Shloka 6

Brāhmaṇa-pūjā and Namaskāra: Criteria of Reverence and Non-Offense (ब्राह्मणपूजा-नमस्कारविधिः)

Devanagari script

उदके चाप्यमेध्यानि श्लेष्माणं च प्रमुडचति । एते भक्ष्याश्न वध्याश्न मानुषा नात्र संशय:

Transliteration

udake cāpy amedhyāni śleṣmāṇaṃ ca pramuñcati | ete bhakṣyāśn vadhyāśn mānuṣā nātra saṃśayaḥ ||

Translation

நீரில் மலம்-மூத்திரம் போன்ற அசுத்தங்களைவும், கபம்-துப்பையும் விடுபவர்கள் கூட அசுத்தர் எனக் கருதப்படுவர்; எங்கள் பார்வையில் அவர்கள் விலக்கத்தக்கவரும் தண்டனைக்குரியவரும்—இதில் ஐயமில்லை.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'udake', 'definition': 'in water

• into water (locative of udaka)'}, {'term': 'api', 'definition': 'also, even'}, {'term': 'amedhyāni', 'definition': 'impurities

• unclean substances (plural of amedhya)'}, {'term': 'śleṣmāṇam', 'definition': 'phlegm, mucus'}, {'term': 'pramuñcati', 'definition': 'releases, discharges, throws out'}, {'term': 'ete', 'definition': 'these (people)'}, {'term': 'bhakṣyāḥ', 'definition': 'fit to be eaten/consumed

• by extension, to be treated as prey (contextual, condemnatory usage)'}, {'term': 'vadhyāḥ', 'definition': 'fit to be slain/punished'}, {'term': 'mānuṣāḥ', 'definition': 'human beings, people'}, {'term': 'nātra saṃśayaḥ', 'definition': 'there is no doubt here'}]

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• water (udaka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse condemns acts that defile shared resources—especially water—treating such behavior as a serious ethical and ritual fault, warranting strong social censure and punishment.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira by listing blameworthy conduct; here he singles out those who pollute water with impurities (including spitting out phlegm) and declares them gravely culpable.