Shloka 42
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
यश्चेदं श्रावयेत् श्राद्धे ब्राह्मणान् पादमन्तत: । अक्षय्यमन्नपानं वै पितृंस्तस्योपतिष्ठते,जो श्राद्धकर्ममें ब्राह्यणोंको निकटसे महाभारतका थोड़ा-सा अंश भी सुना देता है, उसका दिया हुआ अन्नपान अक्षय होकर पितरोंको प्राप्त होता है
yaś cedaṃ śrāvayet śrāddhe brāhmaṇān pādam antataḥ | akṣayyam annapānaṃ vai pitṝṃs tasyopatiṣṭhate ||
Vaiśampāyana said: If, at a śrāddha rite, one has Brahmins listen—even to a small portion of this (Mahābhārata), then the food and drink offered by him becomes inexhaustible in its merit and surely reaches his ancestors. The verse underscores the ethical power of sacred listening and recitation: remembrance of dharma through the epic is treated as a direct support to the departed, making ritual generosity enduring rather than momentary.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a small recitation of the Mahābhārata during a śrāddha, made for Brahmins to hear, renders the offering’s merit ‘akṣayya’ (inexhaustible) and ensures it reaches the ancestors—linking ritual giving with dharmic remembrance through sacred narrative.
In Vaiśampāyana’s discourse within the Svargārohaṇa context, he states a prescriptive benefit: during ancestral rites, arranging the epic’s recitation for Brahmins transforms the food-and-drink offering into an enduring, effective support for one’s pitṛs.