Shloka 10
Varṇasaṃkara: Causes, Classifications, and Conduct-based Recognition (वर्णसंकरः—हेतु-जाति-आचारनिर्णयः)
युधिछिर उवाच अथ केन प्रमाणेन पुंसामादीयते धनम् । पुत्रवद्धि पितुस्तस्य कन्या भवितुमहति
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: atha kena pramāṇena puṃsām ādīyate dhanam | putravad dhi pituḥ tasya kanyā bhavitum arhati ||
Yudhiṣṭhira thưa: “Bạch Tổ phụ! Dựa vào thẩm quyền nào mà của cải lại bị coi là chỉ thuộc về đàn ông? Bởi đối với người cha, con gái cũng đáng được xem ngang hàng với con trai.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical-legal challenge: if a daughter is regarded as equivalent to a son in relation to her father, then restricting inheritance to males requires a clear pramāṇa (authoritative justification). It foregrounds dharma as something that must be reasoned and grounded in recognized authority, not merely assumed by custom.
In the Anuśāsana discussions on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira questions the prevailing rule of male-only entitlement to property. He argues that a daughter, being ‘like a son’ to her father, should also be considered eligible, and asks Bhīṣma (addressed as Pitāmaha in the surrounding context) to state the authoritative basis for the contrary practice.