Shloka 15
श्रीशक्रसंवादः — The Dialogue of Śrī
Lakṣmī) and Śakra (Indra
देवताभ्य: पितृभ्यश्च भृत्येभ्योडतिथिभि: सह । अवशिष्टं तु यो5श्चाति तमाहुर्विघसाशिनम्
devatābhyaḥ pitṛbhyaś ca bhṛtyebhyo ’tithibhiḥ saha | avaśiṣṭaṃ tu yo ’śnāti tam āhur vighasāśinam ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Wer nur das isst, was übrig bleibt, nachdem er zuerst den Göttern und den Pitṛ (den Ahnen) ihren Anteil dargebracht und sie geehrt hat und nachdem er auch die Abhängigen seines Hauses und die Gäste gespeist hat, der heißt vighasāśin — einer, der vom heiligen Rest lebt.“
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should not eat first. Proper conduct is to honor the gods and ancestors through offerings, then fulfill social duties by feeding guests and dependents; only the remaining food is fit for one’s own consumption. Such a person is termed vighasāśin, embodying restraint and dharmic priority.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma in the Shanti Parva, he defines a virtuous household practice: serving divine and ancestral obligations and extending hospitality and care to dependents before eating oneself, and he names the practitioner of this discipline.