Shloka 1
प्रतिग्रहभेदः — The Distinction between Giving and Accepting
Vṛṣādarbhī–Saptarṣi Dialogue
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठका १ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ५५ श्लोक हैं) ऑपन--माज बछ। अकाल एकनवतितमो<ध्याय: शोकातुर निमिका पुत्रके निमित्त पिण्डदान तथा श्राद्धके विषयमे निमिको महर्षि अत्रिका उपदेश
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | kena saṅkalpitaṃ śrāddhaṃ kasmin kāle kim-ātmakam | bhṛgv-aṅgirasike kāle muninā katareṇa vā |
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Wahai Kakek, siapakah yang mula-mula menggagas dan menetapkan śrāddha? Pada masa apakah ia muncul, dan apakah hakikatnya? Jika permulaannya berada pada zaman Bhṛgu dan Aṅgiras, resi manakah yang menyingkapkannya? Katakan pula kepadaku tindakan apa, umbi dan buah apa, serta jenis-jenis biji-bijian apa yang harus dihindari dalam śrāddha.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames śrāddha as a dharmic obligation grounded in tradition: Yudhiṣṭhira seeks authoritative origins, proper timing, essential nature, and purity-based exclusions, implying that ancestral rites must be performed with correct intention (saṅkalpa) and disciplined observance.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira asks an elder authority (contextually Bhīṣma) to explain how śrāddha began, which sage promulgated it, what it essentially is, and what actions and foods are prohibited in its performance.