Shloka 15
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
भस्मनीव हुत॑ हव्यं तथा पौनर्भवे द्विजे । ये तु धर्मव्यपेतेषु चारित्रापगतेषु च । हव्यं कव्यं प्रयच्छन्ति तेषां तत् प्रेत्य नश्यति
bhāsmanīva hutaṁ havyaṁ tathā paunarbhave dvije | ye tu dharmavyapeteṣu cāritrāpagateṣu ca | havyaṁ kavyaṁ prayacchanti teṣāṁ tat pretya naśyati ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Wie eine havis-Opfergabe, die in Asche gegossen wird, vergeblich ist, so wird auch eine Gabe an einen ‘paunarbhava’-Brāhmaṇa (mit Wiederverheiratung/irregulärem Ehestand verbunden) fruchtlos. Wer Götteropfer (havya) und Ahnenopfer (kavya) an Zweimalgeborene (dvija) gibt, die vom dharma und von guter Lebensführung abgefallen sind — dessen Gabe geht nach dem Tod zugrunde und bringt im Jenseits keinen Nutzen.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that ritual gifts and offerings (to gods or ancestors) require a worthy recipient: if given to a dvija who has fallen from dharma and proper conduct, the intended spiritual fruit is nullified—likened to pouring oblations into ashes.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, including rules about gifts and śrāddha. Here he warns that offerings (havya/kavya) given to morally compromised or ritually unfit recipients do not benefit the giver in the afterlife.