Shloka 16

अत्रेः तपोबलप्रकाशः तथा च्यवनस्य सोमाधिकारः

Atri’s Illumination by Tapas; Cyavana and Soma-Entitlement

Devanagari script

जिसके घर किसीकी मृत्यु हुई हो, उसके यहाँ मरणाशौचके तीसरे दिन अन्न ग्रहण करनेवाला ब्राह्मण बारह दिनोंतक त्रिकाल स्नान करनेसे शुद्ध होता है ।। द्वादशाहे व्यतीते तु कृतशौचो विशेषतः । ब्राह्मणेभ्यो हविर्दत्त्वा मुच्यते तेन पाप्मना,बारह दिनोंतक स्नानका नियम पूर्ण हो जानेपर तेरहवें दिन वह विशेषरूपसे स्नान आदिके द्वारा पवित्र हो ब्राह्मणोंको हविष्य भोजन करावे। तब उस पापसे मुक्त हो सकता है

Transliteration

dvādaśāhe vyatīte tu kṛtaśauco viśeṣataḥ | brāhmaṇebhyo havir dattvā mucyate tena pāpmanā ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „Wenn die zwölf Tage verstrichen sind, wird derjenige, der die Reinigungsriten (śauca) ordnungsgemäß vollendet hat, in besonderer Weise rein. Indem er den Brāhmaṇas havis — eine geweihte Opfergabe/Speise — darbringt, wird er von dem Makel der Sünde befreit, der mit der Todesunreinheit verbunden ist.“

Word by Word

द्वादशाहेwhen twelve days (have passed); on the twelfth-day period

व्यतीतेhaving elapsed / after (it) has passed

तुbut / indeed

कृतशौचःone who has performed purification (shauca)

विशेषतःespecially / in particular

ब्राह्मणेभ्यःto the Brahmins

हविःoblation / sacrificial food

दत्त्वाhaving given

मुच्यतेis freed / is released

तेनby that / thereby

पाप्मनाby/with sin; from the sinful taint

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Brāhmaṇas

havis (ritual offering)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

After completing the prescribed twelve-day purification connected with death-impurity, one should finalize purification and give a sanctified offering (havis) to Brahmins; this completes the expiatory process and removes the remaining taint.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma, he outlines the concluding step after a twelve-day observance: special purification and a ritualized gift/feeding of Brahmins with havis, by which the person becomes free from the impurity-associated fault.