Shloka 12

शकुनि (हिरण्मय-पक्षी) उपदेशः — Vighasāśin and the Difficulty of Gārhasthya

Devanagari script

मन्त्रो5यं जातकर्मादिर्तब्राह्मणस्य विधीयते । जीवतो5पि यथाकालं श्मशाननिधनादिभि:,ब्राह्मणोंके लिये मन्त्रयुक्त जातकर्म आदि संस्कारका विधान है। वह जबतक जीवित रहे, समय-समयपर उसके आवश्यक संस्कार होते रहने चाहिये, मरनेपर भी यथासमय श्मशानभूमिमें अन्त्येष्टिसंस्कार तथा घरपर श्राद्ध आदि वैदिक विधिके अनुसार सम्पन्न होने चाहिये

Transliteration

mantro ’yaṁ jātakarmādir brāhmaṇasya vidhīyate | jīvato ’pi yathākālaṁ śmaśāna-nidhanādibhiḥ ||

Translation

ಅರ್ಜುನನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣನಿಗೆ ಮಂತ್ರಸಹಿತ ಜಾತಕರ್ಮಾದಿ ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರಗಳು ವಿಧಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿವೆ. ಅವನು ಜೀವಂತಿರುವವರೆಗೆ ಯಥಾಕಾಲ ಅಗತ್ಯ ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರಗಳು ನಡೆಯಬೇಕು; ಮರಣಾನಂತರವೂ ಶ್ಮಶಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂತ್ಯೇಷ್ಠಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಗೃಹದಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರಾದ್ಧಾದಿ ಕರ್ಮಗಳು ವೇದವಿಧಿಯಂತೆ ಯಥಾಸಮಯ ನೆರವೇರಬೇಕು.

Word by Word

मन्त्रःmantra / prescribed formula

अयम्this

जातकर्मादिःthe rites beginning with the birth-rite (jātakarma), etc.

तत्that

ब्राह्मणस्यof/for a Brahmin

विधीयतेis prescribed / is enjoined

जीवतःwhile living / of one who is alive

अपिalso / even

यथाकालम्at the proper time

श्मशाननिधनादिभिःby/with (rites) such as cremation-ground death-rites, etc.

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

brāhmaṇa

jātakarma

śmaśāna

antyeṣṭi (implied by śmaśāna rites)

śrāddha (implied by post-death observances)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That dharma includes faithfully performing the prescribed saṁskāras: life-cycle rites with mantras during one’s lifetime and the proper Vedic death and post-death rites (antyeṣṭi and śrāddha) after death, especially as enjoined for a brāhmaṇa.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna states a rule of ritual duty: the brāhmaṇa’s obligations are not limited to birth rites but extend through the whole span of life and continue in the form of properly timed funeral and ancestral rites after death.