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The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 by or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli

o >> or: Kisari Mohan Ganguli >> The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4






SECTION XLVIII

"Yudhishthira said, 'Through inducements offered by wealth, or through
mere lust, or through ignorance of the true order of birth (of both males
and females), or through folly, intermixture happens of the several order
What, O grandsire, are the duties of persons that are born in the mixed
classes and what are the acts laid down for them? Do thou discourse to me
on this!'

"Bhishma said, 'In the beginning, the Lord of all creatures created the
four orders and laid down their respective acts or duties, for the sake
of sacrifice.[298] The Brahmana may take four wives, one from each of the
four orders. In two of them (viz., the wife taken from his own order and
that taken from the one next below), he takes birth himself (the children
begotten upon them being regarded as invested with the same status as his
own). Those sons, however, that are begotten by him on the two spouses
that belong to the next two orders (viz., Vaisya and Sudra), are
inferior, their status being determined not by that of their father but
by that of their mothers. The son that is begotten by a Brahmana upon a
Sudra wife is called Parasara, implying one born of a corpse, for the
Sudra woman's body is as inauspicious as a corpse. He should serve the
persons of his (father's) race. Indeed, it is not proper for him to give
up the duty of service that has been laid down for him. Adopting all
means in his power, he should uphold the burden of his family. Even if he
happens to be elder in age, he should still dutifully serve the other
children of his father who may be younger to him in years, and bestow
upon them whatever he may succeed in earning. A Kshatriya may take three
wives. In two of them (viz., the one taken from his own order and the
other that is taken from the order immediately below), he takes birth
himself (so that those children are invested with the status of his own
order). His third wife being of the Sudra order is regarded as very
inferior. The son that he begets upon her comes to be called as an Ugra.
The Vaisya may take two spouses. In both of them (viz., the one taken
from his own order, and the other from the lowest of the four pure
orders), he takes birth himself (so that those children become invested
with the status of his own order). The Sudra can take only one wife,
viz., she that is taken from his own order. The son begotten by him upon
her becomes a Sudra. A son that takes birth under circumstances other
than those mentioned above, comes to be looked upon as a very inferior
one If a person of a lower order begets a son upon a woman of a superior
order, such a son is regarded as outside the pale of the four pure
orders. Indeed, such a son becomes on object of censure with the four
principal orders. If a Kshatriya begets a son upon a Brahmana woman, such
a son, without being included in any of the four pure orders, comes to be
regarded as a Suta The duties of a Suta are all connected with the
reciting of eulogies and encomiums of kings and other great men. The son
begotten by a Vaisya upon a woman of the Brahmana order comes to be
regarded as a Vaidehaka. The duties assigned to him are the charge of
bars and bolts for protecting the privacy of women of respectable
households. Such sons have no cleansing rites laid down for them.[299] If
a Sudra unites with a woman belonging to the foremost of the four orders,
the son that is begotten is called a Chandala. Endued with a fierce
disposition, he must live in the outskirts of cities and towns and the
duty assigned to him is that of the public executioner. Such sons are
always regarded as wretches of their race. These, O foremost of
intelligent persons, are the offspring of intermixed orders. The son
begotten by a Vaisya upon a Kshatriya woman becomes a Vandi or Magadha.
The duties assigned to him are eloquent recitations of praise. The son
begotten through transgression, by a Sudra upon a Kshatriya women,
becomes a Nishada and the duties assigned to him have reference to the
catching of fish. If a Sudra happens to have intercourse with a Vaisya
woman, the son begotten upon her comes to be called Ayogava. The duty
assigned to such a person are those of a Takshan (carpenter). They that
are Brahmanas should never accept gifts from such a person. They are not
entitled to possess any kind of wealth. Persons belonging to the mixed
castes beget upon spouses taken from their own castes children invested
with the status that is their own. When they beget children in women
taken from castes that are inferior to theirs, such children become
inferior to their fathers, for they become invested with the status that
belongs to their mothers Thus as regards the four pure orders, persons
beget children invested with their own status upon spouses taken from
their own orders as also upon them that are taken from the orders
immediately below their own. When, however, offspring are begotten upon
other spouses, they come to be regarded as invested with a status that
is, principally, outside the pale of the four pure orders. When such
children beget sons in women taken from their own classes, those sons
take the status of their sires. It is only when they take spouse from
castes other than their own, that the children they beget become invested
with inferior status. As an example of this it may be said that a Sudra
begets upon a woman belonging to the most superior order a son that is
outside the pale of the four orders (for such a son comes to be regarded
as a Chandala who is much inferior). The son that is outside the pale of
the four orders by uniting with women belonging to the four principal
orders, begets offspring that are further degraded in point of status.
From those outside the pale of the four orders and those again that are
further outside that pale, children multiply in consequence of the union
of persons with women of classes superior to their own. In this way, from
