Shloka 17
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
यथा शाद्रो5पि ब्राह्मण्यां जन्तुं बाह्ां प्रसूयते । एवं बाह्यृतराद् बाह्दाश्षातुर्वर्ण्यात् प्रजायते
bhīṣma uvāca | yathā śūdro 'pi brāhmaṇyāṃ jantuṃ bāhyaṃ prasūyate | evaṃ bāhyatarād bāhyaś cāturvarṇyāt prajāyate |
毗湿摩说：正如即便是首陀罗，与婆罗门女子结合，也会生出被排除于四姓秩序之外的弃民之子，名为旃陀罗；同样，既已在社会秩序之外的人，若与四姓女子（乃至与更被排斥之群的女子）交合，所生后代便被视为比他自身更卑下。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Within Bhishma’s normative discussion of dharma and social order, the verse asserts that unions crossing prescribed boundaries are regarded as producing offspring classified as socially excluded, and that exclusion is portrayed as compounding across generations.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira on rules and consequences related to varṇa/jāti conduct; here he uses an analogy about birth and lineage to explain how certain unions are viewed in that framework.