Shloka 10
श्राद्ध-योग्य द्रव्य, निषेध, तथा गयाश्राद्ध-माहात्म्य (Śrāddha Materials, Prohibitions, and the Glory of Gayā)
नक्ताहृतम् अनुत्सृष्टं तृप्यते न च यत्र गौः दुर्गन्धि फेनिलं चाम्बु श्राद्धयोग्यं न पार्थिव
naktāhṛtam anutsṛṣṭaṃ tṛpyate na ca yatra gauḥ durgandhi phenilaṃ cāmbu śrāddhayogyaṃ na pārthiva
हे राजन! जो जल रात में लाया गया हो, जो बहता न हो, जिससे गाय तृप्त न होती हो, जो दुर्गन्धयुक्त और फेन (झाग) वाला हो, वह श्राद्ध के योग्य नहीं है।
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya; addressed here as 'O King')
FAQs
This verse makes water itself a measure of ritual purity: water that is night-fetched, stagnant, rejected by a cow, foul-smelling, or frothy is declared unfit for śrāddha.
He defines suitability through observable signs—freshness/flow, absence of odor and foam, and even the natural test of whether a cow drinks contentedly—so the rite rests on purity rather than mere form.
Though Vishnu is not named in the verse, the śrāddha discipline is presented as part of Vaiṣṇava dharma: maintaining purity in offerings upholds the ordered world that operates under the Supreme Lord’s sovereignty.