Shloka 27
Pātra-Nirṇaya and Ritual Procedure: Who to Feed, Who to Avoid, and Step-by-Step Śrāddha Performance
अग्नये कव्यवाहाय स्वाहेत्य् आदौ नृपाहुतिः सोमाय वै पितृमते दातव्या तदनन्तरम्
agnaye kavyavāhāya svāhety ādau nṛpāhutiḥ somāya vai pitṛmate dātavyā tadanantaram
প্রথমে রাজা ‘কব্যবাহ অগ্নয়ে স্বাহা’ মন্ত্রে আহুতি দেবে; তারপর বিধানক্রমে পিতৃস্বভাব সোমের উদ্দেশে পরবর্তী আহুতি প্রদান করবে।
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)
FAQs
Agni is invoked first because he is the consecrated carrier of offerings; the rite begins by entrusting the ancestral oblation into the proper divine channel before it is directed to the Pitṛ-related deity.
Parāśara specifies an ordered progression: first the oblation to Agni with the svāhā formula, and then the offering to Soma identified with the Pitṛs—showing that dharma is upheld through precise, inherited procedure.
Even when Vishnu is not named, the Purana frames ritual dharma as part of the sustaining cosmic order ultimately grounded in the Supreme Reality; correct observance supports harmony in the world that Vishnu preserves.