Shloka 115
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
संकरं कांस्यभाण्डैश्व बलिं चैव कुपात्रके: । चातुर्वर्ण्य यदा कृत्स्नममर्यादं भविष्यति
saṅkaraṃ kāṃsyabhāṇḍaiś ca baliṃ caiva kupātrakeḥ | cāturvarṇyaṃ yadā kṛtsnam amaryādaṃ bhaviṣyati ||
毗湿摩说道：“当社会秩序崩坏之时，便会出现不加分别的混杂与紊乱；祭献将置于不当之器，贡赋将落入不配之手。那时，四姓之制尽皆无度，失其疆界与准则。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that when dharma weakens, both ritual practice and social ethics lose their standards: offerings and honors go to unworthy recipients, and the structured responsibilities of the four varṇas become confused and boundaryless.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance. Here he describes signs of societal decline—misplaced offerings/tributes and the breakdown of cāturvarṇya—illustrating how disorder manifests when norms (maryādā) are ignored.