Shloka 9
धुरि ये नावसीदन्ति विषये सदगवा इव । पितृदेवातिथिमुखा हव्यकव्याग्रभोजिन:
dhuri ye nāvasīdanti viṣaye sadgavā iva | pitṛdevātithimukhā havyakavyāgrabhojinaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «Quienes no se hunden ni flaquean bajo el yugo de la responsabilidad en la vida mundana—como los buenos bueyes que jamás aflojan al llevar la carga—no sienten penuria al portar el peso del dharma. Tales personas se vuelven, por así decirlo, la “boca” de los dioses, de los antepasados y de los huéspedes: son las primeras con derecho a recibir las porciones iniciales de las ofrendas, ya sean havya para los dioses o kavya para los antepasados.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Steadfastness in bearing one’s responsibilities—especially the practical burdens of dharma in worldly life—is a mark of the truly virtuous. Such people become foremost beneficiaries of religious merit and social honor, symbolized by receiving the first portions in offerings to gods and ancestors and by being central to hospitality.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he praises those who do not falter under duty. Using the image of strong oxen under a yoke, he describes exemplary householders/virtuous persons as primary recipients in ritual and hospitality—metaphorically the ‘mouths’ through which gods, ancestors, and guests are served.