Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 47
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
यथाग्नौ शान्ते घृतमाजुहोति तन्नैव देवान् न पितृनुपैति । तथा दत्तं नर्तने गायने च यां चानृते दक्षिणामावृणोति
yathāgnau śānte ghṛtam ājuhoti tan naiva devān na pitṝn upaiti | tathā dattaṁ nartane gāyane ca yāṁ cānṛte dakṣiṇām āvṛṇoti ||
Bhīṣma dit : «De même que le ghee versé en offrande dans un feu déjà éteint n’atteint ni les dieux ni les ancêtres, ainsi le don fait pour la danse et le chant, et la dakṣiṇā acceptée par un homme qui ment, devient sans fruit. Un tel don ne comble pas celui qui donne et ne profite pas véritablement à celui qui reçoit ; au contraire, il nuit aux deux. Oui, cette dakṣiṇā blâmable, porteuse de ruine, peut même faire choir les aïeux du donateur hors de la voie divine, le devayāna.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A gift must be given in a proper context and to a worthy recipient; otherwise it becomes spiritually ineffective—like an offering poured into an extinguished fire—and can even generate harm for both giver and receiver, affecting ancestral welfare as well.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (especially dāna and dakṣiṇā), he uses a ritual analogy: an oblation in a dead fire reaches neither gods nor ancestors; similarly, gifts directed to improper purposes or accepted by untruthful/unfit recipients are condemned as barren and destructive.