Shloka 8

स्त्रीपर्व १: धृतराष्ट्रशोकः संजयाश्वासनं च

Strī Parva 1: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Saṃjaya’s Consolation

Devanagari script

पितृणां पुत्रपौत्राणां ज्ञातीनां सुहृदां तथा । गुरूणां चानुपूर्व्येण प्रेतकार्याणि कारय,“राजन! अब आप क्रमशः अपने चाचा, ताऊ, पुत्र, पौत्र, भाई-बन्धु, सुहृद्‌ तथा गुरुजनोंके प्रेतकार्य सम्पन्न कराइये”

Transliteration

pitṝṇāṁ putrapautrāṇāṁ jñātīnāṁ suhṛdāṁ tathā | gurūṇāṁ cānupūrvyena pretakāryāṇi kāraya ||

Translation

वैशम्पायन उवाच— पितॄणां पुत्रपौत्राणां ज्ञातीनां सुहृदां तथा। गुरूणां चानुपूर्व्येण प्रेतकार्याणि कारय॥

Word by Word

पितृणाम्of the fathers/forefathers

पुत्रof the sons

पौत्राणाम्of the grandsons

ज्ञातीनाम्of the kinsmen/relatives

सुहृदाम्of the well-wishers/friends

तथाand also

गुरूणाम्of the elders/teachers

चand

अनुपूर्व्येणin due order/sequence

प्रेतकार्याणिfuneral rites (rites for the departed)

कारयcause (them) to be performed / have (them) done

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

the King (rājan, addressed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid overwhelming grief and moral shock after war, dharma requires honoring the dead through proper funerary rites. Performing preta-kārya in due order affirms gratitude, responsibility, and the restoration of ethical and social balance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana instructs the king to arrange the funerary rites sequentially for all categories of the departed—ancestors, descendants, relatives, friends, and teachers—reflecting the immediate post-war obligations in the Strī Parva context.