Shloka 27

तीर्थवंशोपदेशः

Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters

Devanagari script

सावित्रीं जपते यस्तु त्रिकालं भरतर्षभ । भिक्षावृत्ति: कियावांश्व स राजन्‌ केतनक्षम:

Transliteration

sāvitrīṃ japate yas tu trikālaṃ bharatarṣabha | bhikṣāvṛttiḥ kiyāvāṃś ca sa rājan ketanakṣamaḥ ||

Translation

भरतर्षभ! यस्तु सावित्रीं त्रिकालं जपति, भिक्षावृत्तिः क्रियावांश्च, स राजन् केतनक्षमः।

Word by Word

• सावित्रीम्: the Sāvitrī (Gāyatrī mantra)
• सावित्रीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सावित्री
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• जपते: recites
• Type: Verb
• Root: जप्
• Form: Present, 3rd, Singular, Ātmanepada

• यः: who
• यः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तु: indeed/but
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• त्रिकालम्: at the three times (daily)
• त्रिकालम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रिकाल
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• भरतर्षभ: O bull among the Bharatas
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरत-ऋषभ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• भिक्षावृत्तिः: one whose livelihood is by alms (mendicant livelihood)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भिक्षा-वृत्ति
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• क्रियावान्: active; engaged in prescribed rites
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रियावत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• कृतनक्षमः: disciplined/steadfast in duties (lit. capable/competent in what is done)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत-नक्षम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• the King (Yudhiṣṭhira, implied addressee)
• Sāvitrī/Gāyatrī mantra
• Bharata lineage (as an epithet)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Eligibility for receiving honor in ancestral rites (śrāddha) is grounded in disciplined daily spiritual practice (trikāla-japa of Sāvitrī), austere livelihood (bhikṣā-vṛtti), and steadfast performance of prescribed duties (kriyā). The verse links ritual worthiness to sustained ethical-religious conduct rather than status alone.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and proper ritual standards. Here he specifies the kind of person who should be invited to a śrāddha: a disciplined practitioner of the Sāvitrī/Gāyatrī, living simply on alms and devoted to correct observances.