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 ||
Bhīṣma dit : Si un brāhmaṇa mange, trois nuits de suite, la nourriture offerte à l’occasion d’un décès (c’est-à-dire dans une maison frappée par l’impureté du deuil), il recouvre la pureté en se baignant aux trois jonctions du jour — matin, midi et soir — pendant sept jours. Cet enseignement souligne le souci du dharma pour la pureté rituelle et les moyens prescrits pour la rétablir après le contact avec l’impureté liée à la mort.
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.