Shloka 18
Nāga–Nāgabhāryā Saṃvāda: Varṇa-Dharma, Gṛhastha-Discipline, and Mokṣa-Self-Inquiry
Mahābhārata 12.347
वृषाकपिरुवाच अहं हि पितर: स्रष्टमुद्यतो लोककृत् स्वयम् | यस्य चिन्तयतः सद्यः पितृकार्यविधीन् परान्
vṛṣākapir uvāca: ahaṃ hi pitarāḥ sraṣṭum udyato lokakṛt svayam | yasya cintayataḥ sadyaḥ pitṛkāryavidhīn parān, bhagavān varāhaḥ— “ahaṃ hī samasta-lokānāṃ sraṣṭā; ahaṃ svayam eva yadā pitr̥ṇāṃ sṛṣṭaye udyataḥ pitṛkārya-sambandhīr anyā vidhīś cintayitum ārabhe, tadā mama dantābhyāṃ ime trayaḥ piṇḍā dakṣiṇa-diśi bhūmau nipetūḥ; ata ime piṇḍāḥ pitṛ-svarūpā eva.”
Vṛṣākapi dit : « Je suis moi-même le façonnier des mondes, et je me suis mis à créer les Pères (Pitṛ). Lorsque je commençai à méditer sur les rites et procédures supplémentaires liés aux offrandes ancestrales, à cet instant même trois piṇḍa tombèrent de mes deux défenses sur la terre, vers le quartier du sud. C’est pourquoi ces piṇḍa sont eux-mêmes de la nature des Pitṛ. »
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage grounds Pitṛ-dharma (duties to ancestors) in a sacred origin: the piṇḍa offered in śrāddha is not merely symbolic but is treated as a Pitṛ-embodiment, and the southern direction is ritually significant for ancestral rites.
Vṛṣākapi recounts a mythic moment of creation: while preparing to create the Pitṛs and reflecting on the procedures of ancestral rites, three piṇḍas fall from his tusks onto the earth toward the south, and he declares these piṇḍas to be of Pitṛ-nature—explaining the sanctity of piṇḍa offerings.