Shloka 42
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
भुक्ते परिजने पश्चाद् भोजन धर्म उच्यते । ब्राह्मणस्य गृहस्थस्य श्रोत्रियस्थ विशेषत:
bhukte parijane paścād bhojanaṁ dharma ucyate | brāhmaṇasya gṛhasthasya śrotriyastha viśeṣataḥ ||
Maheshvara sprach: „Erst nachdem die Abhängigen und die Angehörigen des Hauses gegessen haben, gilt das eigene Essen als rechtschaffenes Handeln. Dies wird als Hauptpflicht gelehrt, besonders für einen Brahmanen im Hausstand—und am meisten für einen śrotriya (einen in den Veden ausgebildeten, gelehrten Brahmanen).“
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A householder should prioritize feeding dependents and household members first; only afterward is one’s own meal considered dharmic—especially emphasized for a Brahmin, and even more for a Veda-trained śrotriya.
Maheśvara is instructing on gṛhastha-dharma within the Anuśāsana Parva, defining proper household conduct and the ethical order of eating as a marker of responsibility and restraint.