Shloka 6
Agastya-Māhātmya and Vasiṣṭha’s Protection of the Ādityas
Khalina Daityas; Sarayū Etiology
शूद्राणां यस्तथा भुड्क्ते स भुड्क्ते पृथिवीमलम् । पृथिवीमलमश्रन्ति ये द्विजा: शूद्रभोजिन:,जो शूट्रोंका अन्न खाता है, वह पृथ्वीका मल खाता है। शूद्रात्न भोजन करनेवाले सभी द्विज पृथ्वीका मल ही खाते हैं
śūdrāṇāṁ yas tathā bhuṅkte sa bhuṅkte pṛthivī-malam | pṛthivī-malam aśnanti ye dvijāḥ śūdra-bhojinaḥ ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Siapa pun yang dengan cara demikian memakan makanan seorang Śūdra, sesungguhnya ia memakan kotoran bumi. Para dwija yang hidup dengan memakan makanan Śūdra pun dikatakan menyantap kenajisan bumi.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a stringent norm of dharma regarding food and dependence: for the twice-born, eating or subsisting on food obtained from a Śūdra (as framed by the text’s purity-code) is condemned as a serious impurity, expressed through the metaphor of ‘eating the earth’s filth.’
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma and proper conduct. Here he delivers a prescriptive rule about who may accept and eat food from whom, using strong language to discourage certain forms of association and livelihood for dvijas.