Shloka 25
Āloka-dāna (Dīpa-dāna), Sumanas–Dhūpa–Dīpa Phala: Manu–Suvarṇa and Śukra–Bali Exempla
अब यज्ञसम्बन्धी तथा अयज्ञोपयोगी वृक्षोंका वर्णन सुनो। असुरोंके लिये हितकर तथा देवताओंके लिये प्रिय जो पुष्पमालाएँ होती हैं, उनका परिचय सुनो ।।
atha yajñasambandhī tathā ayajñopayogī vṛkṣāṇāṃ varṇanaṃ śṛṇu | asurāṇāṃ hitakarā devatānāṃ ca ye priyāḥ puṣpamālā bhavanti tāṣāṃ paricayaṃ śṛṇu || rākṣasām uragāṇāṃ ca yakṣāṇāṃ ca tathā priyāḥ | manuṣyāṇāṃ pitṝṇāṃ ca kāntāś cānu-pūrvaśaḥ ||
Śukra disse: “Agora ouve enquanto descrevo as árvores — as ligadas aos ritos sacrificiais e as usadas fora do sacrifício. Ouve também a identificação das guirlandas de flores: algumas são benéficas para os Asuras e outras são queridas aos deuses. Em devida ordem, descreverei igualmente as ervas e plantas agradáveis, favorecidas por Rākṣasas, Nāgas, Yakṣas, pelos homens e pelos Pitṛs (espíritos ancestrais).”
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic, ordered understanding of nature: plants and garlands are not merely decorative but have ritual and cosmological appropriateness, differing by context (sacrificial vs. non-sacrificial) and by the beings or rites they are associated with (Devas, Asuras, Pitṛs, etc.).
Śukra begins a systematic catalogue: he announces that he will describe trees and herbs—first distinguishing those used in yajña from those used outside it—and then identifying which flower-garlands and plants are considered pleasing or beneficial to various classes of beings, proceeding in sequence.