Shloka 34
Karma, Preta-gati, and the Continuity of Phala
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Instruction
प्राइनाभिवर्धनात् पुंसो जातकर्म विधीयते । तत्रास्य माता सावित्री पिता त्वाचार्य उच्यते
prāṇābhivardhanāt puṁso jātakarma vidhīyate | tatrāsya mātā sāvitrī pitā tv ācārya ucyate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Because a person’s vital life-breath (prāṇa) is nourished and strengthened, the rite called jātakarma is prescribed. In that sense, Sāvitrī—the sacred Gāyatrī/Sāvitrī mantra that awakens spiritual life—is spoken of as his mother, and the teacher (ācārya) is called his father.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True formation of a person is not only biological: sacred instruction that ‘nourishes prāṇa’ and awakens discernment is treated as a kind of birth. Hence the Sāvitrī (Gāyatrī) is honored as the spiritual mother, and the ācārya who imparts discipline and knowledge is honored as the spiritual father.
Yudhiṣṭhira is explaining the religious-ethical basis of saṁskāras and the status of the guru. He frames jātakarma (and by extension formative rites and instruction) as life-strengthening, and identifies the Sāvitrī mantra and the teacher as the key ‘parents’ in one’s spiritual and moral upbringing.