Shloka 20
च्यवन-कुशिक-संवादः
Cyavana–Kuśika Dialogue on Hospitality, Service, and Lineage Questions
भीष्म उवाच मातापितृभ्यां यस्त्यक्तः पथि यस्तं प्रकल्पयेत् । न चास्य मातापितरी ज्ञायेतां स हि कृत्रिम:
bhīṣma uvāca mātāpitr̥bhyāṁ yas tyaktaḥ pathi yas taṁ prakalpayet | na cāsya mātāpitarī jñāyetāṁ sa hi kr̥trimaḥ ||
Sumagot si Bhīṣma: “Yudhiṣṭhira, kung ang isang bata ay iniwan ng kanyang ina at ama sa daan, at kahit usisain ay hindi matukoy kung sino ang mga magulang, kung gayon ang kumuha sa kanya at nagpalaki ang itinuturing na ampon na ama; kaya ang batang iyon ay tinatawag na kṛtaka na anak.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When a child's biological parents are unknown due to abandonment, dharma recognizes the person who takes responsibility for the child's upbringing as the adoptive parent, and the child as an adoptive (kṛtrima) son—emphasizing duty and care over mere birth.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira on dharma and social/legal norms, he defines the status of a foundling: if the parents cannot be identified, the guardian who raises the child is to be treated as the father in an adoptive sense.