persons of inferior status classes spring up, altogether fifteen in
number, that are equally low or still lower in status. It is only from
sexual union of women with persons who should not have such union with
them that mixed classes spring up. Among the classes that are thus
outside the pale of the four principal or pure orders, children are
begotten upon women belonging to the class called Sairindhri by men of
the class called Magadha. The occupation of such offspring is the
adornment of the bodies of kinds and others. They are well-acquainted
with the preparation of unguents, the making of wreaths, and the
manufacture of articles used for the decoration of the person. Though
free by the status that attaches to them by birth, they should yet lead a
life of service. From the union of Magadhas of a certain class with women
of the caste called Sairindhri, there springs up another caste called
Ayogava. Their occupation consists in the making of nets (for catching
fish and fowl and animals of the chase). Vaidehas, by uniting themselves
with women of the Sairindhri caste, beget children called Maireyakas
whose occupation consists in the manufacture of wines and spirits. From
the Nishadas spring a caste called Madgura and another known by the name
of Dasas whose occupation consists in plying boats. From the Chandala
springs a race called Swapaka whose occupation consists in keeping guard
over the dead. The women of the Magadhi caste, by union with these four
castes of wicked dispositions produce four others who live by practising
deceit. These are Mansa, Swadukara, Kshaudra, and Saugandha. From the
Vaideha springs up a cruel and sinful caste that lives by practising
deception. From the Nishadas again springs up the Madranabha caste whose
members are seen to ride on cars drawn by asses. From the Chandalas
springs up the caste called Pukkasa whose members are seen to eat the
flesh of asses, horses and elephants. These cover themselves with the
garments obtained by stripping human corpses. They are again seen to eat
from broken earthenware[300]. These three castes of very low status are
born of women of the Ayogava caste (by fathers taken from different
castes). The caste called Kshudra springs from the Vaidehaka. The caste
called Andhra which takes up its residence in the outskirts of towns and
cities, also springs up (from the Vaidehakas). Then again the Charmakara,
uniting himself with a woman of Nishada caste, begets the class called
Karavara. From the Chandala again springs up the caste known by the name
of Pandusaupaka whose occupation consists in making baskets and other
things with cleft bamboos. From the union of the Nishada with a woman of
the Vaidehi caste springs one who is called by the name of Ahindaka. The
Chandala begets upon a Saupaka woman, a son that does not differ from the
Chandala in status or occupation. A Nishada woman, by union with a
Chandala, brings forth a son who lives in the outskirts of villages and
towns. Indeed, the members of such a caste live in crematoria and are
regarded by the very lowest orders as incapable of being numbered among
them. Thus to these mixed castes spring up from improper and sinful union
of fathers and mothers belonging to different castes. Whether they live
in concealment or openly, they should be known by their occupations. The
duties have been laid down in the scriptures for only the four principal
orders. As regards the others the scriptures are entirely silent. Among
all the orders, the members of those castes that have no duties assigned
to them by the scriptures, need have no fears as to what they do (to earn
their livelihood). Persons unaccustomed to the performance or for whom
sacrifices have not been laid down, and who are deprived of the company
and the instructions of the righteous whether numbered among the four
principal orders or out of their pale, by uniting themselves with women
of other castes, led not by considerations of righteousness but by
uncontrolled lust, cause numerous mixed castes to come into existence
whose occupations and abodes depend on the circumstances connected with
the irregular unions to which they owe their origin. Having recourse to
spots where four roads meet, or crematoria, or hills and mountains, or
forests and trees, they build their habitations there. The ornaments they
wear are made of iron. Living in such places openly, they betake
themselves to their own occupations to earn their livelihood. They may be
seen to live in this way, adorning their persons with ornaments and
employed in the task of manufacturing diverse kinds of domestic and other
utensils. Without doubt, by assisting kine and Brahmanas, and practising
the virtues of abstention from cruelty, compassion, truthfulness of
speech, and forgiveness, and, if need be, by preserving others by laying
down their very lives, persons of the mixed castes may achieve success. I
have no doubt, O chief of men, that these virtues become the causes of
their success. He that is possessed of intelligence, should, taking
everything into consideration, beget offspring according to the
ordinances of the scriptures, upon woman that have been declared proper
or fit for him. A son begotten upon a women belonging to a degraded
caste, instead of rescuing the sire, brings him to grief even as a heavy
weight brings to grief a swimmer desirous of crossing water. Whether a
man happens to be possessed of learning or not, lust and wrath are
natural attributes of humanity in this world. Women, therefore, may
always be seen to drag men into the wrong path. This natural disposition
of women is such that man's contact with her is productive of misery to
him. Hence, men possessed of wisdom do not suffer themselves to be
excessively attached to women.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'There are men who belong to the mixed castes, and
who are of very impure birth. Though presenting the features of
respectability, they are in reality disrespectable. In consequence of
these external aspects we may not be able to know the truth about their
birth. Are there any signs, O grandsire, by which the truth may be known
about the origin of such men?"



