Shloka 43
तीर्थवंशोपदेशः
Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters
तथा राजन्यवैश्याभ्यां यद्यश्नरीयात्तु केतित: । यवीयान् पशुहिंसायां भागार्ध समवाप्लुयात्
tathā rājanya-vaiśyābhyāṁ yady aśnīyāt tu ketitaḥ | yavīyān paśu-hiṁsāyāṁ bhāgārdhaṁ samavāpnuyāt ||
भीष्म उवाच—राजन्, क्षत्रियवैश्याभ्यां पूर्वमेव निमन्त्रितः सन् यः कश्चिदन्यत्र गत्वा भुङ्क्ते, स निन्द्यः; स च तस्मिन् भोजने पशुहिंसायाः पापस्यार्धभागं समवाप्नोति।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should honor a prior invitation, especially in a context where food preparation may involve animal slaughter; by eating elsewhere after accepting an invitation, one becomes morally complicit and is said to incur half the demerit associated with the animal-violence enabled by that arrangement.
In Bhishma’s instruction to the king on dharma and conduct, he explains a rule of ethical responsibility: when a Kshatriya or Vaishya has already invited someone for a meal, the invitee should not disregard it and dine elsewhere, because such disregard carries social blame and karmic consequence tied to the meal’s violence.