Shloka 16

Agastya-Māhātmya and Vasiṣṭha’s Protection of the Ādityas

Khalina Daityas; Sarayū Etiology

Devanagari script

वचनीयस्य यो भुड्क्ते तमाहु: शोणितं हृदम्‌ । पिशुनं भोजन भुड्धक्ते ब्रह्म॒हत्यासमं विदु:

Transliteration

vacanīyasya yo bhuṅkte tam āhuḥ śoṇita-kuṇḍaṃ hṛdam | piśunaṃ bhojanaṃ bhuṅkte brahma-hatyā-samaṃ viduḥ |

Translation

Dijo Bhishma: «A quien come el alimento de un hombre censurable se le llama “pozo de sangre” en el corazón. Y quien come el alimento obtenido de un calumniador es tenido por autor de un acto igual a la brahma-hatyā (el pecado de matar a un brāhmaṇa). Por ello, jamás debe aceptarse comida ofrecida con desprecio o desdén».

Word by Word

• {'vacanīya': 'blameworthy

• one who deserves reproach', 'yo': 'who

• whoever', 'bhuṅkte': 'eats

• partakes (of food)', 'tam': 'him', 'āhuḥ': 'they call

• they say', 'śoṇita': 'blood', 'kuṇḍa': 'pit

• reservoir', 'hṛdam (hṛdayam)': 'heart

• inner disposition', 'piśuna': 'slanderer

• tale-bearer', 'bhojana': 'food

• meal', 'brahma-hatyā': 'killing of a brāhmaṇa

• a paradigmatic great sin', 'samam': 'equal to

• on a par with', 'viduḥ': 'they know

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• brahma-hatyā (sin-category)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Food is ethically charged: accepting a meal from a censurable or slanderous person is treated as gravely sinful, and one should refuse food offered with disrespect or contempt.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anushasana Parva), he lays down norms of purity and moral discernment in accepting hospitality, warning Yudhishthira about the spiritual consequences of eating from the wrong sources.