Shloka 9
Śrāddha’s Cosmic Reach and Kāla-Nirṇaya (Sacred Timings): Amāvāsyā, Nakṣatra-Yoga, Tīrtha, and Minimum Offerings
वासवाजैकपादर्क्षे पितॄणां तृप्तिम् इच्छताम् वारुणे चाप्य् अमावास्या देवानाम् अपि दुर्लभा
vāsavājaikapādarkṣe pitṝṇāṃ tṛptim icchatām vāruṇe cāpy amāvāsyā devānām api durlabhā
বাসৱ, আজ আৰু একপাদ নক্ষত্ৰত পিতৃতৃপ্তি ইচ্ছা কৰোঁতাসকলে তৃপ্তি লাভ কৰে; আৰু বাৰুণ নক্ষত্ৰত অমাৱস্যা এনে দুৰ্লভ মহিমাময় যে দেবতাসকলৰ বাবেও দুৰ্লভ।
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Concept: Certain amāvāsyā-nakṣatra combinations are extraordinarily rare and efficacious, underscoring dharma as alignment with sacred time and prescribed rite.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Treat ritual calendars as supports for discipline: choose key observance days for remembrance, charity, and restraint.
Vishishtadvaita: The ‘rarity’ of sacred conjunctions highlights dependence on Bhagavān’s cosmic administration; human effort bears fruit when harmonized with that order.
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse highlights Amāvāsyā—especially when joined with the Vāruṇa nakṣatra—as exceptionally efficacious for rites that nourish the Pitṛs, a potency described as rare even among the gods.
He ties the success of Pitṛ-satisfaction to specific nakṣatras (Vāsava, Āja, Eka-pāda) and elevates the Amāvāsyā under Vāruṇa as a uniquely auspicious convergence in the ritual calendar.
Even in ritual instruction, the Purāṇa frames dharma as participation in a divinely ordered cosmos—where time (tithi/nakṣatra) functions under the supreme governance that Vaishnava tradition ultimately attributes to Vishnu.