Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 141 Shloka 17 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

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Shloka 17

अत्रेः तपोबलप्रकाशः तथा च्यवनस्य सोमाधिकारः

Atri’s Illumination by Tapas; Cyavana and Soma-Entitlement

Devanagari script

मृतस्य दशरात्रेण प्रायश्चित्तानि दापयेत्‌ सावित्री रैवतीमिष्टिं कृूष्माण्डमघमर्षणम्‌

Transliteration

mṛtasya daśarātreṇa prāyaścittāni dāpayet | sāvitrīṃ raivatīm iṣṭiṃ kūṣmāṇḍam aghamarṣaṇam ||

Translation

मृतस्य दशरात्रेण प्रायश्चित्तानि दापयेत्। सावित्रीं रैवतीमिष्टिं कूष्माण्डमघमर्षणम्॥

Word by Word

मृतस्यof the dead (person)

दशरात्रेणby/within ten nights (i.e., ten days period)

प्रायश्चित्तानिexpiations

दापयेत्should cause (someone) to perform / should have done

सावित्रीम्the Sāvitrī (Gāyatrī-mantra)

रैवतीम्the Raivatī (hymn/rite named Raivatī)

इष्टिम्an iṣṭi (sacrificial offering/rite)

कूष्माण्डम्the Kūṣmāṇḍa (rite/anuvāka named Kūṣmāṇḍa)

अघमर्षणम्the Aghamarṣaṇa (purificatory hymn/japa)

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Sāvitrī (Gāyatrī mantra)

Raivatī

Iṣṭi

Kūṣmāṇḍa (anuvāka)

Aghamarṣaṇa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that violations committed during the sensitive period of death-impurity (maraṇa-āśauca) require deliberate expiation. Dharma is maintained not only by avoiding improper conduct but also by restoring purity through prescribed mantra-recitation and rites when a lapse occurs.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma and conduct, Bhīṣma lays down a specific rule: if someone eats food while under the ten-day death-impurity connected with another household, he should undertake named purificatory recitations/rites—Sāvitrī (Gāyatrī), Raivatī, an iṣṭi, Kūṣmāṇḍa, and Aghamarṣaṇa—to remove the fault.