Shloka 14
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
नष्ट देवलके दत्तमप्रतिष्ठं च वार्धुषे । यत्तु वाणिजके दत्तं नेह नामुत्र तद् भवेत्
Bhīṣma uvāca: naṣṭaṁ devalake dattam apratiṣṭhaṁ ca vārdhuṣe | yat tu vāṇijake dattaṁ neha nāmutra tad bhavet ||
Bhīṣma dijo: “Un don (en especial la ofrenda de śrāddha) dado a quien vive del servicio en un templo se desperdicia. Lo dado a un prestamista usurero no produce fruto estable. Y cuanto se da a un comerciante no trae beneficio ni en este mundo ni en el otro.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that the spiritual efficacy of śrāddha-gifts depends on the recipient’s mode of livelihood and moral standing; offerings given to certain professionalized or ethically suspect livelihoods are said to become fruitless—yielding no benefit either here or hereafter.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, including norms of śrāddha and dāna. This verse is part of a prescriptive passage specifying recipients to avoid, asserting that gifts to a temple-service professional, a moneylender, or a merchant do not produce the intended merit.