Shloka 19
Śrāddha’s Cosmic Reach and Kāla-Nirṇaya (Sacred Timings): Amāvāsyā, Nakṣatra-Yoga, Tīrtha, and Minimum Offerings
गायन्ति चैतत् पितरः सदैव वर्षामघातृप्तिम् अवाप्य भूयः माघासितान्ते शुभतीर्थतोयैर् यास्याम तृप्तिं तनयादिदत्तैः
gāyanti caitat pitaraḥ sadaiva varṣāmaghātṛptim avāpya bhūyaḥ māghāsitānte śubhatīrthatoyair yāsyāma tṛptiṃ tanayādidattaiḥ
The Pitṛs ever sing this refrain: “Having gained our satisfaction in the rainy season, we shall again attain fullness at the close of the Māgha vow—through the auspicious waters of sacred tīrthas, offered by our sons and descendants.”
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya; verse reports what the Pitṛs say)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Pitṛ-tarpaṇa and śrāddha-related observances that satisfy the ancestors across seasons and vows
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Pitṛ-tarpaṇa performed at proper times (rainy season; Māgha observance) with tīrtha-water and filial intention is a dharmic act that sustains the ancestral order.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Maintain periodic remembrance and offerings for forebears (charity, prayers, rites) with sincerity and regularity rather than occasional display.
Vishishtadvaita: Dharma is rendered as service within Bhagavān’s cosmic administration, where relational duties (to Pitṛs) are meaningful within His ordered world.
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse presents Māgha’s concluding rites as a recurrent point at which the Pitṛs receive renewed satisfaction, especially through tīrtha-water offerings made by descendants.
By quoting the Pitṛs themselves, Parāśara frames tarpaṇa/śrāddha as an intergenerational dharma: offerings made by sons and descendants become the direct cause of the ancestors’ ‘tṛpti’ (satiation).
Even in ritual sections, the Vishnu Purana treats dharma as part of cosmic sovereignty: orderly rites like tīrtha-offerings sustain the moral universe that ultimately rests upon Vishnu as the supreme ground of order.