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 ||
अतिथीच्या पूजेसाठी पाय धुण्यास पाद्य, बसण्यासाठी आसन, प्रकाशासाठी दीप, भोजनासाठी अन्न आणि निवाऱ्यासाठी आश्रय—ही पाच दाने द्यावीत; हाच ‘पंचदक्षिण यज्ञ’ होय.
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.