Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 42
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
भुक्ते परिजने पश्चाद् भोजन धर्म उच्यते । ब्राह्मणस्य गृहस्थस्य श्रोत्रियस्थ विशेषत:
bhukte parijane paścād bhojanaṁ dharma ucyate | brāhmaṇasya gṛhasthasya śrotriyastha viśeṣataḥ ||
Wika ni Maheshvara: “Pagkatapos lamang na makakain ang mga umaasa sa iyo at ang mga kasapi ng sambahayan, saka pa lamang itinuturing na matuwid ang sariling pagkain. Itinuturo ito bilang pangunahing tungkulin, lalo na para sa isang Brahmin na maybahay—at higit sa lahat para sa isang śrotriya (Brahmin na sinanay at dalubhasa sa Veda).”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A householder should prioritize feeding dependents and household members first; only afterward is one’s own meal considered dharmic—especially emphasized for a Brahmin, and even more for a Veda-trained śrotriya.
Maheśvara is instructing on gṛhastha-dharma within the Anuśāsana Parva, defining proper household conduct and the ethical order of eating as a marker of responsibility and restraint.