Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 14
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
एते5पि सदृशान् वर्णान् जनयन्ति स्वयोनिषु । मातृजात्या: प्रसूयन्ते हवरा हीनयोनिषु
Bhīṣma uvāca: ete 'pi sadṛśān varṇān janayanti svayoniṣu | mātṛjātyāḥ prasūyante 'varā hīna-yoniṣu ||
毗湿摩说：即便是这些人，若在本族群之内与同类女子结合，也会生出与自身社会等级相近的子嗣；但若与出身更低的女子交合，便会产生被视为卑下的后代，而这些孩子多按母系的出身与族类来认定。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a dharma-śāstra style claim: unions within one’s own varṇa are said to yield offspring of the same status, while unions with lower-born women are said to produce ‘inferior’ offspring, whose social identity is counted by the mother’s lineage.
Bhishma is instructing (as a dharma-teacher figure in Anuśāsana Parva) on norms of marriage, lineage, and social classification, explaining how different kinds of unions are traditionally believed to affect the status of children.