Shloka 9
पितृसर्ग-श्राद्धमाहात्म्य-प्रश्नः
Pitṛ-sarga and the Greatness of Śrāddha: The Inquiry
युधिष्ठिरेण संपृष्टो भीष्मो धर्मभृतां वरः । शरशय्यास्थितः प्रोचे तच्छृणुष्व वदामि ते
yudhiṣṭhireṇa saṃpṛṣṭo bhīṣmo dharmabhṛtāṃ varaḥ | śaraśayyāsthitaḥ proce tacchṛṇuṣva vadāmi te
Interpelado por Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīṣma—o mais eminente entre os sustentadores do dharma—deitado em seu leito de flechas, falou: «Portanto, escuta; eu te direi».
Bhishma
FAQs
It establishes the authority and solemnity of the teaching: a dharma-knower (Bhīṣma) instructs a sincere seeker (Yudhiṣṭhira), reflecting the Shaiva emphasis that right knowledge received through proper narration becomes a means toward clarity, devotion, and liberation.
Though this verse is introductory, it frames a dharma-discourse that, in the Shiva Purana’s Shaiva Siddhanta tone, typically culminates in guidance toward Saguna Shiva worship—devotion expressed through listening (śravaṇa), remembrance, and reverence for Shiva’s forms such as the Liṅga.
The immediate practice indicated is śravaṇa—attentive listening to sacred instruction; as a Shaiva takeaway, one may pair such listening with japa of the Panchakshara (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) to internalize the teaching.