Shloka 20
Agastya-Māhātmya and Vasiṣṭha’s Protection of the Ādityas
Khalina Daityas; Sarayū Etiology
न्यासापहारिणो भुक्त्वा कृतघ्ने क्लीबवर्तिनि | जायते शबरावासे मध्यदेशबहिष्कृते,धरोहर हड़पनेवाले, कृतघ्न तथा नपुंसकका अन्न खा लेनेसे मनुष्य मध्यदेशबहिष्कृत भीलोंके घरमें जन्म लेता है
bhīṣma uvāca | nyāsāpahāriṇo bhuktvā kṛtaghne klībavartini | jāyate śabarāvāse madhyadeśabahiṣkṛte ||
Bhishma said: Having eaten the food of one who seizes what was entrusted (a deposit), or of a thankless person, or of one who lives in an unmanly/impotent manner, a man is born among the Śabaras—outside the sacred Middle Country, in a Śabara dwelling.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should be careful about whose food one accepts: consuming the sustenance of people guilty of grave ethical faults (misappropriating trusts, ingratitude, degraded conduct) is treated as moral participation that yields adverse karmic results, including an inferior or marginalized rebirth.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he lists consequences of specific unethical associations. Here he states that eating the food of certain wrongdoers leads to rebirth among the Śabaras, outside the culturally ‘central’ region (Madhyadeśa), emphasizing the link between daily conduct and karmic destiny.