Shloka 11
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
कुशीलवो देवलको नक्षत्रैर्यश्न॒ जीवति । ईदृशैब्राह्मिणैर्भुक्तमपांक्तेयैर्युधिष्ठिर
kuśīlavo devalako nakṣatrair yaśna jīvati | īdṛśair brāhmiṇair bhuktam apāṅkteyair yudhiṣṭhira ||
Bhīṣma said: “A kuśīlava (wandering performer), a devalaka (one who lives by temple-service for hire), and one who makes his living by (astrological) nakṣatras—when food is eaten in the company of such Brahmins, who are deemed unfit for the sacred dining line, O Yudhiṣṭhira, that meal becomes morally tainted.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma emphasizes that dharma is affected not only by what one eats but also by whose company and whose livelihood-ethics are involved. Certain professions or modes of living, when adopted by Brahmins (as understood in this dharma-discourse), render them ‘apāṅkteya’—unfit for the ritual dining line—so sharing food with them is treated as ethically and ritually contaminating.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, including rules of conduct, gifts, and purity. Here he lists categories of Brahmins whose livelihoods are considered improper in this framework (performer, hired temple-servant, astrologer-by-trade) and warns that meals associated with such ‘apāṅkteya’ persons are blameworthy.