Shloka 47
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
यथाग्नौ शान्ते घृतमाजुहोति तन्नैव देवान् न पितृनुपैति । तथा दत्तं नर्तने गायने च यां चानृते दक्षिणामावृणोति
yathāgnau śānte ghṛtam ājuhoti tan naiva devān na pitṝn upaiti | tathā dattaṁ nartane gāyane ca yāṁ cānṛte dakṣiṇām āvṛṇoti ||
毗湿摩说：“正如把酥油（ghee）作为供献倒入一堆早已熄灭的火中，既不能到达诸天，也不能到达祖灵；同样，施与为歌舞之用的赠与，以及由不诚实之人以虚妄而受取的祭司酬金（dakṣiṇā），都将归于徒然。这样的施与既不能使施者心满意足，也不能真正利益受者；反而祸及两方。确实，那可责而致败的dakṣiṇā，甚至能使施者的先祖从天道之路——devayāna——坠落。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A gift must be given in a proper context and to a worthy recipient; otherwise it becomes spiritually ineffective—like an offering poured into an extinguished fire—and can even generate harm for both giver and receiver, affecting ancestral welfare as well.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (especially dāna and dakṣiṇā), he uses a ritual analogy: an oblation in a dead fire reaches neither gods nor ancestors; similarly, gifts directed to improper purposes or accepted by untruthful/unfit recipients are condemned as barren and destructive.