Shloka 24
राजधर्मः—प्रजापालनं दानयज्ञश्च
Royal Duty—Protection of Subjects, Generosity, and Sacrificial Discipline
नित्यं स्वाहा स्वधा नित्यं चोभे मानुषदैवते । पुत्रेष्वाशासते नित्यं पितरो दैवतानि च,प्रतिदिन यज्ञ और श्राद्धू--ये दोनों कर्म क्रमश: देवताओं तथा मानव-पितरोंको आनन्दित करनेवाले हैं। देवता और पितर अपनी संतानोंसे सदा इन्हीं कर्मोंकी आशा रखते हैं
nityaṁ svāhā svadhā nityaṁ cobhe mānuṣadaivate | putreṣv āśāsate nityaṁ pitaro daivatāni ca ||
ビーシュマは言った。「『スヴァーハー（svāhā）』と『スヴァダー（svadhā）』の唱え言は、常に保たれねばならぬ。これはそれぞれ神々の領域と、人の祖霊の領域に通じる。ゆえに神々も祖先も、子孫に絶えず望むのだ――デーヴァのためのヤジュニャ（祭祀）を怠らず、ピトリのためのシュラーダッダ（供養）を常に捧げよ、と。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should regularly sustain both streams of obligation: offerings to the gods (svāhā, deva-yajña) and offerings to the ancestors (svadhā, śrāddha). These rites are presented as ongoing duties through which descendants repay and uphold the divine and ancestral orders.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira about household and social duties. Here he emphasizes that devas and pitṛs depend upon descendants’ regular ritual acts—yajña and śrāddha—and thus ‘expect’ these duties to be maintained.