Shloka 10
Agastya-Māhātmya and Vasiṣṭha’s Protection of the Ādityas
Khalina Daityas; Sarayū Etiology
शूद्रकर्म तु यः कुर्यादवहाय स्वकर्म च । स विज्ञेयो यथा शूद्रो न च भोज्य: कदाचन,जो वैश्य अपना कर्म छोड़कर शूद्रका कर्म करता है, उसे शूद्रके समान ही जानना चाहिये और उसके यहाँ कभी भोजन नहीं करना चाहिये
śūdrakarma tu yaḥ kuryād avahāya svakarma ca | sa vijñeyo yathā śūdro na ca bhojyaḥ kadācana ||
Bhīṣma said: “If a person abandons his own prescribed duty and instead performs the work assigned to a Śūdra, he should be regarded as a Śūdra in status; and one should never accept food in his house.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should not abandon one’s own prescribed duty (svakarma). Deliberately taking up work assigned to another varṇa—here described as śūdra-karma—marks a fall in recognized social/ritual standing, and traditional dharma-text logic treats such a person as unfit for commensality (food should not be accepted from him).
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma is laying down norms of conduct and social-religious practice. This verse is part of his prescriptive guidance about varṇa-based duties and the consequences of neglecting one’s own dharma, including rules about whom it is proper to dine with or accept food from.