Shloka 6
नहुषोपाख्यानम्—दीपदान-धूप-बलीकर्म-प्रशंसा
Nahūṣa Episode and the Commendation of Lamp-Gifting and Household Offerings
यथा सिद्धस्य चान्नस्य ग्रहायाग्रं प्रदीयते | बलयश्न गृहोद्देशे अतः प्रीयन्ति देवता:
yathā siddhasya cānnasya grahāyāgraṃ pradīyate | balayaś ca gṛhodddeśe ataḥ prīyanti devatāḥ ||
Bhishma nói: “Cũng như khi thức ăn đã nấu chín đúng phép, phần đầu tiên được dâng cho khách, thì trong gia thất cũng vậy: người ta dành một phần thức ăn làm lễ bali để cúng chư thiên. Nhờ sự dâng cúng trước ấy, các thần linh hoan hỷ.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A householder should practice disciplined generosity: before consuming what is prepared, one should first honor others—guests and the divine—by offering the first share. This prioritizes gratitude, social responsibility, and reverence as foundations of dharma.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he explains a domestic rule of conduct: as the first portion of cooked food is given to a guest, similarly a household sets aside a bali (food offering) for the deities; such offerings are said to please the gods.