Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 24
गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow
Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode
चाण्डालात् पुल्कसं चापि खराश्चगजभोजिनम् | मृतचैलप्रतिच्छन्न॑ भिन्नभाजनभोजिनम्
cāṇḍālāt pulkasaṃ cāpi kharāś ca gajabhojinam | mṛtacailapraticchannaṃ bhinnabhājanabhojinam ||
ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಚಾಂಡಾಲನಿಂದ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ ಪುಲ್ಕಸನನ್ನೂ ಪತಿತನಾಗಿಯೂ ಅಶುದ್ಧನಾಗಿಯೂ ಗುರುತಿಸಬೇಕು; ಅವನು ಕತ್ತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಆನೆಯ ಮಾಂಸವನ್ನು ತಿನ್ನುವವನು, ಮೃತರ ಬಟ್ಟೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊದ್ದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವವನು, ಮುರಿದ ಪಾತ್ರೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಊಟ ಮಾಡುವವನು.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reflects a dharma-śāstra style concern with social and ritual purity, marking certain food habits and contact with death-associated items (dead garments, broken utensils) as signs of impurity and social exclusion.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social conduct. Here he lists a stigmatized type of person—defined by birth-category and practices such as eating taboo meats and using death-associated clothing/utensils—as an example within his broader discourse on purity rules.