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 ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Hendaklah dikenal sebagai jatuh martabat dan tidak suci—bahkan seorang Pulkaśa yang lahir daripada seorang Caṇḍāla—ia yang hidup dengan memakan daging keldai dan gajah, berselubung pakaian orang mati, dan makan daripada bekas yang pecah.”
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.