Shloka 73

Brahmin Right Conduct: Morning Remembrance, Bathing, Purification, and Tarpaṇa Method

Devanagari script

अकृत्वा तर्पणं नित्यं पितृहा चोपजायते । ब्रह्महत्यासमं पापं देवानामप्यपूजने

Transliteration

akṛtvā tarpaṇaṃ nityaṃ pitṛhā copajāyate | brahmahatyāsamaṃ pāpaṃ devānāmapyapūjane

Translation

Wer das tägliche Tarpaṇa (Wasseropfer) unterlässt, wird gleichsam zum Töter der Ahnen. Auch die Vernachlässigung der Verehrung der Götter ist eine Sünde, der Brahmahatyā gleich—dem Töten eines Brāhmaṇa.

Word by Word

• a-kṛtvā: without doing
• a-kṛtvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kṛ (धातु) + nañ- (उपसर्ग/निषेध)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (क्त्वान्त), negated with nañ (नञ्); avyaya-prayoga; ‘without doing’

• tarpaṇam: (the) tarpaṇa offering
• tarpaṇam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tarpaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• nityam: always
• nityam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nitya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya; adverbial accusative (क्रियाविशेषण-रूपेण)

• pitṛ-hā: a slayer/violator of ancestors (one who harms pitṛs)
• pitṛ-hā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक) + han (धातु)
• Form: Upapada-tatpuruṣa; agent-noun with -hā (हन्-धातोः कर्तरि), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction/particle (समुच्चय)

• upajāyate: arises/comes into being
• upajāyate: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: upa-√jan (धातु)
• Form: Present tense (लट्), Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)

• brahma-hatyā-samam: equal to brahma-murder (sin)
• brahma-hatyā-samam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: brahma-hatyā (प्रातिपदिक; compound) + sama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa: brahmahatyāyāḥ samam (‘equal to brahma-hatyā’); Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; agrees with pāpam

• pāpam: sin
• pāpam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

• devānām: of the gods
• devānām: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural (बहुवचन)

• api: also
• api: Sambandha (निपात-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात), ‘also/even’

• a-pūjane: in (their) non-worship
• a-pūjane: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pūjana (प्रातिपदिक) + nañ- (निषेध)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; nañ-negated (‘in non-worship’)

Speaker

Unspecified (context-dependent within Adhyāya 49)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: raudra

Secondary Rasa: karuna

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: copajāyate = ca + upajāyate; devānāmapyapūjane = devānām + api + apūjane; brahmahatyāsamaṃ = brahmahatyā + samam; akṛtvā is nañ-negated ktvā (gerund) of √kṛ.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Devas (gods)

FAQs

What practice does this verse prescribe as a daily duty (nitya-karma)?

It stresses nitya tarpaṇa—daily libations (typically water with appropriate mantras) offered for the satisfaction of the Pitṛs (ancestors).

What ethical warning is conveyed through the comparison to brahmahatyā?

The verse uses a strongest-possible moral warning: neglecting deva-pūjā (worship of the gods) is portrayed as gravely sinful—comparable to brahmahatyā—to emphasize responsibility and reverence in daily religious life.

Does the verse focus more on geography/tīrthas or on ritual-ethics?

It is primarily a ritual-ethical teaching about obligatory daily observances (tarpaṇa and deva-pūjā), not a description of tīrtha geography.