Shloka 9
यत्र तत्र स्थितायैतद् अमुकायेति वादिनः दक्षिणाभिमुखा दद्युर् बान्धवाः सलिलाञ्जलिम्
yatra tatra sthitāyaitad amukāyeti vādinaḥ dakṣiṇābhimukhā dadyur bāndhavāḥ salilāñjalim
Wherever they may be standing, his kinsmen should face south and offer a cupped libation of water, uttering, “This is for so-and-so.”
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Tarpaṇa for the departed: offering water facing south with the deceased’s name
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Tarpaṇa is performed anywhere by offering a water-libation facing south, explicitly dedicating it to the named departed.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Practice intentional remembrance—name the person, offer a simple act (water, prayer, charity) with clarity of dedication rather than vague sentiment.
Vishishtadvaita: Personal relation is preserved within dharma: the named offering expresses connectedness of selves within the Lord’s ordered universe, without denying the soul’s onward journey.
FAQs
Facing south (dakṣiṇābhimukha) marks the ritual orientation associated with the Pitṛs (ancestors), aligning the offering with the ancestral realm in the śrāddha/tarpaṇa context.
He states that the offering should be explicitly assigned by uttering “amukāya iti” (“for this named person”), making the libation a directed, intentional act rather than a generic rite.
Even in practical ritual instruction, the Vishnu Purana frames dharma as part of cosmic order upheld by the Supreme—Vishnu—so ancestral rites function as a disciplined participation in that sustaining order.