Shloka 24

गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow

Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode

Devanagari script

चाण्डालात्‌ पुल्कसं चापि खराश्चगजभोजिनम्‌ | मृतचैलप्रतिच्छन्न॑ भिन्नभाजनभोजिनम्‌

Transliteration

cāṇḍālāt pulkasaṃ cāpi kharāś ca gajabhojinam | mṛtacailapraticchannaṃ bhinnabhājanabhojinam ||

Translation

భీష్ముడు అన్నాడు—చాండాలుని నుండి పుట్టిన పుల్కసుడును కూడా పతితుడుగా, అపవిత్రుడుగా గుర్తించాలి; అతడు గాడిదలూ ఏనుగుల మాంసం తింటాడు, మృతుల వస్త్రాలు ధరించి, పగిలిన పాత్రలలో భోజనం చేస్తాడు.

Word by Word

• चाण्डालात्: from a Caṇḍāla (outcaste)
• चाण्डालात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: चाण्डाल
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• पुल्कसम्: a Pulkasa (a low-caste man)
• पुल्कसम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुल्कस
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अपि: also/even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• खरान्: donkeys
• खरान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: खर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• गजभोजिनम्: an elephant-eater (one who eats elephant-flesh)
• गजभोजिनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गजभोजिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• मृतचैलप्रतिच्छन्नम्: covered with a dead man's cloth
• मृतचैलप्रतिच्छन्नम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृतचैलप्रतिच्छन्न
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• भिन्नभाजनभोजिनम्: eating from broken vessels
• भिन्नभाजनभोजिनम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भिन्नभाजनभोजिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Caṇḍāla
• Pulkaśa
• donkey (khara)
• elephant (gaja)
• garments of the dead (mṛtacaila)
• broken vessels (bhinnabhājana)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.