Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 5
Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: Abhaya, Anugraha, and the Ethics of Honoring the Worthy (दानश्रेष्ठता: अभय-अनुग्रह-विप्रपूजा)
तैलाभ्यक्तस्य गमनं भोजनं च गृहे मम । समुपानीय विविध॑ यद् दग्ध॑ जातवेदसा
tailābhyaktasya gamanaṁ bhojanaṁ ca gṛhe mama | samupānīya vividhaṁ yad dagdhaṁ jātavedasā ||
Sinabi ni Kuśika: “Sa aking bahay, ang taong pinahiran ng langis ay dapat samahan at pakainin; at iba’t ibang handog ay dapat dalhin at ihain—yaong mga naluto sa pamamagitan ni Jātavedas (ang banal na apoy).”
कुशिक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharma as expressed through disciplined hospitality and ritual propriety: one should honor and care for the person prepared/received with oil-anointing, and offer food properly cooked in the sacred fire—linking ethical conduct (care for others) with sanctified, orderly practice.
Kuśika describes the expected procedure in his household: an oiled/anointed person is to be conducted and fed, and assorted offerings are to be brought and presented, specifically those prepared through Agni (Jātavedas), indicating a formal, rite-inflected setting of reception and offering.