Shloka 11
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
तथैव शृणु मे भक्त भक्तानि षडनश्रतः । अश्वस्तनविधानेन हर्तव्यं हीनकर्मण:
tathaiva śṛṇu me bhakta bhaktāni ṣaḍanaśrataḥ | aśvastanavidhānena hartavyaṃ hīnakarmaṇaḥ, yudhiṣṭhira |
Bhishma said: “In the same way, listen to what I tell you about food. O Yudhishthira, if a Brahmin, due to lack of food, has gone without eating continuously for six mealtimes, then in that condition he may take (as by appropriation) from the house of a man of base conduct only so much wealth as will sustain him for a single day’s meal—leaving nothing stored for the next day.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
In extreme distress (hunger), dharma allows a narrowly limited exception: a starving Brahmin may take only the minimum needed for one day’s sustenance, specifically from a person of base conduct, and must not accumulate for the next day. The emphasis is restraint, necessity, and non-hoarding even in crisis.
During Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira in the Shanti Parva, he continues outlining rules of conduct for times of calamity (āpaddharma). Here he addresses what may be done when food is unavailable, setting a strict boundary on what can be taken and from whom.