Shloka 7
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
भीष्म उवाच ब्राह्मण: क्षत्रियो वैश्यस्त्रयो वर्णा द्विजातय: । एतेषु विहितो धर्मों ब्राह्मणस्य युधिष्ठिर
bhīṣma uvāca | brāhmaṇaḥ kṣatriyo vaiśyas trayo varṇā dvijātayaḥ | eteṣu vihito dharmo brāhmaṇasya yudhiṣṭhira |
Bhīṣma đáp: “Hỡi Yudhiṣṭhira, Bà-la-môn, Sát-đế-lợi và Phệ-xá—ba giai cấp ấy được gọi là ‘nhị sinh’ (dvija). Vì vậy, theo dharma, hôn phối của một Bà-la-môn được quy định trong chính ba giai cấp ấy.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma defines the ‘twice-born’ (dvija) as the three varnas—Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vaishya—and states that a Brahmin’s marriage is dharmically prescribed within these groups.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira on dharma (Anushasana Parva), he is laying down normative social-religious rules, here specifying the accepted marital sphere for a Brahmin according to traditional dharma.