Shloka 140
Right Conduct, Offenses Against Brāhmaṇas, Truthfulness, and the Greatness of the Cow
Go-Māhātmya
अगव्यैर्यस्तु भुंक्ते वै मासमेकं निरंतरम् । भोजने तस्य मर्त्यस्य प्रेताः खादंति चैव हि
agavyairyastu bhuṃkte vai māsamekaṃ niraṃtaram | bhojane tasya martyasya pretāḥ khādaṃti caiva hi
ఎవడు గోవు-ఉత్పన్న పదార్థాలు లేని ఆహారాన్ని ఒక నెల నిరంతరం భుజిస్తాడో, ఆ మానవుని భోజనంలో ప్రేతగణములు కూడా నిశ్చయంగా భాగస్వాములై భుజిస్తారు।
Unspecified in the provided excerpt (context needed from surrounding verses to identify the dialogue pair).
Concept: Impure or adharmic diet (here framed as ‘agavya’ consumption) attracts preta-association and diminishes auspiciousness of one’s meals.
Application: Maintain sāttvika standards in cooking and ingredients; keep offerings and meals aligned with śāstra; treat food as naivedya-in-potential.
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A dim household dining scene where a man eats continuously from a platter prepared with forbidden ‘agavya’ ingredients; behind him, semi-transparent pretas hover, reaching toward the food, their presence felt as a chilling shadow over the meal. The altar lamp flickers low, suggesting diminished auspiciousness, while a distant tulasī plant appears neglected.","primary_figures":["householder (the eater)","pretas (ancestral spirits)","household deity lamp/altar (symbolic)"],"setting":"Interior dining space near a small shrine; food platter, smoky air, faint ritual objects left unattended.","lighting_mood":"moonlit","color_palette":["ashen gray","smoky indigo","lamp-flame amber","dull brown","ghostly pale green"],"tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting style: dramatic moral tableau with a central seated figure eating, ornate but slightly darkened interior, and stylized translucent pretas behind; gold leaf used sparingly on the shrine lamp and vessel rims to contrast with shadowed reds and deep greens; traditional iconographic borders framing a cautionary scene.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari miniature style: nocturnal interior with delicate brushwork; the eater in profile, pretas rendered as faint washes and fine lines; cool blues and grays dominate; subtle narrative symbolism—dim diya, neglected tulasī, and a calendar marking ‘one month’.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: bold outlines and expressive eyes; pretas as stylized pale figures with exaggerated features; strong contrast between the warm shrine corner and the cool dark dining area; earthy reds, ochres, and deep greens.","pichwai_prompt":"Pichwai cloth painting style: allegorical composition with ornate border of withering tulasī leaves and dark lotus motifs; central platter scene; spectral figures integrated into patterned background; deep indigo cloth, gold highlights, and narrative cartouches explaining the warning."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"dramatic","suggested_raga":"Bhairavi","pace":"fast-dramatic","voice_tone":"authoritative","sound_elements":["low wind","faint rattling","distant dog howl (subtle)","lamp crackle","sudden silence"]}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: agavyaiḥ+yaḥ → agavyairyaḥ; ca+eva → caiva.
FAQs
It links sustained consumption of “agavya” (non-cow-derived/ritually improper substitutes) with an inauspicious consequence: the meal becomes associated with pretas, implying spiritual and ritual impurity.
“Pretas” are departed spirits—beings in an unsettled post-death state in Hindu cosmology—often invoked in Dharma literature as symbols of inauspiciousness and ritual contamination.
The verse emphasizes mindful discipline in consumption: habitual disregard for prescribed purity norms is portrayed as attracting negative, inauspicious influences rather than auspicious presence.