Shloka 50

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

Devanagari script

ततस् तु वैश्वदेवाख्यां कुर्यान् नित्यक्रियां बुधः भुञ्जीयाच् च समं पूज्यभृत्यबन्धुभिर् आत्मनः

Transliteration

tatas tu vaiśvadevākhyāṃ kuryān nityakriyāṃ budhaḥ bhuñjīyāc ca samaṃ pūjyabhṛtyabandhubhir ātmanaḥ

Translation

Thereafter, the wise man should perform the daily observance known as the Vaiśvadeva rite; and then take his meal in due measure and harmony, together with the honored, the household servants, and his own kinsmen.

Word by Word

• ततः: then
• ततः: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्—क्रमवाचक

• तु: indeed/and then
• तु: Discourse particle
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्—समुच्चय/विरोधसूचक (but/indeed)

• वैश्वदेवाख्यां: (rite) called Vaiśvadeva
• वैश्वदेवाख्यां: Karma (Object)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वैश्वदेव (प्रातिपदिक) + आख्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया (Accusative), एकवचन; ‘वैश्वदेव-आख्या’ = ‘called vaiśvadeva’; नित्यक्रियां इति विशेषणम्

• कुर्यात्: should perform
• कुर्यात्: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कृ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदम्

• नित्यक्रियां: the daily rite
• नित्यक्रियां: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नित्य (प्रातिपदिक) + क्रिया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्म—कुर्यात्

• बुधः: the wise man
• बुधः: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बुध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), एकवचन

• भुञ्जीयात्: should eat
• भुञ्जीयात्: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √भुज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपदम्

• च: and
• च: Connector
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्—समुच्चय (and)

• समम्: together/equally
• समम्: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः—क्रियाविशेषणम् (equally/together)

• पूज्यभृत्यबन्धुभिः: with respected persons, servants, and relatives
• पूज्यभृत्यबन्धुभिः: Karana/Sahakari (Instrument/Association)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पूज्य (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक) + भृत्य (प्रातिपदिक) + बन्धु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), बहुवचन; ‘with (his) venerable ones, servants, and kinsmen’

• आत्मनः: of himself/one’s own
• आत्मनः: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (Genitive), एकवचन

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Daily offerings (Vaiśvadeva) and disciplined, shared eating transform sustenance into yajña and uphold social-religious order.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Begin meals with an offering (gratitude/prayer) and eat with moderation while including dependents/elders—making consumption a conscious duty.

Vishishtadvaita: Karma as arpaṇa: household acts become service to Nārāyaṇa when performed as yajña within His cosmic order.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana

Bhakti Type: Dasya

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Vaiśvadeva (rite)

FAQs

What is the significance of the Vaiśvadeva rite in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse presents Vaiśvadeva as a daily obligatory act that sacralizes household life, aligning food, offering, and social responsibility with dharma.

How does Sage Parāśara explain right conduct around meals in this context?

He frames eating as a disciplined, shared act—performed after daily rites and undertaken with proper regard for elders, dependents, and relatives—so personal sustenance supports social and moral order.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu here?

Even without naming Vishnu explicitly, the teaching treats dharma and daily rites as participation in the divinely governed order—where disciplined action sustains the world upheld by Vishnu.