Shloka 9
कामबन्धन-निवृत्ति तथा शान्तिलक्षण-उपदेशः | Release from Desire-Bondage and the Marks of Peace
स्वधर्मजीविनो दान्ता: क्रियावन्तस्तपस्विन: । तेषां हव्यं च कव्यं चाप्यर्हणार्थ विधीयते
svadharmajīvino dāntāḥ kriyāvantas tapasvinaḥ | teṣāṃ havyaṃ ca kavyaṃ cāpy arhaṇārthaṃ vidhīyate ||
जो ब्राह्मण स्वधर्म से जीविका चलाते हैं, जितेन्द्रिय हैं, विधि-निष्ठ कर्मों में प्रवृत्त हैं और तपस्वी हैं—उनके लिये हव्य और कव्य का अर्पण सम्मान-रूप में विधान किया गया है। ऐसे योग्य अतिथि आएँ तो उन्हें यथाविधि आदर देकर जो कुछ यज्ञ और श्राद्ध के योग्य हो, वही प्रदान करना चाहिए; इससे धर्म की प्रतिष्ठा होती है।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Honor and support truly disciplined, duty-bound, and learned Brahmins/guests through appropriate ritual offerings (havya and kavya). The verse frames hospitality and giving not as mere generosity but as a dharmic obligation that sustains sacred reciprocity—gods and ancestors are served through proper recipients.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, Vyāsa lays down a rule of honoring worthy persons. He specifies the qualities of ideal Brahmin guests—self-controlled, ritually observant, austere, and living by svadharma—and states that offerings connected with sacrifice and ancestral rites are prescribed for their reception as a form of rightful veneration.