Shloka 41

Pātra-Nirṇaya and Ritual Procedure: Who to Feed, Who to Avoid, and Step-by-Step Śrāddha Performance

Devanagari script

दक्षिणाग्रेषु दर्भेषु पुष्पधूपादिपूजितम् स्वपित्रे प्रथमं पिण्डं दद्याद् उच्छिष्टसंनिधौ

Transliteration

dakṣiṇāgreṣu darbheṣu puṣpadhūpādipūjitam svapitre prathamaṃ piṇḍaṃ dadyād ucchiṣṭasaṃnidhau

Translation

Upon kuśa-grass blades whose tips are set toward the south, and after honoring the rite with flowers, incense, and the like, one should first offer the piṇḍa to one’s own father, placing it near the prescribed remnants.

Word by Word

• दक्षिणाग्रेषु: on the right-tipped
• दक्षिणाग्रेषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दक्षिण-अग्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), बहुवचन; ‘दक्षिण’ (right/southern) + ‘अग्र’ (tip)

• दर्भेषु: on/among darbha grasses
• दर्भेषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दर्भ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), बहुवचन

• पुष्पधूपादिपूजितम्: worshipped with flowers, incense, etc.
• पुष्पधूपादिपूजितम्: Karma (Object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पुष्प-धूप-आदि-पूजित (कृदन्त; पूज् धातु)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कृदन्त-भूतकृदन्त (क्त) ‘पूजित’; पूर्वपद-समाहार (‘पुष्पधूपादिभिः’)

• स्वपित्रे: to one’s own father
• स्वपित्रे: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व-पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (सम्प्रदान), एकवचन; ‘स्व’ + ‘पितृ’

• प्रथमम्: first
• प्रथमम्: Karma (Object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रथम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), एकवचन

• पिण्डम्: piṇḍa (rice-ball)
• पिण्डम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), एकवचन

• दद्यात्: should offer
• दद्यात्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• उच्छिष्टसंनिधौ: in the vicinity of the remnants (ucchiṣṭa)
• उच्छिष्टसंनिधौ: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उच्छिष्ट-संनिधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (‘उच्छिष्टस्य संनिधिः’)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Śrāddha placement rules—directionality (south), darbha arrangement, pūjā with flowers/incense, and priority of offering to one’s father

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: authoritative

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Reverence to one’s father and careful observance of ritual direction and purity express gratitude and uphold pitṛ-dharma.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Practice gratitude to parents/elders through tangible service and remembrance; keep sacred acts clean, ordered, and sincere.

Vishishtadvaita: Ethical duty toward embodied relations is a dharmic expression within the Lord’s immanent order—service to parents participates in sacred service.

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Pitṛs (ancestral fathers)

FAQs

What is the significance of south-facing darbha grass in the Vishnu Purana’s śrāddha instructions?

This verse specifies darbha arranged with tips toward the south, aligning the rite with the pitṛ-direction and marking it as an ancestral (pitṛ) offering procedure.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the order of piṇḍa offerings in this context?

He states that the first piṇḍa is to be offered to one’s own father, indicating a defined hierarchy and sequence within the śrāddha rite.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu here, even though He is not named in the verse?

In the Vishnu Purana, dharma and properly performed rites sustain cosmic order under Vishnu’s sovereignty; thus śrāddha is presented as participation in that divinely grounded order.