Shloka 9
Sāma (Sāntva) and Dāna: The Brāhmaṇa’s Conciliatory Release from a Rākṣasa
अन्ध॑ स्यात् तम एवेदं न प्रज्ञायेत किंचन । चातुर्वर्ण्य न वर्तेत धर्माधमावृतानृते
andhaḥ syāt tam evedaṁ na prajñāyet kiñcana | cāturvarṇyaṁ na varteta dharmādharmāvṛtānṛte ||
弥勒耶说道：“若无婆罗门，这整个世界将如同失明——被无明的黑暗所笼罩。无人能辨识任何事物；四姓之秩序亦将不复运转——同样，法与非法、真与伪的分别也将被遮蔽而湮没。”
मैत्रेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that learned custodians of sacred knowledge and ethical instruction (here, Brahmins) are essential for preserving discernment (prajñā), sustaining the functioning of cāturvarṇya as an ordered society, and keeping clear moral and epistemic distinctions—dharma vs. adharma and truth vs. falsehood.
Maitreya is speaking within Anuśāsana Parva’s didactic setting, emphasizing the societal and moral consequences of the absence of Brahmins: ignorance spreads, social roles collapse, and moral categories become obscured.