Shloka 16
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 141: Bhīma–Hiḍimba Confrontation and Protective Discourse
प्रेतकार्याणि च तथा चकार सह बान्धवै: । पाण्डवानां तथा क्षत्ता भीष्मश्न कुरुसत्तम:,उन्होंने, विदुरजीने तथा कुरुकुलशिरोमणि भीष्मजीने भी भाई-बन्धुओंके साथ (पुत्तल-विधिसे) पाण्डवोंके प्रेतकार्य (दाह और श्राद्ध आदि) सम्पन्न किये
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: pretakāryāṇi ca tathā cakāra saha bāndhavaiḥ | pāṇḍavānāṃ tathā kṣattā bhīṣmaś ca kurusattamaḥ ||
Dijo Vaiśampāyana: Del mismo modo se cumplieron debidamente los ritos funerarios. Vidura, el chambelán, y Bhīṣma —el más excelso de los Kurus—, junto con los parientes, realizaron para los Pāṇḍavas los ritos prescritos para los difuntos, incluyendo la cremación y las ofrendas de śrāddha posteriores.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma as social and familial responsibility: elders and relatives must ensure proper funerary rites (pretakārya), maintaining moral order and honoring the dead regardless of personal sorrow or political complications.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Vidura (the kṣattā) and Bhīṣma, along with other relatives, performed the Pāṇḍavas’ prescribed funerary rites—cremation and subsequent śrāddha-type observances—according to custom.