Shloka 7
Nāga–Nāgabhāryā Saṃvāda: Varṇa-Dharma, Gṛhastha-Discipline, and Mokṣa-Self-Inquiry
Mahābhārata 12.347
परमेष्ठी ब्रह्माने प्रसन्न होकर मेरे पिता प्रजापतिको उत्पन्न कियाः। मैं उनका संकल्पजनित प्रथम पुत्र हूँ ।। यजामि वै पितृन् साधो नारायणविधीौ कृते । एवं स एव भगवान् पिता माता पितामह:
nārada uvāca |
parameṣṭhī brahmaṇe prasannaḥ san mama pitaraṃ prajāpatiṃ sasarja |
ahaṃ tasya saṅkalpajanitaḥ prathamaḥ putraḥ ||
yajāmi vai pitṝn sādho nārāyaṇa-vidhau kṛte |
evaṃ sa eva bhagavān pitā mātā pitāmahaḥ ||
Narada said: “When the Supreme Lord (Parameṣṭhin) was pleased, He brought forth my father, Prajāpati. I am the first son, born from his very resolve. O good man, I indeed worship the Pitṛs when the rite prescribed by Nārāyaṇa is performed. Thus that same Blessed Lord is truly father, mother, and grandsire— the ultimate source and support of all.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one performs ancestral rites (pitṛ-yajña), the ultimate object and ground of worship is the Supreme Lord—who is the source of all beings and all relationships (father, mother, grandsire). Ritual is framed within devotion to the highest cause.
Nārada identifies his lineage: Prajāpati is his father, and Nārada is the first son born from Prajāpati’s resolve. He then explains his practice of worshipping the Pitṛs according to Nārāyaṇa’s prescribed rite, concluding that the same Lord stands behind all progenitors.