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 disse: Enquanto uma pessoa inapta (apāṅkta) fica a olhar para os brāhmaṇas aptos que comem na fileira correta (pāṅkta), ela priva o doador, por sua tolice, do mérito correspondente a tantos recipientes quantos tiver contemplado. O ensinamento é que o doador deve proteger a santidade da fileira do banquete; permitir que um “corruptor da fileira” se intrometa, ou mesmo apenas assista ao rito, mina o fruto ético e ritual da dádiva.
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.