Shloka 42
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
यश्चेदं श्रावयेत् श्राद्धे ब्राह्मणान् पादमन्तत: । अक्षय्यमन्नपानं वै पितृंस्तस्योपतिष्ठते
yaś cedaṃ śrāvayet śrāddhe brāhmaṇān pādam antataḥ | akṣayyam annapānaṃ vai pitṝṃs tasyopatiṣṭhate ||
Vaiśampāyana said: If, at a śrāddha rite, one has Brahmins listen—even to a small portion of this (Mahābhārata)—then the food and drink he offers become inexhaustible in merit and surely reach his ancestors (pitṛs).
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a small recitation of the Mahābhārata during a śrāddha, made for Brahmins to hear, renders the offering’s merit ‘akṣayya’ (inexhaustible) and ensures it reaches the ancestors—linking ritual giving with dharmic remembrance through sacred narrative.
In Vaiśampāyana’s discourse within the Svargārohaṇa context, he states a prescriptive benefit: during ancestral rites, arranging the epic’s recitation for Brahmins transforms the food-and-drink offering into an enduring, effective support for one’s pitṛs.