Shloka 12
Karma-Phala Rahasya and the Ethics of Dāna (कर्मफल-रहस्यं दानधर्मश्च)
पाद्यमासनमेवाथ दीपमन्नं प्रतिश्रयम् । दद्यादतिथिपूजार्थ स यज्ञ: पजचदक्षिण:
Bhīṣma uvāca: pādyaṃ āsanam eva atha dīpam annaṃ pratiśrayam | dadyād atithipūjārthaṃ sa yajñaḥ pañcadakṣiṇaḥ ||
अतिथि-पूजन के लिए चरण-प्रक्षालनार्थ जल, बैठने के लिए आसन, प्रकाश के लिए दीप, भोजन के लिए अन्न और ठहरने के लिए आश्रय—ये पाँच वस्तुएँ देनी चाहिए; यही ‘पञ्चदक्षिण यज्ञ’ कहलाता है।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hospitality is treated as a sacred duty: offering a guest five essentials—foot-washing water, a seat, light, food, and shelter—is itself a yajña, a meritorious religious act.
Bhishma is instructing on dharma, defining a specific form of righteous conduct: the proper reception of an atithi (guest) through five concrete offerings, named the pañcadakṣiṇa-yajña.