Srimad Bhagavatam — Shashtha Skandha, Shloka 49
Diti’s Puṁsavana Vow, Indra’s Intervention, and the Birth of the Maruts
नोच्छिष्टं चण्डिकान्नं च सामिषं वृषलाहृतम् । भुञ्जीतोदक्यया दृष्टं पिबेन्नाञ्जलिना त्वप: ॥ ४९ ॥
nocchiṣṭaṁ caṇḍikānnaṁ ca sāmiṣaṁ vṛṣalāhṛtam bhuñjītodakyayā dṛṣṭaṁ piben nāñjalinā tv apaḥ
جُوٹا کھانا نہ کھاؤ، چنڈیکا (کالی/درگا) کو چڑھایا ہوا کھانا نہ کھاؤ، اور گوشت یا مچھلی سے آلودہ غذا نہ لو۔ شودر کے لائے یا چھوئے ہوئے، اور حیض والی عورت کے دیکھے ہوئے کھانے سے بھی پرہیز کرو۔ اور دونوں ہتھیلیاں جوڑ کر اَنجلی سے پانی نہ پیو۔
Generally the goddess Kālī is offered food containing meat and fish, and therefore Kaśyapa Muni strictly forbade his wife to take the remnants of such food. Actually a Vaiṣṇava is not allowed to take any food offered to the demigods. A Vaiṣṇava is always fixed in accepting prasāda offered to Lord Viṣṇu. Through all these instructions, Kaśyapa Muni, in a negative way, instructed his wife Diti how to become a Vaiṣṇavī.
FAQs
In this verse, Kashyapa lists foods and conditions to avoid—leftovers, food offered to Caṇḍikā, meat-containing food, food brought by an impure person, and food seen by a menstruating woman—emphasizing purity to protect the vow.
Diti was observing a sacred vow while carrying a powerful pregnancy; Kashyapa’s detailed rules were meant to preserve ritual purity and the potency of her vrata amid the tense narrative where Indra seeks an opportunity to harm the fetus.
Keep devotional practice clean and intentional: avoid careless consumption, cultivate sattvic habits, and maintain respectful boundaries around worship, diet, and personal discipline—especially when undertaking vows or focused sadhana.