Shloka 6
Jñāna-yoga and Karma-phala: Manu–Bṛhaspati on Akṣara and the Limits of Mantra
पज्चाद्रों भोजनं भुज्ज्यात् प्राइमुखो मौनमास्थित: । ननिन्द्यादन्नभक्ष्यांश्न स्वाद्वस्वादु च भक्षयेत्
pañcāṅgāni prakṣālya bhojanaṁ bhuñjīta prāṅmukho maunam āsthitaḥ | na nindyād annabhakṣyāṇi svādv-asvādu ca bhakṣayet ||
Bhīṣma said: “Having washed the five limbs, one should eat facing east, maintaining silence while taking food. One should not disparage the food that is served. Whether it is tasty or not, one should partake of it without aversion.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches disciplined, respectful conduct at meals: cleanse oneself, eat with mindful restraint (silence), avoid fault-finding toward what is offered, and accept food without attachment to taste.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, Bhishma gives Yudhishthira practical rules of daily life—here, the ethical and ritual propriety of taking food.