Shloka 52
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
वैश्यस्य वर्तमानस्य वैश्यायां भरतर्षभ । शूद्रायां चापि कौन्तेय तयोविनियम: स्मृत:
vaiśyasya vartamānasya vaiśyāyāṃ bharatarṣabha | śūdrāyāṃ cāpi kaunteya tayor viniyamaḥ smṛtaḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“噢，婆罗多族中之雄牛，噢，昆蒂之子：当一位吠舍处于家住之道时，既有吠舍女子所生之子，又有首陀罗女子所生之子，则关于他们份额的分配之规，传说记载为与既定之条例相同，正如对这类混生子嗣所立之法。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse states that Smṛti tradition recognizes a specific, established rule (viniyama) for allocating wealth/entitlements when a Vaiśya has sons from both a Vaiśyā and a Śūdrā; Bhīṣma emphasizes that the distribution should follow the remembered legal-ethical regulation rather than personal preference.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social-legal norms. Here he addresses a case of mixed parentage within a Vaiśya household and indicates that traditional law provides a defined rule for how the two sets of sons are to be treated in matters like division of property.