Shloka 32
(द्विषदन्न न भोक्तव्यं द्विषन्तं नैव भोजयेत् । पाण्डवान् द्विषसे राजन् मम प्राणा हि पाण्डवा: ।। ) “जो द्वेष रखता हो, उसका अन्न नहीं खाना चाहिये। द्वेष रखनेवालेको खिलाना भी नहीं चाहिये। राजन! तुम पाण्डवोंसे द्वेष रखते हो और पाण्डव मेरे प्राण हैं। सर्वमेतन्न भोक्तव्यमन्नं दुष्टगाभिसंहितम् । क्षत्तुरेकस्य भोक्तव्यमिति मे धीयते मति:,“तुम्हारा यह सारा अन्न दुर्भावनासे दूषित है। अतः मेरे भोजन करनेयोग्य नहीं है। मेरे लिये तो यहाँ केवल विदुरका ही अन्न खानेयोग्य है। यह मेरी निश्चित धारणा है”
dviṣadannaṁ na bhoktavyaṁ dviṣantaṁ naiva bhojayet | pāṇḍavān dviṣase rājan mama prāṇā hi pāṇḍavāḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “One should not eat the food of a person who bears hatred, nor should one feed a hater. O King, you hate the Pāṇḍavas—and the Pāṇḍavas are as my very life. Therefore this entire fare of yours, tainted by ill-will, is not fit for me to partake of. In my judgment, only Vidura’s food is worthy for me to eat here.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Food is not morally neutral: accepting hospitality from someone driven by hatred implicates one in that hostility. The verse frames eating and feeding as ethical acts, urging avoidance of relationships sustained by dveṣa (malice) and affirming loyalty to the righteous.
In the tense pre-war setting, the speaker refuses to accept the king’s hospitality because the king bears enmity toward the Pāṇḍavas, whom the speaker cherishes as his own life. He declares that only Vidura’s food is acceptable, signaling moral alignment and rejecting tainted patronage.