Shloka 14

तृष्णाक्षय-उपदेशः

Instruction on the Cessation of Craving

Devanagari script

दाहे पुन: संश्रयणे संश्रिते पात्रभोजने । दाने गवां पशूनां वा पिण्डानामप्सु मज्जने,मृतकके दाह-संस्कारमें, पुनः: देह धारण करनेमें, देह धारण कर लेनेपर, मृत व्यक्तिकी तृप्तिके लिये प्रतिदिन तर्पण और श्राद्ध करनेमें, वैतरणीके निमित्त गौओं अथवा अन्य पशुओंका दान करनेमें तथा श्राद्धकर्ममें दिये हुए पिण्डोंका जलके भीतर विसर्जन करनेमें भी वैदिक मन्त्रोंका उपयोग होता है--इन सब कार्योंके मूल वेद-मन्त्र हैं

Transliteration

dāhe punaḥ saṁśrayaṇe saṁśrite pātrabhōjane | dāne gavāṁ paśūnāṁ vā piṇḍānām apsu majjane ||

Translation

Kapila sprach: „Bei der Leichenverbrennung, in den nachfolgenden Riten nach dem Tod, beim Speisen derer, die im Namen des Verstorbenen zu speisen sind, beim Verschenken von Kühen oder anderen Tieren und beim Versenken der Toten-Reisbällchen (piṇḍa) im Wasser werden vedische Mantras verwendet. So sind diese Handlungen in den Mantras des Veda verwurzelt.“

Word by Word

दाहेin cremation/burning

पुनःagain; further

संश्रयणेin taking refuge/recourse; in re-embodiment (contextual)

संश्रितेwhen/where (it is) resorted to; in the state of being taken up

पात्रभोजनेin feeding (the) पात्र (qualified recipient/Brāhmaṇa)

दानेin giving; in donation

गवाम्of cows

पशूनाम्of animals

वाor

पिण्डानाम्of rice-balls (funerary offerings)

अप्सुin waters

मज्जनेin immersion/sinking

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

Kapila

Vedic mantras

cows

animals (paśu)

piṇḍa (funeral rice-balls)

water (apsu)

cremation (dāha)

feeding of qualified recipients (pātrabhōjana)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That key post-death rites—cremation, śrāddha-related feeding, ritual donations (especially cows), and immersion of piṇḍas—are traditionally performed with Vedic mantras, indicating these practices are grounded in Vedic authority.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s Kapila discourse, Kapila enumerates common funerary and ancestral rites and emphasizes that mantras from the Veda are used in them, reinforcing the Veda as the ritual foundation for these observances.