Shloka 18
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
षष्टिं काण: शतं षण्ढ: श्रित्री यावत्प्रपश्यति । पंक््त्यां समुपविष्टायां तावद् दूषयते नृप
ṣaṣṭiṁ kāṇaḥ śataṁ ṣaṇḍhaḥ śvitri yāvat prapaśyati | paṅktyāṁ samupaviṣṭāyāṁ tāvad dūṣayate nṛpa rājān |
ビーシュマは言った。「王よ、教えによれば、人々が食事の列に共に坐すとき、片目の者は六十人を穢すと言われ、不能の者は百人を穢すと言われ、白癩の病に罹る者は、目に映る限りの者を穢すと言われる。これは、共同の行いにおいて儀礼と社会の防護が必要であることを強調し、清浄にして法にかなう修行として始めたものが損なわれたと見なされぬためである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys a dharma-śāstric notion that communal rites—especially shared dining—are considered vulnerable to ‘ritual taint’ from certain stigmatized conditions, emphasizing vigilance about purity rules in collective observances.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing the king on dharma and proper conduct; here he cites a traditional rule about how impurity is thought to spread within a seated dining line, using numerical measures to underline the seriousness of maintaining ritual order.