Mahabharata — Svargarohana Parva, Shloka 99
दक्षिणा चात्र देया वै निष्कपञ्चसुवर्णकम् | वाचकाय यथाशकक्त्या यथोक्तं फलमिच्छता
vaiśampāyana uvāca | dakṣiṇā cātra deyā vai niṣkapañcasuvarṇakam | vācakāya yathāśaktyā yathoktaṁ phalam icchatā ||
वैशम्पायन बोले— यहाँ भी यथोक्त शास्त्रीय फल की इच्छा रखने वाले को चाहिए कि महाभारत-श्रवण के पश्चात् वाचक को यथाशक्ति पाँच निष्क स्वर्ण दक्षिणा के रूप में अवश्य दे।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred learning is to be honored through appropriate giving: after hearing the Mahābhārata, one should offer a dakṣiṇā to the reciter according to one’s means, aligning personal conduct with scriptural prescriptions for merit.
In the concluding instructional context of the Svargārohaṇa section, Vaiśampāyana states a practical rule for listeners: the reciter of the Mahābhārata should be rewarded with a prescribed honorarium—symbolically expressed as five gold niṣkas—so that the listener may obtain the declared fruit of the hearing.