Shloka 79
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
षष्टिं वर्षमहस्राणि पितरस्तेन तर्पिता: । पितरोंने कहा--मुने! छोड़े हुए नीले रंगके साँड़की पूँछ यदि नदी आदिके जलमें भीगकर उस जलको ऊपर उछालती है तो जिसने उस साँड़को छोड़ा है उसके पितर साठ हजार वर्षोतक उस जलसे तृप्त रहते हैं ।।
ṣaṣṭiṁ varṣa-sahasrāṇi pitaras tena tarpitāḥ | yaḥ tu śūnyaṁ gataṁ paśuṁ kūlād uddhṛtya tiṣṭhati ||
Śakra disse: “Por sessenta mil anos, os Pitṛs ficam satisfeitos por esse ato. De fato, se alguém resgata um animal abandonado que caiu em perigo à beira do rio e o mantém em segurança, o mérito dessa proteção compassiva torna-se uma oferenda aos seus ancestrais, sustentando-os por um vasto período de tempo.”
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Compassionate protection—especially rescuing and caring for an abandoned or endangered animal—is presented as a powerful dharmic act whose merit reaches one’s ancestors, satisfying the Pitṛs for an immense duration.
Indra (Śakra) explains the fruit of a specific righteous deed: saving an abandoned animal from peril at a riverbank and keeping it safe. He states that this act becomes a form of ancestral nourishment (tarpaṇa), gratifying the Pitṛs for sixty thousand years.