Shloka 19
Nāga–Nāgabhāryā Saṃvāda: Varṇa-Dharma, Gṛhastha-Discipline, and Mokṣa-Self-Inquiry
Mahābhārata 12.347
देष्टाभ्यां प्रविनिर्धूता ममैते दक्षिणां दिशम् । अश्रिता धरणीं पिण्डास्तस्मात् पितर एव ते,भगवान् वराहने कहा--मैं ही सम्पूर्ण लोकोंका स्रष्टा हूँ। मैं स्वयं ही जब पितरोंकी सृष्टिके लिये उद्यत हो पितृकार्यसम्बन्धी दूसरी विधियोंका चिन्तन करने लगा, उसी क्षण मेरी दो दाढ़ोंसे ये तीन पिण्ड दक्षिण दिशाकी ओर पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े; अतः ये पिण्ड पितृस्वरूप ही हैं
deṣṭābhyāṁ pravinirḍhūtā mamāite dakṣiṇāṁ diśam | āśritā dharaṇīṁ piṇḍās tasmāt pitar eva te ||
Nārada berkata: “Terlepas terguncang dari kedua taringku, gumpalan-gumpalan ini jatuh ke arah selatan dan berdiam di bumi. Karena itu, mereka sungguh bersifat sebagai Pitṛ—para leluhur.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse grounds Pitṛ-related ritual symbolism in a sacred origin: what falls to the southern quarter and rests on earth becomes identified with the Pitṛs, reinforcing the dharmic authority of ancestral rites (piṇḍa-offerings) and the traditional association of the south with the ancestors.
Nārada narrates an origin episode in which three piṇḍas are dislodged from (the speaker’s) two tusks and fall toward the southern direction onto the earth; by this event they are declared to be Pitṛ-svarūpa—embodiments of the ancestral fathers.