Shloka 44

Āloka-dāna (Dīpa-dāna), Sumanas–Dhūpa–Dīpa Phala: Manu–Suvarṇa and Śukra–Bali Exempla

Devanagari script

य एवोक्ता: सुमनसां प्रदाने गुणहेतव: । धूपेष्वपि परिज्ञेयास्त एव प्रीतिवर्धना:

Transliteration

ya evoktāḥ sumanasāṃ pradāne guṇa-hetavaḥ | dhūpeṣv api parijñeyās ta eva prīti-vardhanāḥ ||

Translation

قال شوكرا: «إن الفضائل والثمار النافعة التي أُعلنت في شأن تقديم الزهور للآلهة ينبغي أن تُفهَم كذلك في شأن تقديم البخور. فالبخور أيضًا يزيد رضى الآلهة—فاعلموا ذلك».

Word by Word

• {'yaḥ eva': 'whatever, precisely those which', 'uktāḥ': 'have been stated, declared', 'sumanasām': 'of flowers (lit. ‘good-minded/pleasant’

• here ‘flowers’)', 'pradāne': 'in the giving/offer, in the act of offering', 'guṇa-hetavaḥ': 'causes of merit/virtue

• sources of beneficial qualities/results', 'dhūpeṣu': 'in incense-offerings

• with incense', 'api': 'also, even', 'parijñeyāḥ': 'to be understood/recognized correctly', 'ta eva': 'those very (same)', 'prīti-vardhanāḥ': 'increasing pleasure/favor

Speaker

शुक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śukra
• devatāḥ (deities)
• sumanas (flowers)
• dhūpa (incense)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That incense-offering (dhūpa) yields the same kinds of merit and beneficial results as flower-offering (puṣpa/sumanas) and likewise increases the deities’ favor; sincere devotional acts are efficacious even when the offering differs.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śukra is instructing about ritual worship and its fruits, clarifying that the previously stated benefits of offering flowers to the gods should be extended to incense offerings as well, emphasizing their role in pleasing the deities.