier point: deviation from prescribed restraint and duty—especially under the force of desire—leads to social and moral degradation, expressed through the strong comparison to an outcaste-like condition.