Shloka 28
प्रतिग्रहभेदः — The Distinction between Giving and Accepting
Vṛṣādarbhī–Saptarṣi Dialogue
ते श्राद्धेनाच्च्यमाना वै विमुच्यन्ते ह किल्बिषात् | सप्तकः पितृवंशस्तु पूर्वदृष्ट: स्वयम्भुवा
te śrāddhenāccyamānā vai vimucyante ha kilbiṣāt | saptakaḥ pitṛvaṁśas tu pūrvadṛṣṭaḥ svayambhuvā ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «En verdad, cuando se les honra debidamente mediante el rito del śrāddha, los antepasados quedan liberados del pecado. La línea ancestral a la que se dirige el śrāddha es un conjunto de siete, tal como lo ordenó en tiempos antiguos Svayambhū (Brahmā).»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Śrāddha, when performed as a dharmic act of honoring the ancestors, is presented as spiritually efficacious: it helps remove the ancestors’ moral taint (kilbiṣa) and fulfills one’s duty to the pitṛ-lineage, which is traditionally enumerated as seven.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma, he explains the benefit of śrāddha: the pitṛs are said to gain release from sin when properly worshipped, and he cites the ancient ordinance of Svayambhū (Brahmā) that the śrāddha-recipient ancestral line is reckoned as a set of seven.