Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 5
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
तत्र जातेषु पुत्रेषु सर्वासां कुरुसत्तम | आनुपूर्व्येण कस्तेषां पित्रयं दायादमर्हति,कुरुश्रेष्ठ! इन सबके गर्भसे जो पुत्र उत्पन्न हुए हों, उनमेंसे कौन क्रमश: पैतृक धनको पानेका अधिकारी है?
tatra jāteṣu putreṣu sarvāsāṃ kurusattama | ānupūrvyeṇa kas teṣāṃ pitryaṃ dāyādam arhati, kuruśreṣṭha ||
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “O pinakadakila sa mga Kuru, sa mga anak na lalaking isinilang mula sa lahat ng asawang iyon, sino—ayon sa wastong pagkakasunod—ang may karapatang magmana ng yaman ng ama, ang lupain at ari-ariang minana sa angkan?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames inheritance as a dharmic question: rightful succession is not merely about birth, but about recognized order and legitimacy, implying that social and ethical norms govern the transfer of ancestral property.
Yudhiṣṭhira asks an elder/authority addressed as ‘best of the Kurus’ to clarify, among sons born to multiple wives, who should receive the paternal inheritance in the proper order of precedence.