Shloka 9
Śrāddha’s Cosmic Reach and Kāla-Nirṇaya (Sacred Timings): Amāvāsyā, Nakṣatra-Yoga, Tīrtha, and Minimum Offerings
वासवाजैकपादर्क्षे पितॄणां तृप्तिम् इच्छताम् वारुणे चाप्य् अमावास्या देवानाम् अपि दुर्लभा
vāsavājaikapādarkṣe pitṝṇāṃ tṛptim icchatām vāruṇe cāpy amāvāsyā devānām api durlabhā
वासवाजैकपादर्क्षेषु पितॄणां तृप्तिमिच्छतां तृप्तिर्भवति; वारुणे तु नक्षत्रे अमावास्या देवानामपि दुर्लभा भवति।
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Concept: Certain amāvāsyā-nakṣatra combinations are extraordinarily rare and efficacious, underscoring dharma as alignment with sacred time and prescribed rite.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Treat ritual calendars as supports for discipline: choose key observance days for remembrance, charity, and restraint.
Vishishtadvaita: The ‘rarity’ of sacred conjunctions highlights dependence on Bhagavān’s cosmic administration; human effort bears fruit when harmonized with that order.
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse highlights Amāvāsyā—especially when joined with the Vāruṇa nakṣatra—as exceptionally efficacious for rites that nourish the Pitṛs, a potency described as rare even among the gods.
He ties the success of Pitṛ-satisfaction to specific nakṣatras (Vāsava, Āja, Eka-pāda) and elevates the Amāvāsyā under Vāruṇa as a uniquely auspicious convergence in the ritual calendar.
Even in ritual instruction, the Purāṇa frames dharma as participation in a divinely ordered cosmos—where time (tithi/nakṣatra) functions under the supreme governance that Vaishnava tradition ultimately attributes to Vishnu.