Shloka 7

Śrāddha’s Cosmic Reach and Kāla-Nirṇaya (Sacred Timings): Amāvāsyā, Nakṣatra-Yoga, Tīrtha, and Minimum Offerings

Devanagari script

अमावास्या यदा मैत्रविशाखास्वातियोगिनी श्राद्धैः पितृगणस् तृप्तिं तथाप्नोत्य् अष्टवार्षिकीम्

Transliteration

amāvāsyā yadā maitraviśākhāsvātiyoginī śrāddhaiḥ pitṛgaṇas tṛptiṃ tathāpnoty aṣṭavārṣikīm

Translation

When the new-moon day (Amāvāsyā) is conjoined with the yogas named Maitra, Viśākhā, and Svātī, then by performing śrāddha on that occasion the hosts of the Pitṛs attain satisfaction that endures for eight years.

Word by Word

• अमावास्या: new-moon day
• अमावास्या: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमावास्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्तृपद-सम्बन्ध (subject of योगिनी)

• यदा: when
• यदा: Sambandha (Temporal)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक-सम्बन्ध (when)

• मैत्रविशाखास्वातियोगिनी: associated with Maitra, Viśākhā, or Swāti (nakṣatra-yoga)
• मैत्रविशाखास्वातियोगिनी: Visheshana (Adjectival)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मैत्र + विशाखा + स्वाति + योगिनी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; (मैत्री/मैत्र, विशाखा, स्वाति)-द्वन्द्व + योगिनी; विशेषणम् (qualifies अमावास्या: ‘associated with Maitra/Viśākhā/Swāti’)

• श्राद्धैः: by śrāddhas
• श्राद्धैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्राद्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन; करण (means)

• पितृगणः: the group of ancestors
• पितृगणः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ + गण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (पितॄणां गणः); कर्ता

• तृप्तिम्: satisfaction
• तृप्तिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तृप्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म

• तथा: thus/also
• तथा: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकार/समुच्चय (thus/also)

• आप्नोति: attains
• आप्नोति: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आप् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• अष्टवार्षिकीम्: lasting eight years
• अष्टवार्षिकीम्: Visheshana (Adjectival)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्ट + वार्षिकी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (अष्ट वर्षाणि यस्याः सा/अष्टवार्षिकी); विशेषणम् (qualifies तृप्तिम्)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Special efficacy of śrāddha when Amāvāsyā coincides with specific yogas (Maitra, Viśākhā, Svātī) and the resulting long-lasting pitṛ-satisfaction

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: authoritative

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Devout, timely śrāddha expresses gratitude and sustains the pitṛ-relationship, yielding enduring satisfaction to ancestors through dharmic precision.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Honor lineage and benefactors through regular remembrance, offerings/charity, and family rites done with sincerity and right timing.

Vishishtadvaita: Relational reality (souls bound in networks of obligation) is affirmed: service to pitṛs is part of serving the Lord’s embodied order.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs (ancestral beings)
• Amāvāsyā

FAQs

What is the significance of Amāvāsyā for Śrāddha in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse highlights Amāvāsyā as a powerful time for ancestral rites, especially when joined with specific yogas, yielding long-lasting satisfaction to the Pitṛs.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the role of calendrical yogas in ritual efficacy?

Parāśara links the fruit of śrāddha to precise time-junctions (tithi with named yogas), teaching that dharma becomes especially potent when performed at divinely ordered moments.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even while speaking of Pitṛ rites, the Purana frames dharma as operating within Vishnu’s cosmic order—where time, merit, and the welfare of beings (including ancestors) are sustained by the Supreme Reality.