Shloka 12
Varṇāśrama-ācāra and Vikarma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Safe Dharmas (शिवधर्मप्रश्नः)
दान्तो विधेयो हव्यकव्ये<प्रमत्तो हान्नस्य दाता सतत द्विजेभ्य: । अमत्सरी सर्वलिड्ल्डप्रदाता वैताननित्यश्व गृहाश्रमी स्यात्,गृहस्थाश्रमी पुरुष इन्द्रियोंका संयम करे, गुरुजनों एवं शास्त्रोंकी आज्ञा माने, देवताओं और पितरोंकी तृप्तिके लिये हव्य और कव्य समर्पित करनेमें कभी भूल न होने दे, ब्राह्मणोंको निरन्तर अन्नदान करे, ईर्ष्या-द्वेषसे दूर रहे, अन्य सब आश्रमोंको भोजन देकर उनका पालन-पोषण करता रहे और सदा यज्ञ-यागादिमें लगा रहे
dānto vidheyo havyakavye 'pramatto hānnasya dātā satataṃ dvijebhyaḥ | amatsarī sarvaliṅgapradātā vaitānanityaś ca gṛhāśramī syāt ||
Bhīṣma said: A householder should keep his senses restrained and remain obedient to elders and to scriptural injunctions. He should be ever vigilant in offering the proper oblations to the gods and the ancestral rites for the Pitṛs, and he should continually give food in charity to the twice-born. Free from envy and malice, he should support and nourish those of all other modes of life by providing them sustenance, and he should remain regularly engaged in Vedic sacrifices and sacred rites—thus should one live the discipline of the householder’s āśrama.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma defines the ideal gṛhastha: disciplined in sense-control and obedience to śāstra and elders, vigilant in divine and ancestral offerings (havya and kavya), generous in feeding the twice-born and supporting other āśramas, and steady in regular Vedic rites—linking personal restraint with social and ritual responsibility.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he outlines practical marks of a righteous householder, emphasizing daily conduct—charity, non-envy, and faithful performance of sacrificial and ancestral duties.