Shloka 21
अत्रेः तपोबलप्रकाशः तथा च्यवनस्य सोमाधिकारः
Atri’s Illumination by Tapas; Cyavana and Soma-Entitlement
जो ब्राह्मण शूद्रोंके साथ एक पंक्तिमें भोजन कर लेता है, वह अशुद्ध हो जाता है। अतः उनकी शुद्धिके लिये शास्त्रीय विधिके अनुसार यहाँ शौचका विधान है ।।
yastu vaiśyaiḥ sahāśrīyād brāhmaṇo ’py ekabhojane | sa vai trirātraṃ dīkṣitvā mucyate tena karmaṇā ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: Si incluso un brāhmaṇa participa de una comida común en la misma fila con vaiśyas, contrae una mancha ritual. Al emprender una observancia consagrada durante tres noches, queda liberado de la falta nacida de ese acto. La enseñanza subraya la preocupación del śāstra por mantener los límites prescritos de conducta y la disponibilidad de una disciplina expiatoria para restaurar la pureza y el orden socio-religioso.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that certain forms of commensality are treated as a breach of prescribed ritual-social boundaries, but the tradition also provides a defined expiation: a three-night consecrated observance (trirātra-dīkṣā) to remove the fault and restore purity.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma lays down a specific rule about eating together (ekabhojana) and states the corresponding prāyaścitta: a brāhmaṇa who has eaten in the same line with vaiśyas should observe a three-night vow to be freed from the resulting impurity.