Shloka 3

Agastya-Māhātmya and Vasiṣṭha’s Protection of the Ādityas

Khalina Daityas; Sarayū Etiology

Devanagari script

ब्राह्मणाः क्षत्रिया वैश्या भोज्या वै क्षत्रियस्य ह । वर्जनीयास्तु वै शूद्रा: सर्वभक्षा विकर्मिण:

Transliteration

brāhmaṇāḥ kṣatriyā vaiśyā bhojyā vai kṣatriyasya ha | varjanīyās tu vai śūdrāḥ sarvabhakṣā vikarmiṇaḥ ||

Translation

ভীষ্মে ক’লে— এইদৰে ক্ষত্ৰিয়ৰ বাবেও ব্ৰাহ্মণ, ক্ষত্ৰিয় আৰু বৈশ্যৰ ঘৰৰ অন্ন গ্ৰহণ কৰা উচিত। কিন্তু যি শূদ্ৰে ভক্ষ্য-অভক্ষ্যৰ বিচাৰ নকৰি সকলো খায় আৰু শাস্ত্ৰবিৰোধী আচৰণ কৰে, তাৰ অন্ন ক্ষত্ৰিয়েও বর্জন কৰিব লাগে।

Word by Word

• {'brāhmaṇāḥ': 'Brahmins

• members of the priestly/teaching class', 'kṣatriyāḥ': 'Kshatriyas

• members of the ruling/warrior class', 'vaiśyāḥ': 'Vaishyas

• members of the agrarian/mercantile class', 'bhojyāḥ': 'fit to be eaten from

• acceptable as a source of food', 'kṣatriyasya': 'of a kshatriya', 'ha': 'indeed

• emphatic particle', 'varjanīyāḥ': 'to be avoided

• to be shunned', 'tu': 'but

• however', 'śūdrāḥ': 'Shudras

• members of the service class', 'sarvabhakṣāḥ': 'those who eat everything indiscriminately (without discrimination of permissible/impermissible)', 'vikarmiṇaḥ': 'doers of forbidden acts

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Brahmins
• Kshatriyas
• Vaishyas
• Shudras

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that a kṣatriya should be discerning about the source of food, accepting it from socially and ritually approved households, and avoiding food associated with indiscriminate eating and śāstra-violating conduct, since food is linked to purity and ethical discipline.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he gives a rule of conduct concerning from whom a kṣatriya may accept food, framing it as part of proper ācāra and adherence to śāstric norms.