Shloka 17
धर्मनिन्दा–धर्मोपासनाफलम् तथा साध्वाचारलक्षणम्
Fruits of Disparaging vs. Observing Dharma; Marks of Good Conduct
उग्रान्नं गर्हितं देवि गणान्न॑ श्राद्धसूतकम् । दुष्टान्न नैव भोक्तव्यं शूद्रान्नं नैव कर्हिचित्
ugrānnaṁ garhitaṁ devi gaṇānnaṁ śrāddha-sūtakam | duṣṭānnaṁ naiva bhoktavyaṁ śūdrānnaṁ naiva karhicit ||
اے دیوی! سخت اور ضرر رساں مزاج والے شخص کا کھانا قابلِ ملامت ہے۔ اسی طرح کسی گروہ کی ناپاکی سے وابستہ کھانا، شرادھ کے کھانے، ولادت کی ناپاکی کے کھانے، بدکار آدمی کے کھانے—اور شودر کا کھانا بھی—ہرگز نہیں کھانا چاہیے۔
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that eating is a dharmic act with ritual and moral consequences; therefore one should avoid food linked to censured sources—cruel or wicked persons and contexts marked by impurity (such as birth-impurity) or certain rites (śrāddha)—as framed by the text’s purity-based code of conduct.
Śrī Mahēśvara addresses Devī and lays down prescriptive rules about what kinds of food should not be accepted or eaten, presenting them as part of a broader instruction on proper conduct (ācāra) and purity within the Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma-discourse.