Shloka 38
उपदेशदोषप्रसङ्गः (Upadeśa-doṣa-prasaṅgaḥ) — The Risk of Misapplied Counsel
तात! इसी प्रकार वे ऋषि भी कालधर्म-मृत्युको प्राप्त हुए। भरतश्रेष्ठ! वे ही ऋषि दूसरे जन्ममें उसी राजवंशके पुरोहितके कुलमें उत्पन्न हुए। इस प्रकार वह शूद्र और वे मुनि दोनों ही वहाँ उत्पन्न हुए, क्रमश: बढ़े और सब प्रकारकी विद्याओंमें निपुण हो गये ।।
tāta! evaṃprakāreṇa te ṛṣayo 'pi kāladharma-mṛtyuṃ prāptāḥ | bharataśreṣṭha! te eva ṛṣayaḥ dvitīye janmani tasmin rājavaṃśe purohitasya kule utpannāḥ | evaṃ sa śūdraś ca te munayaś ca ubhau tatra utpannau, kramaśaḥ vavṛdhāte, sarvaprakārāsu vidyāsu nipuṇābhavatām || atharvavede vede ca babhūvarṣiḥ suniṣṭhitaḥ | kalpaprayoge cotpanne jyotiṣe ca paraṃ gataḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“孩子啊，同样地，那些圣贤也依时法而至，终归于死。噢，婆罗多族中最卓越者，那些圣贤在后世又投生于王族世系之祭司（王家祭官、Purohita）的家门。于是，那位首陀罗与诸位牟尼同在彼处出生，循序成长，精通一切学艺。他在《阿闼婆吠陀》与吠陀诸学中根基坚固，且于祭仪之法（Kalpa）与星占之学（Jyotiṣa）臻于至高境界。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage emphasizes kāladharma—the inevitability of death under time’s law—and the continuity of moral and intellectual development across rebirths. It also highlights that learning and ritual competence (Veda, Kalpa, Jyotiṣa) can be attained through disciplined growth, regardless of prior circumstances, within the framework of karmic return.
Bhīṣma explains that certain sages died according to the natural course of time and were then reborn in a later life within the family of a royal priest. Along with a Śūdra born there, they grew up step by step and became accomplished in many disciplines; one is described as becoming firmly established in Atharvavedic and Vedic learning and excelling in ritual procedure and Jyotiṣa.