Shloka 25
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
प्रविभागं तु पिण्डानां प्रवक्ष्याम्यनुपूर्वश: । पिण्डो हाथस्ताद् गच्छंस्तु अप आविश्य भावयेत्
pravibhāgaṃ tu piṇḍānāṃ pravakṣyāmy anupūrvaśaḥ | piṇḍo hāstas tād gacchaṃs tu ap āviśya bhāvayet ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «Ahora explicaré, en el debido orden, la correcta distribución de las bolas rituales de arroz (piṇḍas). En el rito de śrāddha, cuando se prescriben tres piṇḍas, la primera debe ser confiada al agua; la del medio ha de ser comida únicamente por la esposa del oficiante; y la tercera debe ser ofrecida al fuego.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches procedural dharma in śrāddha: offerings are not arbitrary but must be allocated in a prescribed order—one piṇḍa to water, one reserved for the wife’s consumption as part of the rite, and one offered into fire—emphasizing disciplined ritual conduct and respect for ancestral obligations.
Bhīṣma, instructing on dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva, turns to the detailed rules of śrāddha and begins specifying how the three ritual piṇḍas are to be disposed of or used within the ceremony.