Shloka 28

Devanagari script

अहन्य् अहन्य् अनुष्ठानं यज्ञानां मुनिसत्तम उपकारकरं पुंसां क्रियमाणाघशान्तिदम्

Transliteration

ahany ahany anuṣṭhānaṃ yajñānāṃ munisattama upakārakaraṃ puṃsāṃ kriyamāṇāghaśāntidam

Translation

O best of sages, the day-by-day performance of yajña rites is a true benefaction to humankind; when carried out, it pacifies and removes the sins incurred in the course of living.

Word by Word

• अहनि: on a day/daily
• अहनि: Adhikarana (Time locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः (7th/Locative), एकवचनम्; (पुनरुक्तिः)

• अहनि: day by day
• अहनि: Adhikarana (Time locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; पुनरुक्त्या ‘प्रतिदिनम्’ अर्थः

• अनुष्ठानम्: performance/observance
• अनुष्ठानम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुष्ठान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• यज्ञानाम्: of sacrifices
• यज्ञानाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, षष्ठी-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्

• मुनिसत्तम: O best of sages
• मुनिसत्तम: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक) + सत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; तत्पुरुषः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: मुनीनां सत्तमः)

• उपकारकरम्: beneficial
• उपकारकरम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उपकारकर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (अनुष्ठानम्)

• पुंसाम्: for men/for people
• पुंसाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुम्स्/पुंस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, षष्ठी-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्

• क्रियमाण-अघ-शान्तिदम्: when performed, it gives the pacification of sin
• क्रियमाण-अघ-शान्तिदम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रि (धातु) → क्रियमाण (कृदन्त, शानच्/वर्तमानकाले कर्मणि) + अघ (प्रातिपदिक) + शान्तिद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; तत्पुरुष-समासः (कर्मधारय/उपपद-भावः): ‘क्रियमाणं (यत्) तद् अघशान्तिदम्’

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Benefit of daily yajña and its role in removing accruing sin

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: compassionate

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Regular (day-by-day) performance of yajña benefits people by pacifying the sins that inevitably accrue in worldly life.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Adopt a daily discipline of consecration—prayer, offering of food, charity, and ethical restraint—to counteract habitual faults and mental impurity.

Vishishtadvaita: Purificatory action is meaningful because the self is a real mode of the Lord; disciplined offering reorients the jīva toward its śeṣatva (dependence/service).

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Hari

Bhakti Type: Dasya

Characters & Entities

• Sage (muni)
• Yajña (sacrificial rites)
• Dharma (daily observance)

FAQs

What is the significance of daily yajña (ahany ahany anuṣṭhāna) in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse teaches that daily observance of yajña is not merely ceremonial—it actively benefits people by calming and removing the sins that accumulate through everyday actions.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the reduction of sin through action in this context?

Parāśara frames sin as something that can be ‘being incurred’ (kriyamāṇa) during ordinary life, and presents consistent ritual duty as a practical means to pacify and lessen that ongoing accumulation.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu here, even though he is not named?

In the Vishnu Purana’s worldview, yajña and dharma ultimately rest on the sovereignty of Vishnu as the sustainer of cosmic order; daily rites function as participation in that sustaining order, aligning karma toward purity and peace.