Text 36]
The Son of Droṇa Punished
355
TRANSLATION
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: O Arjuna, you should not show mercy by releasing this relative of a  brāhmaṇa  [ brahma-bandhu ], for he has killed innocent boys in their sleep.
PURPORT
The word  brahma-bandhu  is significant. A person who happens to take birth in the family of a  brāhmaṇa  but is not qualified to be called a  brāhmaṇa  is addressed as the relative of a  brāhmaṇa , and not as a  brāhmaṇa . The son of a high court judge is not virtually a high court judge, but there is no harm in addressing a high court judge's son as a relative of the Honorable Justice. Therefore, as by birth only one does not become a high court judge, so also one does not become a  brāhmaṇa  simply by birthright but by acquiring the necessary qualifications of a  brāhmaṇa . As the high court judgeship is a post for the qualified man, so also the post of a  brāhmaṇa  is attainable by qualification only. The  śāstra  enjoins that even if good qualifications are seen in a person born in a family other than a  brāhmaṇa , the qualified man has to be accepted as a  brāhmaṇa , and similarly if a person born in the family of a  brāhmaṇa  is void of brahminical qualification, then he must be treated as a non- brāhmaṇa  or, in better terms, a relative of a  brāhmaṇa . Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the supreme authority of all religious principles, the  Vedas , has personally pointed out these differences, and He is about to explain the reason for this in the following  ślokas .
TEXT 36
मत्तं प्रमत्तमुन्मत्तं सुप्तं बालं स्त्रियं जडम् । 
  प्रपन्नं विरथं भीतं न रिपुं हन्ति धर्मवित् ॥३६॥
mattam pramattam unmattam  
 suptam bālam striyam jaḍam  
 prapannam viratham bhītam  
 na ripum hanti dharma-vit
mattam—careless; pramattam—intoxicated; unmattam—insane; suptam—asleep; bālam—boy; striyam—woman; jaḍam—foolish; prapannam—surrendered; viratham—one who has lost his chariot; bhītam—afraid of; na—not: ripum—enemy; hanti—kill; dharma-vit—one who knows the principles of religion.