09-19-2007, 11:10 PM
Bodhi/Husky: As usual, there's much I can learn from your posts.
My guess is that the 'impure food' uttered by Bhisma is more of an metaphor rather than actual food itself. As in, he was <i>indebted to the salt</i> provided by Kauravas which bound him to the policies and actions of the Kaurava clan.
Same with Krishna who didn't eat in Kaurava household since we know that they were capable of poisoning their opponent - remember they did poison Bheema and tried to drown him once. I remember an episode of Shri Krishna's hunger being satisfied by one morsel of rice, so pangs of hunger or affects of food might not have been the real issue.
Again, guessing. Bodhiji can provide more insight here.
Spent past couple days skimming my source (personal copy) 'Mahabharata' by C Ragagopalachari for references or additional insights to this, he didn't have much on this subject.
My guess is that the 'impure food' uttered by Bhisma is more of an metaphor rather than actual food itself. As in, he was <i>indebted to the salt</i> provided by Kauravas which bound him to the policies and actions of the Kaurava clan.
Same with Krishna who didn't eat in Kaurava household since we know that they were capable of poisoning their opponent - remember they did poison Bheema and tried to drown him once. I remember an episode of Shri Krishna's hunger being satisfied by one morsel of rice, so pangs of hunger or affects of food might not have been the real issue.
Again, guessing. Bodhiji can provide more insight here.
Spent past couple days skimming my source (personal copy) 'Mahabharata' by C Ragagopalachari for references or additional insights to this, he didn't have much on this subject.