Shloka 46
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
सम्भोजनी नाम पिशाचदक्षिणा सा नैव देवान् न पितृनुपैति । इहैव सा भ्राम्यति हीनपुण्या शालान्तरे गौरिव नष्टवत्सा
sambhojanī nāma piśāca-dakṣiṇā sā naiva devān na pitṝn upaiti | ihaiva sā bhrāmyati hīna-puṇyā śālāntare gaur iva naṣṭa-vatsā ||
Bhishma said: The fee (dakṣiṇā) that arises from mutual feasting—where people eat at one another’s śrāddha and then give and receive payments in return—is called the “piśāca-dakṣiṇā,” a ghostly and impure gift. It reaches neither the gods nor the ancestors (Pitṛs). Devoid of merit, it merely wanders about in this very world, like a cow that has lost her calf, circling restlessly within the cowshed—so too such exchanged payments remain here and do not attain the Pitṛs.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that ritual gifts (dakṣiṇā) must be given with sincerity and proper intent; payments exchanged merely as reciprocal compensation for attending one another’s śrāddha are spiritually sterile—called piśāca-dakṣiṇā—and yield no benefit to gods or ancestors.
In his instruction on dharma and śrāddha conduct, Bhīṣma warns against a social practice of mutual feasting with give-and-take payments. He illustrates its futility with a simile: like a cow that has lost her calf and keeps circling within the cowshed, such meritless dakṣiṇā remains confined to this world and does not reach the Pitṛs.