Shloka 9
धुरि ये नावसीदन्ति विषये सदगवा इव । पितृदेवातिथिमुखा हव्यकव्याग्रभोजिन:
dhuri ye nāvasīdanti viṣaye sadgavā iva | pitṛdevātithimukhā havyakavyāgrabhojinaḥ ||
Bhīṣma disse: “Aqueles que não afundam nem vacilam sob o jugo da responsabilidade na vida mundana—como bons bois que jamais afrouxam ao carregar um fardo—não sentem penúria ao sustentar o peso do dharma. Tais pessoas tornam-se, por assim dizer, a ‘boca’ dos deuses, dos ancestrais e dos hóspedes: são as primeiras com direito a receber as porções iniciais das oferendas, quer sejam havya para os deuses, quer kavya para os ancestrais.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Steadfastness in bearing one’s responsibilities—especially the practical burdens of dharma in worldly life—is a mark of the truly virtuous. Such people become foremost beneficiaries of religious merit and social honor, symbolized by receiving the first portions in offerings to gods and ancestors and by being central to hospitality.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he praises those who do not falter under duty. Using the image of strong oxen under a yoke, he describes exemplary householders/virtuous persons as primary recipients in ritual and hospitality—metaphorically the ‘mouths’ through which gods, ancestors, and guests are served.