Shloka 45
Bhīmasena’s Discourse on Kāla, Resolve, and the Feasibility of Ajñātavāsa (भीमसेनस्य कालोपदेशः)
चरन्तो मृगयां नित्यं शुद्धैर्बाणै्मगार्थिन: । पितृदैवतविप्रेभ्यो निर्वपन्तो यथाविधि,वे प्रतेदिन हिंसक पशुओंको मारनेके लिये शुद्ध (शास्त्रानुकूल) बाणोंद्वारा शिकार खेलते थे एवं शास्त्रकी विधिके अनुसार नित्य पितरों तथा देवताओंको अपना-अपना भाग देते थे अर्थात् नित्य श्राद्ध और नित्य होम करते थे
caranto mṛgayāṃ nityaṃ śuddhair bāṇair mṛgārthinaḥ | pitṛ-daivata-viprebhyo nirvapanto yathā-vidhi ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: Siempre entregados a la caza, buscaban presa cada día con flechas puras—es decir, sancionadas por las escrituras. Y, conforme a los ritos prescritos, ofrecían regularmente la porción debida a los Padres, a los dioses y a los brahmanes; así, aun viviendo una vida que implicaba violencia contra los animales, mantenían el śrāddha diario y el homa diario.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse juxtaposes necessary or customary violence (hunting) with strict adherence to dharma through daily ritual obligations—offerings to ancestors, gods, and Brahmins—implying that conduct is judged not only by livelihood but also by conformity to śāstric restraint and continual religious duty.
The narrator describes people who regularly roam in the forest hunting game with ‘pure’ (properly sanctioned) arrows, while simultaneously maintaining prescribed daily rites by distributing offerings to the pitṛs, the gods, and Brahmins—i.e., performing daily śrāddha and homa.