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 ||
ビーシュマは言った。「列に加わるにふさわしからぬ者（apāṅkta）が、正しい列（pāṅkta）に座して食するふさわしいバラモンたちを見つめるかぎり、その見た人数に等しい功徳を、愚かな施主から奪い去る。教えはこうだ。施主は食事の列の清浄を守らねばならぬ。『列を汚す者』を紛れ込ませ、あるいはただ儀礼を傍らから見張らせるだけでも、布施の倫理的・儀礼的な果は損なわれる。」
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.