SECTION XLIX

"Bhishma said, 'A person that is born of an irregular union presents
diverse features of disposition. One's purity of birth, again, is to be
ascertained from one's acts which must resemble the acts of those who are
admittedly good and righteous. A disrespectable behaviour, acts opposed
to those laid down in the scriptures, crookedness and cruelty, and
abstention from sacrifices and other spiritual acts that lead to merit,
proclaim one's impurity of origin. A son receives the disposition of
either the sire or the mother. Sometimes he catches the dispositions of
both. A person of impure birth can never succeed in concealing his true
disposition. As the cub of a tiger or a leopard resembles its sire and
dam in form and in (the matter of) its stripes of spots, even so a person
cannot but betray the circumstance of his origin. However covered may the
course of one's descent be, if that descent happens to be impure, its
character or disposition is sure to manifest itself slightly or largely.
A person may, for purposes of his own, choose to tread on an insincere
path, displaying such conduct as seems to be righteous. His own
disposition, however, in the matter of those acts that he does, always
proclaims whether he belongs to a good order or to a different one.
Creatures in the world are endued with diverse kinds of disposition. They
are, again, seen to be employed in diverse kinds of acts. Amongst
creatures thus employed, there is nothing that is so good or precious as
pure birth and righteous conduct. If a person be born in a low order,
that good understanding which arises from a study of the scriptures fails
to rescue his body from low acts. Absolute goodness of understanding may
be of different degrees. It may be high, middling, or low. Even if it
appears in a person of low extraction, it disappears like autumnal clouds
without producing any consequences. On the other hand, that other
goodness of understanding which, according to its measure, has ordained
the status in which the person has been born, shows itself in his
acts[301]. If a person happens to belong to a superior order but still if
he happens to be divested of good behaviour, he should receive no respect
or worship. One may worship even a Sudra if he happens to be conversant
with duties and be of good conduct. A person proclaims himself by his own
good and acts and by his good or bad disposition and birth. If one's race
of birth happens to be degraded for any reason, one soon raises it and
makes it resplendent and famous by one's acts. For these reasons they
that are endued with wisdom should avoid those women, among these diverse
castes mixed or pure, upon whom they should not beget offspring.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'Do thou discourse to us, O sire, upon the orders and
classes separately, upon different kinds of sons begotten upon different
types of women, upon the person entitled to have them as sons, and upon
their status in life. It is known that disputes frequently arise with
respect to sons. It behoveth thee, O king, to solve the doubts that have
taken possession of our minds. Indeed, we are stupefied with respect to
this subject.'

"Bhishma said, 'The son of one's loins is regarded as one's own self. The
son that is begotten upon one's wife by a person whom one has invited for
the task, is called Niruktaja. The son that is begotten upon one's wife
by somebody without one's permission, is Prasritaja. The son begotten
upon his own wife by a person fallen away from his status is called
Patitaja. There are two other sons, viz., the son given, and the son
made. There is another called Adhyudha.[302] The son born of a maiden in
her father's house is called Kanina. Besides these, there are six kinds
of sons called Apadhwansaja and six others that are Apasadas. These are
the several kinds of sons mentioned in the scriptures, learn, O Bharata!

