Shloka 27
तीर्थवंशोपदेशः
Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters
सावित्रीं जपते यस्तु त्रिकालं भरतर्षभ । भिक्षावृत्ति: कियावांश्व स राजन् केतनक्षम:
sāvitrīṃ japate yas tu trikālaṃ bharatarṣabha | bhikṣāvṛttiḥ kiyāvāṃś ca sa rājan ketanakṣamaḥ ||
Bhishma dijo: «Oh toro entre los Bharata, aquel que recita la Sāvitrī (Gāyatrī) en las tres coyunturas del día, que se sostiene con limosnas y que permanece firme en la conducta prescrita, ese hombre, oh rey, es apto para ser invitado al śrāddha.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Eligibility for receiving honor in ancestral rites (śrāddha) is grounded in disciplined daily spiritual practice (trikāla-japa of Sāvitrī), austere livelihood (bhikṣā-vṛtti), and steadfast performance of prescribed duties (kriyā). The verse links ritual worthiness to sustained ethical-religious conduct rather than status alone.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and proper ritual standards. Here he specifies the kind of person who should be invited to a śrāddha: a disciplined practitioner of the Sāvitrī/Gāyatrī, living simply on alms and devoted to correct observances.