Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 90
Pitṛ-śrāddha-haviḥ-phala-nirdeśa
Offerings for Ancestors and Their Stated Results
मूर्तिमन्ति च सामानि यजूंषि च सहस्रश: । ऋग्वेदश्वागमत् तत्र पदक्रमविभूषित:
mūrtimanti ca sāmāni yajūṃṣi ca sahasraśaḥ | ṛgvedaś cāgamat tatra padakramavibhūṣitaḥ ||
वसिष्ठ बोले—वहाँ सामगान भी मूर्तिमान होकर उपस्थित हुए और सहस्रों यजुर्मन्त्र भी। पद और क्रम-पाठ से विभूषित ऋग्वेद भी उस स्थान पर आ पहुँचा।
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that dharma is sustained by honoring the Vedas and preserving their precise recitation traditions; sacred knowledge is not merely text but a living, authoritative presence when upheld with discipline and reverence.
Vasiṣṭha describes a grand sacrificial gathering where the Vedic corpora themselves—Sāman chants, Yajus formulas, and the Ṛgveda—are depicted as arriving in person, with the Ṛgveda distinguished by formal recitation methods (pada and krama).