Shloka 7
Nāga–Nāgabhāryā Saṃvāda: Varṇa-Dharma, Gṛhastha-Discipline, and Mokṣa-Self-Inquiry
Mahābhārata 12.347
परमेष्ठी ब्रह्माने प्रसन्न होकर मेरे पिता प्रजापतिको उत्पन्न कियाः। मैं उनका संकल्पजनित प्रथम पुत्र हूँ ।। यजामि वै पितृन् साधो नारायणविधीौ कृते । एवं स एव भगवान् पिता माता पितामह:
nārada uvāca |
parameṣṭhī brahmaṇe prasannaḥ san mama pitaraṃ prajāpatiṃ sasarja |
ahaṃ tasya saṅkalpajanitaḥ prathamaḥ putraḥ ||
yajāmi vai pitṝn sādho nārāyaṇa-vidhau kṛte |
evaṃ sa eva bhagavān pitā mātā pitāmahaḥ ||
ナーラダは言った。「至上者（パラメーシュティン）が満悦されたとき、我が父プラジャーパティを生じさせた。私はその決意より生まれた第一の子である。善き人よ、ナーラーヤナの定めた作法により儀礼が行われるとき、私はまことにピトリ（祖霊）を供養する。かくして同じその福徳ある主こそ、父であり母であり祖父である—万有の究極の源であり支えである。」
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one performs ancestral rites (pitṛ-yajña), the ultimate object and ground of worship is the Supreme Lord—who is the source of all beings and all relationships (father, mother, grandsire). Ritual is framed within devotion to the highest cause.
Nārada identifies his lineage: Prajāpati is his father, and Nārada is the first son born from Prajāpati’s resolve. He then explains his practice of worshipping the Pitṛs according to Nārāyaṇa’s prescribed rite, concluding that the same Lord stands behind all progenitors.