Shloka 21
अध्याय २०८ — इन्द्रियनिग्रहः, सत्याहिंसात्मकवाक्, कर्मफलविवेकः
Restraint of the Senses, Non-harming Truthful Speech, and Discernment of Karmic Consequence
एत एवंविधा देवा मनोरेव प्रजापते: । ते च पूर्व सुराक्षेति द्विविधा: पितर: स्मृता:,इस प्रकार ये देवता प्रजापति मनुकी ही संतान हैं। वे तथा पूर्वोक्त देवता-ये दो प्रकारके पितर माने गये हैं
eta evaṃvidhā devā manoreva prajāpateḥ | te ca pūrva-surākṣeti dvividhāḥ pitaraḥ smṛtāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Thus, these gods—of the kind just described—are indeed the offspring of Prajāpati Manu. And they, together with the previously mentioned deities, are remembered as the Pitṛs in two distinct classes.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse grounds the authority of ancestral categories in sacred genealogy: certain deities are traced to Prajapati Manu, and together with earlier-mentioned divine groups they constitute a twofold classification of the Pitrs, reinforcing the traditional framework behind ancestral veneration and ritual duty.
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he continues a doctrinal explanation about the Pitrs (ancestral beings), identifying their origin from Manu and summarizing that, along with previously described deities, they are recognized as two categories.