Shloka 863
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
अनागताश्च बहव: सुबहूनि युगान्युत । “तुमने पितृलोकमें गये हुए अपने समस्त पितरोंका उद्धार कर दिया। अनेक युगोंतक भविष्यमें होनेवाली जो संतानें हैं, वे भी तुम्हारे पुण्य-प्रतापसे तर जायँगी”
anāgatāś ca bahavaḥ subahūni yugāny uta | “tvayā pitṛlokaṃ gateṣu sarveṣu pitṛṣu samuddhāraḥ kṛtaḥ | anekayugāntara-bhāvinyaḥ santatayaś ca tava puṇya-pratāpena tariṣyanti”
Le beau-père dit : «Bien des âges sont encore à venir. Par ton acte, tu as délivré tous tes ancêtres qui étaient allés au monde des Pères. Et les descendants qui naîtront dans les âges futurs seront eux aussi portés au-delà par la puissance et l’éclat de ton mérite.»
श्षशुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A single person’s righteous merit can have transgenerational effects: it can uplift departed ancestors and also benefit future descendants. The verse emphasizes responsibility to lineage and the enduring moral power (puṇya-pratāpa) of dharmic action.
The speaker, identified as the father-in-law, praises the addressed person for a deed that has spiritually benefited the entire ancestral line. He declares that not only the ancestors in Pitṛloka are redeemed, but even descendants yet unborn across many yugas will be aided by that merit.