Shloka 12
शकुनि (हिरण्मय-पक्षी) उपदेशः — Vighasāśin and the Difficulty of Gārhasthya
मन्त्रो5यं जातकर्मादिर्तब्राह्मणस्य विधीयते । जीवतो5पि यथाकालं श्मशाननिधनादिभि:
mantro ’yaṁ jātakarmādir brāhmaṇasya vidhīyate | jīvato ’pi yathākālaṁ śmaśāna-nidhanādibhiḥ ||
Arjuna dit : «Pour un Brāhmaṇa, les rites (saṃskāra) accompagnés de mantras, à commencer par le jātakarma (cérémonie de naissance), sont prescrits. Tant qu’il vit, les sacrements requis doivent être accomplis en leur temps ; et même après la mort, les derniers rites au lieu de crémation ainsi que les observances ultérieures, telles que le śrāddha à la maison, doivent pareillement être exécutés en temps voulu selon la règle védique.»
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
That dharma includes faithfully performing the prescribed saṁskāras: life-cycle rites with mantras during one’s lifetime and the proper Vedic death and post-death rites (antyeṣṭi and śrāddha) after death, especially as enjoined for a brāhmaṇa.
Arjuna states a rule of ritual duty: the brāhmaṇa’s obligations are not limited to birth rites but extend through the whole span of life and continue in the form of properly timed funeral and ancestral rites after death.