Shloka 99
दक्षिणा चात्र देया वै निष्कपञ्चसुवर्णकम् | वाचकाय यथाशकक्त्या यथोक्तं फलमिच्छता
vaiśampāyana uvāca | dakṣiṇā cātra deyā vai niṣkapañcasuvarṇakam | vācakāya yathāśaktyā yathoktaṁ phalam icchatā ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Auch hier soll gewiss eine Gabe entrichtet werden—fünf goldene Niṣkas—als Opferlohn. Wer die in den Śāstras verheißene Frucht begehrt, soll nach dem Hören des Mahābhārata dem Rezitator nach seinen Mitteln dies geben und so die Übermittlung der heiligen Lehre durch rechtes Geben ehren.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred learning is to be honored through appropriate giving: after hearing the Mahābhārata, one should offer a dakṣiṇā to the reciter according to one’s means, aligning personal conduct with scriptural prescriptions for merit.
In the concluding instructional context of the Svargārohaṇa section, Vaiśampāyana states a practical rule for listeners: the reciter of the Mahābhārata should be rewarded with a prescribed honorarium—symbolically expressed as five gold niṣkas—so that the listener may obtain the declared fruit of the hearing.