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 ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Mereka yang menjadi tak tertahankan bagi orang lain dan hidup dengan menghisap milik orang lain telah jatuh karena tipu daya. Janganlah memakan makanan mereka, dan jangan pula memberikan makananmu kepada mereka; sebab oleh kecurangan mereka tenggelam dalam kebinasaan. Terputus dari dunia para dewa dan dunia manusia, mereka hidup laksana arwah gelisah. Tanpa yajña dan tapa, mereka tak layak dijadikan kawan; maka jangan sekali-kali bergaul dengan mereka.”
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.