Shloka 4
तीर्थवंशोपदेशः
Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters
लड़घितं चावलीढं च कलिपूर्व च यत् कृतम् रजस्वलाभिदृष्टं च तं भागं रक्षसां विदु:
bhīṣma uvāca | laṅghitaṃ cāvalīḍhaṃ ca kalipūrvaṃ ca yat kṛtam | rajasvalābhidṛṣṭaṃ ca taṃ bhāgaṃ rakṣasāṃ viduḥ ||
यदन्नं लङ्घितं चावलीढं च कलिपूर्वं च यत्कृतम्। रजस्वलाभिदृष्टं च तद् भागं राक्षसानां विदुः॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that food becomes unfit when tainted by disrespect (stepped over), contamination (licked), discord (prepared amid quarrel), or certain ritual conditions (seen by a menstruating woman). Such food is deemed outside the sphere of dharmic consumption—symbolically assigned to rākṣasas—so one should avoid offering or eating it.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and proper conduct. Here he lists specific kinds of food considered impure and therefore not to be eaten or offered, framing the rule through the traditional idea that such tainted portions belong to rākṣasas.