Shloka 17
तीर्थवंशोपदेशः
Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters
अनुयोक्ता च यो विप्रो अनुयुक्तश्चन भारत । नाहतस्तावघपि श्राद्ध ब्रहद्मविक्रयिणौ हि तो
anuyoktā ca yo vipro ’nuyuktaś ca nara-bhārata | nāhatas tāv aghaṃ api śrāddhe brahma-vikrayiṇau hi tau ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „O Nachkomme Bharatas, der Brāhmaṇa, der sich gegen Lohn zum Unterrichten verdingt, und derjenige, der einen Lehrer gegen Lohn anwirbt, sind beide, dem Wesen nach, Händler der Veden. Darum sollen sie, selbst wenn sie sonst ohne Makel sind, nicht zu den zum śrāddha Eingeladenen gezählt werden.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred learning (brahma/veda) should not be treated as a commodity. When teaching or learning is conducted as a wage-transaction, it is likened to ‘selling the Veda,’ and such persons are deemed unsuitable for participation as invitees in śrāddha rites.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma and ritual conduct, he specifies categories of people who should not be included among those invited to a śrāddha. Here he excludes both the brāhmaṇa who teaches for wages and the one who learns by paying wages, calling them ‘brahma-vikrayin’ (traders in sacred knowledge).