Shloka 37
मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity
देवकार्यपरो निन््यं॑ जुह्मानो जातवेदसम् | पौण्डरीकस्य यज्ञस्य फल प्राप्रोत्यनुत्तमम्
Bhīṣma uvāca | devakāryaparo nityaṁ juhvāno jātavedasam | pauṇḍarīkasya yajñasya phalaṁ prāpnoty anuttamam ||
Bhishma dit : Celui qui demeure sans cesse voué aux devoirs dus aux dieux et qui, chaque jour, verse des oblations dans le feu—Agni, Jātavedas, le connaisseur de toutes les naissances—obtient le fruit incomparable du sacrifice Pauṇḍarīka. L’enseignement souligne que le culte et le service constants, disciplinés, plutôt que la simple apparence, mènent au plus haut mérite sacrificiel.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Consistent devotion to divine duties—especially daily fire-offerings (agnihotra) performed with sincerity—yields the highest sacrificial merit, comparable to the supreme fruit of the Pauṇḍarīka sacrifice.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma instructs on dharma and religious observances; here he states that one who regularly offers oblations to Agni and remains devoted to the gods attains the unsurpassed result associated with the Pauṇḍarīka yajña.