Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 17
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
यथा शाद्रो5पि ब्राह्मण्यां जन्तुं बाह्ां प्रसूयते । एवं बाह्यृतराद् बाह्दाश्षातुर्वर्ण्यात् प्रजायते
bhīṣma uvāca | yathā śūdro 'pi brāhmaṇyāṃ jantuṃ bāhyaṃ prasūyate | evaṃ bāhyatarād bāhyaś cāturvarṇyāt prajāyate |
Wika ni Bhishma: Kung paanong ang isang Śūdra, sa pakikipag-ugnayan sa babaeng Brāhmaṇa, ay nagkakaanak na itinuturing na palaboy o itinakwil sa kaayusang varṇa—na tinatawag na Cāṇḍāla—gayon din ang taong nasa labas na ng kaayusang panlipunan: kapag nakipagsama siya sa mga babae ng apat na varṇa (at maging sa mga babae ng higit pang itinakwil na pangkat), nagbubunga siya ng supling na itinuturing na mas mababa pa kaysa sa kanya.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Within Bhishma’s normative discussion of dharma and social order, the verse asserts that unions crossing prescribed boundaries are regarded as producing offspring classified as socially excluded, and that exclusion is portrayed as compounding across generations.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira on rules and consequences related to varṇa/jāti conduct; here he uses an analogy about birth and lineage to explain how certain unions are viewed in that framework.