Shloka 4
Brāhmaṇa-pūjā and Namaskāra: Criteria of Reverence and Non-Offense (ब्राह्मणपूजा-नमस्कारविधिः)
प्रमथा ऊचु. मैथुनेन सदोच्छिष्टा: कृते चैवाधरोत्तरे मोहान्मांसानि खादेत वृक्षमूले च यः स्वपेत्
bhīṣma uvāca | pramathā ūcuḥ | maithunena sadocchiṣṭāḥ kṛte caivādharottare mohān māṃsāni khādet vṛkṣamūle ca yaḥ svapet |
Para Pramatha berkata: “Mereka yang senantiasa ternoda oleh kenikmatan seksual; yang membalikkan tatanan luhur dan rendah dalam perilaku (menghina para tua dan atasan); yang karena kebodohan memakan daging; dan yang tidur di kaki pepohonan—orang-orang demikian kami pandang sebagai najis, seakan ‘sisa’ yang tercemar, penuh celah-celah aib. Dalam pandangan kami, mereka termasuk golongan yang layak disantap dan dibinasakan; tentang ini tiada keraguan.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames certain behaviors—sexual excess, disrespect toward elders/superiors, delusion-driven meat-eating, and socially marginal sleeping practices—as signs of ritual and moral impurity (ucchiṣṭatva). It reflects a dharma-oriented worldview where self-restraint, hierarchy of respect, and purity norms are treated as markers of ethical fitness.
Within Bhishma’s discourse in the Anushasana Parva, the Pramathas are quoted describing categories of people they deem impure and therefore, in their fierce perspective, 'fit to be consumed or slain.' The statement functions as a stark, punitive voice illustrating how transgression is judged in certain mythic-ethical frames.