Shloka 23
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
अपांक्तो यावतः पांक्तान् भुज्जानाननुपश्यति । तावत्फलाद भ्रंशयति दातारं तस्य बालिशम्
apāṅkto yāvataḥ pāṅktān bhuñjānān anupaśyati | tāvatphalād bhraṁśayati dātāraṁ tasya bāliśam ||
Bhīṣma berkata: Selama seorang yang tidak layak (yang tidak patut diterima dalam barisan makan) memandang para Brāhmaṇa yang layak sedang makan dalam barisan, sebanyak itulah ia menggugurkan pahala sang donor yang bodoh—sebanding dengan jumlah penerima yang ia lihat.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity and ritual feeding yield merit only when performed with discernment and proper boundaries; permitting an unqualified ‘line-defiler’ to intrude upon or oversee the feeding can nullify the donor’s merit in proportion to the number of rightful diners affected.
Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on the ethics of dāna and śrāddha-style feeding: he warns that if an apāṅkta person observes the properly seated Brāhmaṇas while they eat, the donor—through negligence—loses the corresponding merit of that act.