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 said: Food that has become another’s leavings, or from which someone has already eaten, and likewise food that one consumes without first offering the due portions to the gods and to the Pitṛs—such food, in rites for the gods and for the Pitṛs, is always regarded as the share of the 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.