Shloka 8

तीर्थवंशोपदेशः

Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters

Devanagari script

परोच्छिष्टं च यद्‌ भुक्तं परिभुक्त च यद्‌ भवेत्‌ । दैवे पित्रये च सततं त॑ भागं रक्षसां विदु:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | parocchiṣṭaṃ ca yad bhuktaṃ paribhuktaṃ ca yad bhavet | daive pitrye ca satataṃ taṃ bhāgaṃ rakṣasāṃ viduḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: Speise, die zu den Resten eines anderen geworden ist, oder von der bereits gegessen wurde, und ebenso Speise, die man verzehrt, ohne zuvor den Göttern und den Pitṛs (Ahnen) die gebührenden Anteile darzubringen—solche Speise gilt in Riten für die Götter und für die Pitṛs stets als der Anteil der rākṣasas.

Word by Word

• {'parocchiṣṭa': 'made into another’s leavings

• defiled by someone else’s remnants', 'ucchiṣṭa': 'leavings after eating

• ritually impure remainder', 'bhukta': 'eaten

• consumed', 'paribhukta': 'partly eaten/used up

• already enjoyed by someone', 'daiva': 'pertaining to the gods

• divine rite/oblation', 'pitrya (pitṛya)': 'pertaining to the Pitṛs (ancestors)

• ancestral rite/śrāddha context', 'satataṃ': 'always

• continually', 'bhāga': 'share

• allotted portion (in an offering/rite)', 'rakṣasām': 'of the rākṣasas (demons)

• belonging to demonic forces', 'viduḥ': 'they know/consider

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Devas (gods)
• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Rākṣasas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should not use food that is another’s leavings or already eaten-from for divine or ancestral rites, and one should not consume food without first making the proper offerings; otherwise it is deemed spiritually impure and aligned with rākṣasic (harmful, unrighteous) influence.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma is teaching norms of conduct connected with offerings and purity, explaining which kinds of food are unfit for daiva and pitṛ rites and why such misuse is condemned.