Shloka 21

The Procedure for Offering Piṇḍa (Funerary Rice-balls) — Gayā-māhātmya

Devanagari script

पितॄनावाह्य चाभ्यर्च्य मंत्रैः पिंडप्रदो भवेत् । प्रज्वाल्य पूर्वं तत्स्थानं पंचगव्यैः पृथक् पृथक् ॥ २१ ॥

Transliteration

pitṝnāvāhya cābhyarcya maṃtraiḥ piṃḍaprado bhavet | prajvālya pūrvaṃ tatsthānaṃ paṃcagavyaiḥ pṛthak pṛthak || 21 ||

Translation

ပိတೃ (Pitṛs) များကို ဖိတ်ခေါ်၍ မန္တရများဖြင့် ပူဇော်ကန်တော့ပြီးနောက်၊ ပိဏ္ဍ (piṇḍa) ကို ပေးအပ်လှူဒါန်းရမည်။ အရင်ဆုံး အခမ်းအနားနေရာကို မီးထွန်းသန့်စင်ကာ၊ ပဉ္စဂဗ္ယ (pañcagavya) ကို တစ်မျိုးချင်း သီးခြားစီ အသုံးပြုရမည်။

Word by Word

• पितॄन्: the ancestors
• पितॄन्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• आवाह्य: having invoked
• आवाह्य: Pūrvakāla (पूर्वकाल/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ + वह् (धातु) → आवाह्य (कृदन्त, ल्यप्)
• Form: अव्ययभाव-कृदन्त (gerund, ल्यप्), ‘having invoked/brought’

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• अभ्यर्च्य: having worshipped
• अभ्यर्च्य: Pūrvakāla (पूर्वकाल/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि + अर्च् (धातु) → अभ्यर्च्य (कृदन्त, ल्यप्)
• Form: अव्ययभाव-कृदन्त (gerund, ल्यप्), ‘having worshipped’

• मन्त्रैः: with mantras
• मन्त्रैः: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; करण (instrument)

• पिण्ड-प्रदः: the giver of rice-balls
• पिण्ड-प्रदः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिण्ड (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तृवाचक (‘giver of piṇḍa’)

• भवेत्: should become
• भवेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; ‘should be/become’

• प्रज्वाल्य: having kindled
• प्रज्वाल्य: Pūrvakāla (पूर्वकाल/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + ज्वल् (धातु) → प्रज्वाल्य (कृदन्त, ल्यप्)
• Form: अव्ययभाव-कृदन्त (gerund, ल्यप्), ‘having kindled’

• पूर्वम्: first
• पूर्वम्: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पूर्वम् (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक-नपुंसक)
• Form: कालार्थक-अव्यय (adverb: first/before)

• तत्-स्थानम्: that place/spot
• तत्-स्थानम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + स्थान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• पञ्च-गव्यैः: with the five cow-products (pañcagavya)
• पञ्च-गव्यैः: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पञ्च (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + गव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगु-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; करण (instrument)

• पृथक्: separately
• पृथक्: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पृथक् (अव्यय)
• Form: रीत्यर्थक-अव्यय (adverb: separately)

• पृथक्: each separately
• पृथक्: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पृथक् (अव्यय)
• Form: पुनरुक्ति (repetition for emphasis)

Speaker

Sage Narada (teaching the rite as received in the Narada Purana narrative tradition)

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: bhakti

Characters & Entities

• Pitrs

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in Narada Purana?

It frames Śrāddha as a mantra-led act of hospitality to the Pitṛs: first invite and honour them, then offer piṇḍas, with prior purification of the ritual space to ensure the offering becomes spiritually fit (pavitra) and effective (phala-prada).

How does this verse explain the path of devotion (Bhakti)?

Though centered on Pitṛ-karma, it reflects bhakti as reverent service (sevā) expressed through orderly worship—invocation, mantra-archana, and offering—performed with śraddhā (faith) and purity.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

It highlights Kalpa (ritual procedure): sequencing of invocation, mantra-worship, piṇḍa-offering, and purification of the ritual site using pañcagavya in a prescribed, step-by-step manner.