Shloka 47
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
यथाग्नौ शान्ते घृतमाजुहोति तन्नैव देवान् न पितृनुपैति । तथा दत्तं नर्तने गायने च यां चानृते दक्षिणामावृणोति
yathāgnau śānte ghṛtam ājuhoti tan naiva devān na pitṝn upaiti | tathā dattaṁ nartane gāyane ca yāṁ cānṛte dakṣiṇām āvṛṇoti ||
Bhīṣma said: “Just as ghee poured as an offering into a fire that has already gone out reaches neither the gods nor the ancestors, so too a gift given for dancing and singing, and the priestly fee (dakṣiṇā) accepted by one who is untruthful, becomes fruitless. Such giving satisfies neither the giver nor truly benefits the receiver; rather, it harms both. Indeed, that blameworthy, ruin-causing dakṣiṇā can even cause the giver’s forefathers to fall from the divine path (devayāna).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A gift must be given in a proper context and to a worthy recipient; otherwise it becomes spiritually ineffective—like an offering poured into an extinguished fire—and can even generate harm for both giver and receiver, affecting ancestral welfare as well.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (especially dāna and dakṣiṇā), he uses a ritual analogy: an oblation in a dead fire reaches neither gods nor ancestors; similarly, gifts directed to improper purposes or accepted by untruthful/unfit recipients are condemned as barren and destructive.