"Yudhishthira said, 'Who are the six that are called Apadhwansajas? Who
also are the Apasadas? It behoveth thee to explain all these to me in
detail.'

"Bhishma said, 'The sons that a Brahmana begets upon spouses taken from
the three inferior orders, those begotten by a Kshatriya upon spouses
taken from the two orders inferior to his own, O Bharata, and the sons
that a Vaisya begets upon a spouse taken from the one order that is
inferior to his,--are all called Apadhwansajas. They are, as thus
explained, of six kinds. Listen now to me as I tell thee who the
Apasadas, are. The son that a Sudra begets upon a Brahmana woman is
called a Chandala. Begotten upon a Kshatriya woman by a person of the
Sudra order, the son is called a Vratya. He who is born of a Vaisya woman
by a Sudra father is called a Vaidya. These three kinds of sons are
called Apasadas. The Vaisya, by uniting himself with a woman of the
Brahmana order, begets a son that is called a Magadha, while the son that
he gets upon a Kshatriya woman is called a Vamaka. The Kshatriya can
beget but one kind of son upon a woman of a superior order. Indeed, the
son begotten by a Kshatriya upon a Brahmana woman, is called a Suta.
These three also are called Apasadas. It cannot be said, O king, that
these six kinds of sons are no sons.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'Some say that one's son is he that is born in one's
soil. Some, on the other hand, say that one's son is he who has been
begotten from one's seed. Are both these kinds of sons equal? Whore,
again, is the son to be? Do thou tell me this, O grandsire!

"Bhishma said, 'His is the son from whose seed he has sprung. If,
however, the owner of the seed abandons the son born of it, such a son
then becomes his upon whose spouse he has been begotten. The same rule
applies to the son called Adhyudha. He belongs to the person from whose
seed he has taken his birth. If, however, the owner of the seed abandons
him, he becomes the son of the husband of his mother.[303] Know that even
this is what the law declares.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'We know that the son becomes his from whose seed he
has taken birth. Whence does the husband of the woman that brings forth
the son derive his right to the latter? Similarly, the son called
Adhyudha should be known to be the son of him from whose seed he has
sprung. How can they be sons of others by reasons of the engagement about
owning and rearing them having been broken?'

"Bhishma said, 'He who having begotten a son of his own loins, abandons
him for some reason or other, cannot be regarded as the sire of such a
son, for vital seed only cannot create sonship. Such a son must be held
to belong to the person who owns the soil. When a man, desiring to have a
son, weds a girl quick with child, the son born of his spouse must belong
to him, for it is the fruit of his own soil. The person from whose vital
seed the son has sprung can have no right to such a son. The son that is
born in one's soil but not begotten by the owner, O chief of Bharata's
race, bears all the marks of the sire that has actually begotten him (and
not the marks of one that is only the husband of his mother). The son
thus born is incapable of concealing the evidences that physiognomy
offers. He is at once known by eyesight (to belong to another).[304] As
regards the son made, he is sometimes regarded as the child of the person
who has made him a son and so brings him up. In his case, neither the
vital seed of which he is born nor the soil in which he is born, becomes
the cause of sonship.'

"Yudhishthira said, 'What kind of a son is that who is said to be a made
son and whose sonship arises from the fact of his being taken and brought
up and in whose case neither the vital seed nor the soil of birth, O
Bharata, is regarded as the cause of sonship?'

"Bhishma said, 'When a person takes up and rears a son that has been cast
off on the road by his father and mother, and when the person thus taking
and rearing him fails to find out his parents after search, he becomes
the father of such a son and the latter becomes what is called his made
son. Not having anybody to own him, he becomes owned by him who brings
him up. Such a son, again, comes to be regarded as belonging to that
order to which his owner or rearer belongs.'

"Yudhishthira said, How should the purificatory rites of such a person be
performed? In whose case what sort of rites are to be performed? With
what girl should he be wedded? Do thou tell me all this, O grandsire!"

