Shloka 20
Vasiṣṭha on Saṃsāra, Guṇas, and Misattributed Agency
Mahābhārata 12.292
आहितानिनेहिं धर्मात्मा यः स पुण्यकृदुत्तम: । वेदा हि सर्वे राजेन्द्र स्थितास्त्रिष्वग्निषु प्रभो
āhitāgnir iha dharmātmā yaḥ sa puṇyakṛd uttamaḥ | vedā hi sarve rājendra sthitās triṣv agniṣu prabho ||
Parāśara dijo: «Oh rey, quien ha establecido los fuegos sagrados y realiza a diario el Agnihotra es verdaderamente justo; entre los que obran méritos, es el más excelso. Pues, oh señor de los reyes, todos los Vedas están, por así decirlo, encarnados y presentes en los tres fuegos: Gārhapatya, Āhavanīya y Dakṣiṇa».
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that steadfast performance of the householder’s Vedic duty—especially maintaining the consecrated fires and offering the daily Agnihotra—constitutes exemplary righteousness and merit; the three sacred fires are revered as the living seat of Vedic authority.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, the sage Parāśara addresses a king and praises the āhitāgni householder, asserting that the Vedas are effectively present in the triad of ritual fires, thereby elevating daily sacrificial discipline as a central ethical-religious practice.