Shloka 26
कुमाराभिषेकप्रश्नः — Inquiry into Kumāra (Skanda) Investiture at Sarasvatī
क्षुतं कीटावपन्नं च यच्चोच्छिष्टाचितं भवेत् । सकेशमवधूतं च रुदितोपहतं च यत्
kṣutaṃ kīṭāvapannaṃ ca yac cocchiṣṭācitaṃ bhavet | sakeśam avadhūtaṃ ca ruditopahataṃ ca yat |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Food that has been sneezed upon, that has been infested by insects, that has been heaped up from another’s leftovers, that is mixed with hair, that has been shaken about and sullied, and that which has been spoiled by tears—such food is to be regarded as defiled.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse lists concrete signs of defilement in food—contamination by bodily emissions (sneeze, tears), insects, leftovers, hair, and rough handling—implying that ethical self-discipline includes attentiveness to purity and propriety in daily acts like eating.
Vaiśampāyana is describing standards of acceptable versus unacceptable food, enumerating types of food considered polluted and therefore to be avoided, as part of a broader dharma-oriented instruction within the Shalya Parva context.