Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 79
Dharmānukathana
Narration of Dharma
तैलाभ्यङ्गं महाराज ब्राह्मणानां करोति यः । स स्नातोऽष्टशतं साग्रं गङ्गायां नात्र संशयः ॥ ७९ ॥
tailābhyaṅgaṃ mahārāja brāhmaṇānāṃ karoti yaḥ | sa snāto'ṣṭaśataṃ sāgraṃ gaṅgāyāṃ nātra saṃśayaḥ || 79 ||
হে মহাৰাজ! যি জনে ব্ৰাহ্মণসকলৰ তেল-অভ্যঙ্গ কৰায়, সি গঙ্গাত আঠশৰো অধিকবাৰ স্নান কৰা বুলি গণ্য; ইয়াত সন্দেহ নাই।
Narada
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: karuna
FAQs
It elevates practical dharma—serving and honoring Brāhmaṇas through charitable care (taila-abhyanga)—as a powerful source of puṇya, equating it to repeated Gaṅgā-snāna, showing that merit comes not only from pilgrimage but also from compassionate service.
By valuing humble service and giving (seva/dāna) as sacred acts, the verse supports a bhakti-oriented ethic: devotion expresses itself through honoring the worthy and performing selfless acts that please dharma and, by extension, the Divine order upheld in Purāṇic teaching.
It highlights ritual-practical dharma (smārta/ācāra): the idea of prescribed acts (dāna, upacāra like abhyanga) producing specific phala (merit), a key principle used across ritual manuals and dharma traditions rather than a technical Vedāṅga like Jyotiṣa or Vyākaraṇa.