Shloka 12
Karma-Phala Rahasya and the Ethics of Dāna (कर्मफल-रहस्यं दानधर्मश्च)
पाद्यमासनमेवाथ दीपमन्नं प्रतिश्रयम् । दद्यादतिथिपूजार्थ स यज्ञ: पजचदक्षिण:,जो अतिथिको पैर धोनेके लिये जल, बैठनेके लिये आसन, प्रकाशके लिये दीपक, खानेके लिये अन्न और ठहरनेके लिये घर देता है, इस प्रकार अतिथिका सत्कार करनेके लिये इन पाँच वस्तुओंका दान 'पंचदक्षिण यज्ञ” कहलाता है
Bhīṣma uvāca: pādyaṃ āsanam eva atha dīpam annaṃ pratiśrayam | dadyād atithipūjārthaṃ sa yajñaḥ pañcadakṣiṇaḥ ||
Bhishma said: “For the sake of honoring a guest, one should offer water for washing the feet, a seat, a lamp for light, food, and shelter. This fivefold offering made in hospitality is called the ‘sacrifice with five gifts’ (pañca-dakṣiṇā-yajña).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hospitality is treated as a sacred duty: offering a guest five essentials—foot-washing water, a seat, light, food, and shelter—is itself a yajña, a meritorious religious act.
Bhishma is instructing on dharma, defining a specific form of righteous conduct: the proper reception of an atithi (guest) through five concrete offerings, named the pañcadakṣiṇa-yajña.