Shloka 71
तीर्थवंशोपदेशः
Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters
पर्यश्षन्ति च ये दारानग्निभृत्यातिथींस्तथा । उत्सन्नपितृदेवेज्यास्ते वै निरयगामिन:
paryaśnanti ca ye dārān agnibhṛtyātithīṁs tathā | utsannapitṛdevejyās te vai nirayagāminaḥ ||
भीष्म उवाच—ये दारान् भृत्यान् अतिथींश्च पर्यश्नन्ति, पितृदेवयजनं चोत्सृज्य, अग्नौ हुत्वा न, भृत्यादीन् अतिथींश्च न भोजयित्वा स्वयमेव भुञ्जते, ते निश्चयेन निरयगामिनः।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A householder must not eat selfishly: food should be preceded by offerings (to the sacred fire, gods, and ancestors) and by feeding those entitled to care—guests and dependents. Neglecting these duties turns eating into adharma and leads to grave demerit.
In the Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma. Here he warns about the moral and ritual consequences for householders who abandon ancestral/divine worship and fail to feed guests and dependents before taking their own meal.