"Bhishma said, 'The rites of purification touching such a son should be
performed conformably to the usage of the person himself that raises him,
for, cast off by his parents, such a son obtains the order of the person
that takes him and brings him up. Indeed, O thou of unfading glory, the
rearer should perform all the purificatory rites with respect to such a
son according to the practices of the rearer's own race and kinsmen. As
regards the girl also, O Yudhishthira, that should be bestowed in
marriage upon such a son, who belongs to the order of the rearer himself,
All this is to be done only when the order of son's true mother cannot be
ascertained. Among sons, he that is born of a maiden and he that is born
of a mother that had conceived before her marriage but had brought him
fourth subsequent to that are regarded as very disgraceful and degraded.
Even those two, however, should receive the same rites of purification
that are laid down for the sons begotten by the father in lawful wedlock.
With respect to the son that becomes his sire's in consequence of his
birth in the sire's soil and of those sons that are called Apasadas and,
those conceived by the spouse in her maidenhood but brought forth after
marriage, Brahmanas and others should apply the same rites of
purification that hold good for their own orders. These are the
conclusions that are to be found in the scriptures with respect to the
different orders. I have thus told thee everything appertaining to thy
questions. What else dost thou wish to hear?"



SECTION L

"Yudhishthira said, 'What is the nature of the compassion or pity that is
felt at the sight of another's woe? What is the nature of that compassion
or sympathy that one feels for another in consequence of one's living in
the companionship of that other? What is the nature (and degree) of the
high blessedness that attaches to kine? It behoveth thee, O grandsire, to
expound all this to me.'

"Bhishma said, 'I shall, in this connection, O thou of great effulgence,
recite to thee an ancient narrative of a conversation between Nahusha and
the Rishi Chyavana. In days of yore O Chief of Bharata's race, the great
Rishi Chyavana of Bhrigu's race, always observant of high vows, became
desirous of leading for some time the mode of life called Udavasa and set
himself to commence it. Casting off pride and wrath and joy and grief,
the ascetic, pledging himself to observe that vow, set himself to live
for twelve years according to the rules of Udavasa. The Rishi inspired
all creatures with a happy trust. And he inspired similar confidence in
all creatures living in water. The puissant ascetic resembled the Moon
himself in his behaviour to all. Bowing unto all the deities and having
cleansed himself of all sins, he entered the water at the confluence of
the Ganga and the Yamuna, and stood there like an inanimate post of wood.
Placing his head against it, he bore the fierce and roaring current of
the two streams united together,--the current whose speed resembled that
of the wind itself. The Ganga and the Yamuna, however, and the other
streams and lakes, whose waters unite together at the confluence at
Prayaga, instead of afflicting the Rishi, went past him (to show him
respect). Assuming the attitude of a wooden post, the great Muni
sometimes laid himself down in the water and slept at ease. And
sometimes, O chief of Bharata's race, the intelligent sage stood in an
erect posture. He became quite agreeable unto all creatures living in
water. Without the least fear, all these used to smell the Rishi's lips.
In this way, the Rishi passed a long time at that grand confluence of
waters. One day some fishermen came there. With nets in their hands, O
thou of great effulgence, those men came to that spot where the Rishi
was. They were many in number and all of them were bent upon catching
fish. Well-formed and broad-chested, endued with great strength and
courage and never returning in fear from water, those men who lived upon
the earnings by their nets, came to that spot, resolved to catch fish.
Arrived at the water which contained many fish, those fishermen, O chief
of the Bharatas, tied all their nets together. Desirous of fish, those
Kaivartas, many in number united together and surrounded a portion of the
waters of the Ganga and the Yamuna with their nets. Indeed, they then
cast into water their net which was made of new strings, capable of
covering a large space, and endued with sufficient length and breadth.
All of them, getting into the water, then began to drag with great force
that net of theirs which was very large and had been well-spread over a
large space. All of them were free from fear, cheerful, and fully
resolved to do one another's bidding. They had succeeded in enmeshing a
large number of fish and other aquatic animals. And as they dragged their
net, O king, they easily dragged up Chyavana the son of Bhrigu along with
a large number of fish. His body was overgrown with the river moss. His
beard and matted locks had become green. And all over his person could be
seen conchs and other molluscs attached with their heads. Beholding that
Rishi who was well-conversant with the Vedas dragged up by them from
water, all the fishermen stood with joined palms and then prostrated
themselves on the ground and repeatedly bent their heads. Through fear
and pain caused by the dragging of the net, and in consequence of their
being brought upon land, the fish enmeshed in the net yielded up their
lives. The ascetic, beholding that great slaughter of fishes, became
filled with compassion and sighed repeatedly.'

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