Shloka 25
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
स्वाहास्वधामृतभुजो देवा: सत्यार्जवप्रिया: । क्रव्यादान् राक्षसान् विद्धि जिह्मानृतपरायणान्
svāhāsvadhāmṛtabhujo devāḥ satyārjavapriyāḥ | kravyādān rākṣasān viddhi jihmānṛtaparāyaṇān ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Diejenigen, die die Opfergaben svāhā (den Göttern) und svadhā (den Ahnen) darbringen, die die nektargleichen Reste des Opfers genießen und Wahrheit sowie Geradheit lieben—sie sind im Handeln als ‘Devas’ zu verstehen. Doch wer vom Fleischessen lebt, der sich der Verschlagenheit und der Lüge hingibt, den erkenne als ‘Rākṣasa’ von Natur.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma defines ‘deva’ and ‘rākṣasa’ primarily as ethical types: devotion to truth, simplicity, and sacrificial discipline aligns one with the deva-nature, while deceit, falsehood, and habitual flesh-eating align one with rākṣasa-nature.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma continues his didactic discourse, offering a moral classification of beings by conduct—contrasting those who uphold yajña and truthful straightforwardness with those devoted to deception and violent appetite.