Shloka 7
पात्रलक्षण-परिक्षा (Pātra-Lakṣaṇa Parīkṣā) — Criteria for a Worthy Recipient
न तस्याश्रन्ति पितरो यस्य विप्रा न भुज्जते
na tasyāśranti pitaro yasya viprā na bhujjate
Bhīṣma said: “The ancestors find no satisfaction in the case of that man in whose house the brāhmaṇas are not fed.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A householder’s dharma includes honoring and feeding worthy brāhmaṇas/learned guests; failing to do so is said to deprive one’s ancestors of satisfaction, implying that generosity and hospitality sustain both social order and the unseen economy of merit connected with the pitaras.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on duties and ethical conduct. Here he emphasizes the importance of feeding brāhmaṇas as part of household responsibility and as a condition for ancestral contentment.