Shloka 20

Śrāddha-Kalpa: Pitṛ-Pūjā and Tithi-Phala (श्राद्धकल्पः पितृपूजा च तिथिफलम्)

Devanagari script

शास्त्रप्रामाण्यसूक्ष्मं तु विधिं पिण्डस्य संस्मरन्‌ | ततो दर्भेषु तत्‌ सर्वमदर्द भरतर्षभ

Transliteration

śāstraprāmāṇyasūkṣmaṃ tu vidhiṃ piṇḍasya saṃsmaran | tato darbheṣu tat sarvam adarda bharatarṣabha ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Keeping in mind the subtle, scripture-authorized procedure for offering the funeral rice-balls (piṇḍa), I did not yield to what appeared directly before me. Holding the śāstra alone as the decisive authority, O bull among the Bharatas, I offered all the piṇḍas upon the darbha grass in accordance with the prescribed rite.”

Word by Word

• {'śāstra': 'scriptural injunction

• authoritative sacred teaching', 'prāmāṇya': 'validity as a means of knowledge

• authoritative force', 'sūkṣma': 'subtle

• requiring careful attention', 'vidhi': 'rule

• ritual injunction', 'piṇḍa': 'rice-ball offering in funerary/ancestral rites

• piṇḍadāna', 'saṃsmaran': 'remembering

• calling to mind', 'tataḥ': 'thereupon

• then', 'darbha': 'sacrificial grass (Desmostachya bipinnata) used in rites', 'darbheṣu': 'on/among the darbha grasses', 'tat sarvam': 'all that

• the whole of it', 'adarda': 'I gave/placed/offered (context: made the offering/handed over in the rite)', 'bharatarṣabha': 'O bull among the Bharatas (honorific address, typically to Yudhiṣṭhira)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bharatarṣabha (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)
• śāstra
• piṇḍa (funerary offering)
• darbha (sacrificial grass)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That in matters of dharma and ritual duty, one should follow the śāstra’s precise injunctions (śāstra-prāmāṇya) rather than being swayed by immediate appearances or personal impulses; correctness of rite is treated as an ethical discipline.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma recounts performing piṇḍa offerings according to the subtle scriptural procedure: he places the offerings on darbha grass, emphasizing that he acted by scriptural rule as the final authority.