Shloka 15
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Public Request for Consent to Enter the Forest (अनुज्ञा-प्रार्थना)
एवं स पुत्रपौत्राणां पितृणामात्मनस्तथा । गान्धार्याश्व महाराज प्रददावौर्ध्वदेहिकम्
evaṁ sa putrapautrāṇāṁ pitṝṇām ātmanaḥ tathā | gāndhāryāś ca mahārāja pradadāv aurdhvadehikam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Thus, O great king, he duly performed the post-funeral rites (ūrdhva-dehika—śrāddha and related offerings) for his sons and grandsons, for his forefathers, for himself as well, and also for Gāndhārī—fulfilling the ethical obligation of honoring the dead and sustaining the ancestral order.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores pitṛ-dharma: the moral and ritual responsibility to honor the departed through prescribed offerings. Even amid loss and renunciation, one sustains social and cosmic continuity by remembering ancestors, family members, and fulfilling obligations without neglect.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Dhṛtarāṣṭra arranged and performed the aurdhvadehika rites—post-death offerings—for those connected to him: his sons and grandsons, his ancestors, himself (as a formal inclusion in the rite’s scope), and Gāndhārī, addressing the account to King Janamejaya.