Shloka 27
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
आहिण्डको निषादेन वैदेहाां सम्प्रसूयते । चण्डालेन तु सौपाकश्नण्डालसमतवृत्तिमान्
āhiṇḍako niṣādena vaidehāṃ samprasūyate | caṇḍālena tu saupākaś caṇḍālasamatavṛttimān ||
بھیشم نے کہا—نشاد مرد اور ویدیہا عورت کے ملاپ سے ‘آہنڈک’ پیدا ہوتا ہے؛ مگر اسی ویدیہا کا چنڈال سے ملاپ ہو تو ‘سوپاک’ پیدا ہوتا ہے، جس کی معاش اور حیثیت چنڈال کے برابر سمجھی جاتی ہے۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is part of Bhīṣma’s normative cataloging of social categories arising from specific unions and the customary livelihoods attributed to them, illustrating how traditional dharma literature attempted to map social order through birth, lineage, and occupation.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he lists outcomes of particular inter-community unions: Niṣāda with Vaidehā producing Āhiṇḍaka, and Caṇḍāla with Vaidehā producing Saupāka, noting the Saupāka’s livelihood is considered similar to that of a Caṇḍāla.