Shloka 20
प्रतिग्रहभेदः — The Distinction between Giving and Accepting
Vṛṣādarbhī–Saptarṣi Dialogue
निमे संकल्पितस्ते5यं पितृयज्ञस्तपोधन । मा ते भूद् भी: पूर्वदृष्टो धर्मो5यं ब्रह्मणा स्वयम्,“तपोधन निमे! तुमने जो यह पितृयज्ञ किया है, इससे डरो मत। सबसे पहले स्वयं ब्रह्माजीने इस धर्मका साक्षात्कार किया है
nime saṅkalpitas te ’yaṃ pitṛyajñas tapodhana | mā te bhūd bhīḥ pūrvadṛṣṭo dharmo ’yaṃ brahmaṇā svayam ||
ഹേ തപോധന നിമി! നീ നിശ്ചയിച്ച ഈ പിതൃയജ്ഞം യഥോചിതമാണ്; അതിനെ ഭയപ്പെടേണ്ട. ഈ ധർമ്മം ആദ്യം സ്വയം ബ്രഹ്മാവാണ് നേരിട്ട് അറിഞ്ഞ് സ്ഥാപിച്ചത്.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When an act is grounded in dharma—here, the pitṛyajña—one should not fear performing it; its legitimacy rests on primordial authority, traced back to Brahmā’s own establishment of the rule.
Bhīṣma reassures Nimi, an ascetic king, that his decision to perform the ancestral rite is correct and should be done without anxiety, since the practice is an ancient, divinely sanctioned dharma.