Shloka 4
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
भायश्षितस्रो विप्रस्य द्वयोरात्मा प्रजायते | आनुपूर्व्याद् द्वयोहीनौ मातृजात्यौ प्रसूयत:
bhāryāś catasro viprasya dvayor ātmā prajāyate | ānupūrvyād dvayohīnau mātṛjātyau prasūyataḥ ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Sinasabing ang isang Brahmin ay may apat na asawa. Sa dalawa—isang asawang Brahmini at isang asawang Kshatriya—ang anak na lalaki ay itinuturing na Brahmin. Ngunit sa natitirang dalawa—kapag ang mga asawa ay Vaishya at Shudra—ang mga anak na lalaki ay itinuturing na kulang sa katayuang Brahmin at, ayon sa pagkakasunod, nauunawaang sumusunod sa kasta ng ina.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse states a normative rule attributed to Bhishma: in the context of a Brahmin’s four possible wives, offspring from a Brahmin or Kshatriya wife are treated as Brahmin, while offspring from Vaishya or Shudra wives are regarded as lacking full Brahmin status and are classified according to the mother’s caste.
During Bhishma’s extended instruction on dharma in the Anushasana Parva, he lays out traditional social-legal classifications concerning marriage and the status of children born from unions across varṇas, presenting an ordered scheme for how such offspring are to be regarded.