Shloka 24
Satya–Anṛta Viveka (Discrimination between Truth and Falsehood) | सत्य–अनृत विवेकः
अविषह्ा हा[सम्भोज्या निकृत्या पतनं गता:
bhīṣma uvāca | aviṣahāḥ parasambhojyā nikṛtyā patanaṃ gatāḥ | teṣām annaṃ na svayaṃ bhuñjīta na ca tebhyo 'nnam pradadyāt | devamanuṣyalokābhyāṃ cyutāḥ pretavat sthitāḥ | yajñatapaḥhīnāś ca tasmāt teṣāṃ saṅgaṃ na kadācana kuryāḥ ||
Bhishma dit : «Ceux qui sont devenus insupportables aux autres et vivent en exploitant le bien d’autrui sont tombés par la tromperie. Qu’on ne mange ni leur nourriture, ni qu’on leur offre la sienne ; car par la fraude ils ont sombré dans la ruine. Retranchés du monde des dieux comme de celui des hommes, ils subsistent tels des esprits errants. Dépourvus de sacrifice et d’austérité, ils sont indignes de fréquentation ; aussi ne garde jamais leur compagnie.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not associate with people who live by deceit and exploitation; their moral fall makes their company—and even exchange of food with them—spiritually and socially contaminating, as they are portrayed as cut off from both divine merit and human respectability.
In Bhishma’s instruction discourse in the Shanti Parva, he warns the listener about a class of deceitful, exploitative persons and prescribes strict avoidance—symbolized by refusing to eat their food or feed them—because their conduct has led to a degraded, ‘preta-like’ condition.