Shloka 146
Pitṛ-śrāddha-haviḥ-phala-nirdeśa
Offerings for Ancestors and Their Stated Results
एवमेतत् पुरा वृत्तं तस्य यज्ञे महात्मन: । देवश्रेष्टस्य लोकादौ वारुणीं बिशभ्रतस्तनुम्
evam etat purā vṛttaṃ tasya yajñe mahātmanaḥ | devaśreṣṭasya lokādau vāruṇīṃ bibhratas tanum ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “So indeed it happened in ancient times—at the sacrifice of that great-souled one, the foremost among the gods. At the very beginning of the world, he bore the form of Vāruṇī.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ancient precedent: divine beings may assume specific forms in connection with cosmic beginnings and sacrificial contexts, underscoring the Mahābhārata’s view that ritual and cosmology are ethically meaningful arenas where dharma is revealed through exemplary narratives.
Vasiṣṭha recounts an old event: during the sacrifice of a great-souled figure, the foremost of the gods—linked to the world’s beginning—assumed or bore the form called Vāruṇī, indicating a divine manifestation connected with Varuṇa and ritual proceedings.