Shloka 16
अहिंसयित्वा ब्रह्महत्याविधानम् / Brahmahatyā incurred without physical violence
युधिषछ्िर उवाच यदि ते ब्राह्मणा लोके व्रतिनो भुञ्जते हवि: । दत्तं ब्राह्गकामाय कथं तत् सुकृतं भवेत्
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca yadi te brāhmaṇā loke vratino bhuñjate haviḥ | dattaṃ brāhma-kāmāya kathaṃ tat sukṛtaṃ bhavet ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dijo: «Oh, abuelo, si en este mundo los brahmanes que observan votos comen el alimento de havis en un śrāddha, ¿cómo puede una dádiva—entregada con el deseo de alcanzar el mérito o estado del bien supremo ‘brāhma’—llegar a ser una virtud verdaderamente lograda?»
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse raises an ethical-ritual doubt: when recipients are under strict vows, does accepting and eating śrāddha havis affect the merit of the donor’s gift? It probes how intention (kāma), recipient-eligibility, and ritual context together determine whether a donation becomes true sukṛta (merit).
In Anuśāsana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira questions Bhīṣma (the grandsire) about dharma. Here he asks how a śrāddha-gift aimed at high religious merit can be considered successful if vow-observing Brahmins partake of the havis food, implying a potential conflict between their vrata-discipline and śrāddha consumption.