Shloka 73

Brahmin Right Conduct: Morning Remembrance, Bathing, Purification, and Tarpaṇa Method

Devanagari script

अकृत्वा तर्पणं नित्यं पितृहा चोपजायते । ब्रह्महत्यासमं पापं देवानामप्यपूजने

Transliteration

akṛtvā tarpaṇaṃ nityaṃ pitṛhā copajāyate | brahmahatyāsamaṃ pāpaṃ devānāmapyapūjane

Translation

日々タルパナ（水の供養）を行わぬなら、その者は祖霊を殺す者のごとくなる。さらに神々への礼拝を怠ることも、ブラフマハティヤー—バラモン殺し—に等しい罪である。

Word by Word

• a-kṛtvā: without doing
• a-kṛtvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kṛ (धातु) + nañ- (उपसर्ग/निषेध)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (क्त्वान्त), negated with nañ (नञ्); avyaya-prayoga; ‘without doing’

• tarpaṇam: (the) tarpaṇa offering
• tarpaṇam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tarpaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• nityam: always
• nityam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nitya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya; adverbial accusative (क्रियाविशेषण-रूपेण)

• pitṛ-hā: a slayer/violator of ancestors (one who harms pitṛs)
• pitṛ-hā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक) + han (धातु)
• Form: Upapada-tatpuruṣa; agent-noun with -hā (हन्-धातोः कर्तरि), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction/particle (समुच्चय)

• upajāyate: arises/comes into being
• upajāyate: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: upa-√jan (धातु)
• Form: Present tense (लट्), Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)

• brahma-hatyā-samam: equal to brahma-murder (sin)
• brahma-hatyā-samam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: brahma-hatyā (प्रातिपदिक; compound) + sama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa: brahmahatyāyāḥ samam (‘equal to brahma-hatyā’); Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; agrees with pāpam

• pāpam: sin
• pāpam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

• devānām: of the gods
• devānām: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural (बहुवचन)

• api: also
• api: Sambandha (निपात-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात), ‘also/even’

• a-pūjane: in (their) non-worship
• a-pūjane: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pūjana (प्रातिपदिक) + nañ- (निषेध)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; nañ-negated (‘in non-worship’)

Speaker

Unspecified (context-dependent within Adhyāya 49)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: raudra

Secondary Rasa: karuna

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: copajāyate = ca + upajāyate; devānāmapyapūjane = devānām + api + apūjane; brahmahatyāsamaṃ = brahmahatyā + samam; akṛtvā is nañ-negated ktvā (gerund) of √kṛ.

Characters & Entities

• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Devas (gods)

FAQs

What practice does this verse prescribe as a daily duty (nitya-karma)?

It stresses nitya tarpaṇa—daily libations (typically water with appropriate mantras) offered for the satisfaction of the Pitṛs (ancestors).

What ethical warning is conveyed through the comparison to brahmahatyā?

The verse uses a strongest-possible moral warning: neglecting deva-pūjā (worship of the gods) is portrayed as gravely sinful—comparable to brahmahatyā—to emphasize responsibility and reverence in daily religious life.

Does the verse focus more on geography/tīrthas or on ritual-ethics?

It is primarily a ritual-ethical teaching about obligatory daily observances (tarpaṇa and deva-pūjā), not a description of tīrtha geography.