Shloka 36
Umā–Maheśvara-saṃvāda: Varṇa-bhraṃśa, Ācāra (Vṛtta), and Karmic Ascent/Decline
गजच्छायायां पूर्वस्यां कुतपे दक्षिणामुख: । यदा भाद्रपदे मासि भवते बहुले मघा
gajacchāyāyāṃ pūrvasyāṃ kutape dakṣiṇāmukhaḥ | yadā bhādrapade māsi bhavate bahule maghā |
Viśvāmitra sprach: „O ihr Götter, hört diese höchst geheime Lehre über die Dharma. Wenn im Monat Bhādrapada, in der dunklen Monatshälfte, das Sternbild Maghā erscheint, dann heißt es: Wer nach Süden gewandt zur glückverheißenden ‘Kutapa’-Zeit steht—wenn der Schatten des Elefanten nach Osten fällt—und erlesene Speise als Gabe für die Pitṛs darbringt, erlangt weitreichende Frucht. Durch diese eine Gabe soll man verstehen, dass er in dieser Welt für dreizehn Jahre ein großes śrāddha für die Pitṛs vollzogen hat.“
विश्वामित्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that properly timed and intentioned charity—especially the gift of good food dedicated to the Pitṛs—can yield exceptionally large merit. It emphasizes dharma as disciplined giving aligned with sacred time (nakṣatra, fortnight, and muhūrta) and correct ritual orientation.
Viśvāmitra addresses the gods and reveals a confidential rule about ancestral rites: under a specific calendrical configuration (Bhādrapada, dark fortnight, Maghā) and at the kutapa time, a person facing south and standing where an elephant’s shadow falls eastward should give food as an offering for the Pitṛs; the act is praised as equivalent to sustaining a great śrāddha for thirteen years.