Shloka 6
Adhyāya 90 — Protection of Livelihoods, Brahmanical Subsistence Norms, and Royal Oversight (राष्ट्रवृत्ति-राष्ट्रगुप्ति-उपदेशः)
आहुरेतज्जना नित्यं न चैतच्छुद्धधाम्यहम् । निमन्त्रयश्न भवेद् भोगैरवृत्त्या च तदाचरेत्
āhur etaj janā nityaṁ na caitac chuddha-dhāmy aham | nimantrayaśna bhaved bhogair avṛttyā ca tad ācaret ||
Bhīṣma said: “People constantly say this: ‘If a brāhmaṇa lacks enjoyments, invite him and offer him comforts; and if he lacks livelihood, arrange his means of living.’ But I do not accept this as a pure principle; for in a true brāhmaṇa, craving for enjoyment is not to be presumed, and charity should be guided by discernment rather than by feeding desire.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma cautions that charity should not be based on the assumption that a brāhmaṇa seeks pleasures. Supporting need is proper, but feeding ‘bhoga’ (enjoyment) as a goal is ethically suspect; true brāhmaṇa-dharma is aligned with restraint and non-craving.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma critiques a commonly repeated social maxim about how to treat brāhmaṇas—inviting them for luxuries or arranging livelihood—rejecting it as an unqualified rule and reframing the ideal brāhmaṇa as one beyond desire for enjoyment.