Shloka 5
तीर्थवंशोपदेशः
Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters
अवषुष्ट च यद् भुक्तमव्रतेन च भारत । परामृष्टं शुना चैव तं भागं रक्षसां विदु:
avaṣuṣṭaṃ ca yad bhuktam avratena ca bhārata | parāmṛṣṭaṃ śunā caiva taṃ bhāgaṃ rakṣasāṃ viduḥ ||
अवषुष्टं च यद् भुक्तमव्रतेन च भारत। परामृष्टं शुना चैव तद् भागं राक्षसानां विदुः॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Food intended for righteous use must be protected by discipline (vrata/ācāra) and purity; once it is improperly claimed, eaten by an undisciplined person, or contaminated (e.g., by a dog), it becomes unfit for dharmic consumption and is figuratively assigned to rākṣasas.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira on right conduct, he lists conditions under which food becomes ritually tainted—publicly called out/claimed, eaten by an avratin, or touched by a dog—and states that such a portion is regarded as belonging to rākṣasas, i.e., outside the sphere of proper human religious eating.