Shloka 14
अध्याय १३२ — कर्मणा मनसा वाचा: स्वर्गमार्गः तथा आयुर्विपाकः
Adhyāya 132 — The path to heaven through deed, mind, and speech; karmic results for lifespan
पितरश्न न तुष्यन्ति वर्षाण्यपि त्रयोदश । यह परम गोपनीय रहस्यकी बात सुनो। श्राद्धमें
gārgya uvāca | pitaraś ca na tuṣyanti varṣāṇy api trayodaśa | yat parama-gopanīyaṁ rahasyaṁ tad idaṁ śṛṇu | śrāddhe yajñe tīrthe ca parvaṇi ca dineṣu devatārthaṁ yat haviṣyaṁ saṁskriyate | tad yadi rajasvalā kuṣṭhī vā vandhyā vā strī paśyet, tad-dṛṣṭaṁ haviṣyaṁ devā na gṛhṇanti; pitaraś ca trayodaśa-varṣāṇy asantuṣṭā bhavanti || śukla-vāsāḥ śucir bhūtvā brāhmaṇān svasti-vācayet | kīrtayed bhārataṁ caiva tathā syād akṣayaṁ haviḥ |
Gārgya said: “The Pitṛs do not become satisfied—even for thirteen years. Hear this most secret teaching. If, on days of śrāddha, sacrifice, pilgrimage, or festival, the oblation prepared for the gods is seen by a menstruating woman, a leper, or a barren woman, then the gods do not accept that oblation as it has been ‘touched’ by their gaze, and the ancestors remain unsatisfied for thirteen years. Therefore, on days of śrāddha and sacrifice, one should bathe and become pure, wear white garments, have brāhmaṇas pronounce blessings (svasti), and recite the Bhārata; by doing so, one’s oblation for gods and ancestors becomes inexhaustible.”
गार्ग्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage stresses the perceived importance of ritual purity and careful conduct around offerings: improper exposure of oblations is said to obstruct divine acceptance and ancestral satisfaction, while purification, auspicious benedictions, and recitation of the Mahābhārata are presented as means to secure enduring (akṣaya) ritual fruit.
Gārgya is instructing about śrāddha and sacrificial procedure, warning of consequences if offerings are viewed by certain persons deemed ritually inauspicious in that discourse, and then prescribing corrective/positive practices—bathing, wearing white, svasti-recitation by brāhmaṇas, and Bhārata recitation—to ensure the offerings’ efficacy.