Shloka 6
Agastya-Māhātmya and Vasiṣṭha’s Protection of the Ādityas
Khalina Daityas; Sarayū Etiology
शूद्राणां यस्तथा भुड्क्ते स भुड्क्ते पृथिवीमलम् । पृथिवीमलमश्रन्ति ये द्विजा: शूद्रभोजिन:,जो शूट्रोंका अन्न खाता है, वह पृथ्वीका मल खाता है। शूद्रात्न भोजन करनेवाले सभी द्विज पृथ्वीका मल ही खाते हैं
śūdrāṇāṁ yas tathā bhuṅkte sa bhuṅkte pṛthivī-malam | pṛthivī-malam aśnanti ye dvijāḥ śūdra-bhojinaḥ ||
भीष्म उवाच—यः शूद्राणां तथाभुङ्क्ते स भुङ्क्ते पृथिवीमलम्। पृथिवीमलमश्नन्ति ये द्विजाः शूद्रभोजिनः॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a stringent norm of dharma regarding food and dependence: for the twice-born, eating or subsisting on food obtained from a Śūdra (as framed by the text’s purity-code) is condemned as a serious impurity, expressed through the metaphor of ‘eating the earth’s filth.’
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma and proper conduct. Here he delivers a prescriptive rule about who may accept and eat food from whom, using strong language to discourage certain forms of association and livelihood for dvijas.