Shloka 18
अत्रेः तपोबलप्रकाशः तथा च्यवनस्य सोमाधिकारः
Atri’s Illumination by Tapas; Cyavana and Soma-Entitlement
मृतकस्य त्रिरात्रे यः समुद्दिष्टे समश्षुते । सप्त त्रिषवर्णं स्नात्वा पूतो भवति ब्राह्मण:
mṛtakasya trirātre yaḥ samuddiṣṭe samaśnute | sapta triṣavarṇaṃ snātvā pūto bhavati brāhmaṇaḥ ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: Si un brāhmaṇa come, durante tres noches consecutivas, el alimento ofrecido con motivo de una muerte (esto es, en una casa bajo la impureza del duelo), se purifica bañándose en las tres coyunturas del día —mañana, mediodía y atardecer— por siete días. Esta enseñanza subraya la preocupación del dharma por la pureza ritual y los medios prescritos para restaurarla tras el contacto con la impureza ligada a la muerte.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Contact with death-related impurity through eating food offered in that context creates ritual defilement, and dharma prescribes a specific purification: thrice-daily bathing for seven days, emphasizing disciplined restoration of purity rather than denial of the transgression.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma-instruction, Bhīṣma lays down a rule about a brāhmaṇa who repeatedly eats in a household under death-impurity and states the required purificatory practice to regain ritual fitness.