Shloka 24
Prāyaścitta-vidhāna: Tapas, Dāna, Vrata, and Proportional Expiation (प्रायश्चित्तविधानम्)
क्रव्यादा दंष्टिण: सर्वे चतुष्पात् पक्षिणश्न ये । येषां चोभयतो दन्ताश्षतुर्दष्टाश्न सर्वश:
kravyādā daṁṣṭinaḥ sarve catuṣpāt pakṣiṇaś ca ye | yeṣāṁ cobhayato dantāś caturdaṣṭāś ca sarvaśaḥ ||
Vyāsa said: “All flesh-eaters and all creatures furnished with fangs—whether four-footed beasts or birds—and, in general, all beings that have teeth on both jaws and four prominent fangs are to be regarded as unfit for eating (abhakṣya).”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Predatory, flesh-eating creatures—especially those marked by fangs and a carnivorous nature—are classified as unfit for consumption, reinforcing restraint and purity as aspects of dharma.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa lays down a rule-list style classification of animals, specifying which kinds are to be avoided as food, using anatomical and behavioral markers (flesh-eating, fangs, teeth on both jaws).