Shloka 12
शकुनि (हिरण्मय-पक्षी) उपदेशः — Vighasāśin and the Difficulty of Gārhasthya
मन्त्रो5यं जातकर्मादिर्तब्राह्मणस्य विधीयते । जीवतो5पि यथाकालं श्मशाननिधनादिभि:
mantro ’yaṁ jātakarmādir brāhmaṇasya vidhīyate | jīvato ’pi yathākālaṁ śmaśāna-nidhanādibhiḥ ||
Arjuna said: “For a Brāhmaṇa, the mantra-accompanied rites beginning with the birth-ceremony (jātakarma) are enjoined. While he lives, the appropriate sacraments should be performed at their proper times; and even after death, the final rites at the cremation ground and the subsequent observances such as śrāddha at home should likewise be carried out in due season according to Vedic rule.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
That dharma includes faithfully performing the prescribed saṁskāras: life-cycle rites with mantras during one’s lifetime and the proper Vedic death and post-death rites (antyeṣṭi and śrāddha) after death, especially as enjoined for a brāhmaṇa.
Arjuna states a rule of ritual duty: the brāhmaṇa’s obligations are not limited to birth rites but extend through the whole span of life and continue in the form of properly timed funeral and ancestral rites after death.