Shloka 45

Pitṛ-śrāddha-haviḥ-phala-nirdeśa

Offerings for Ancestors and Their Stated Results

Devanagari script

उत्पादने तथोपायमभिजम्मुश्न मानवा: । आपो रसालले यास्तु संस्पृष्टाश्चित्रभानुना,भार्गव! मनुष्योंने अग्निको प्रकट करनेके लिये शमीका मन्‍्थन ही उपाय जाना। अग्निने रसातलमें जिस जलका स्पर्श किया था और वहाँ शयन करनेवाले अग्नि-देवके तेजसे जो संतप्त हो गया था, वह जल पर्वतीय झरनोंके रूपमें अपनी गरमी निकालता है

Transliteration

utpādane tathopāyam abhijajñuḥ manuṣyāḥ | āpo rasātale yās tu saṃspṛṣṭāś citrabhānunā, bhārgava! |

Translation

భీష్ముడు పలికెను—ఓ భార్గవా! అగ్నిని వెలికి తీయుటకు మనుష్యులు శమీ కఱ్ఱల మథనమే ఉపాయమని తెలుసుకున్నారు. అలాగే రసాతలంలో చిత్రభాను (అగ్ని) స్పర్శచేత అతని తేజస్సుతో వేడెక్కిన జలాలు, ఆ వేడిని విడిచిపెడుతూ పర్వతాల ఉష్ణ జలధారలుగా వెలువడుతాయి.

Word by Word

• {'utpādane': 'in producing, in bringing forth (especially fire here)', 'upāya': 'means, method, practical device', 'abhijajñuḥ': 'they came to know, they discovered', 'manuṣyāḥ': 'human beings', 'āpaḥ': 'waters', 'rasātale': 'in Rasātala, the nether region', 'yāḥ tu': 'those which indeed', 'saṃspṛṣṭāḥ': 'touched, contacted', 'citrabhānunā': 'by Citrabhānu (a name of Agni, the Fire-god)', 'bhārgava': 'O Bhārgava (descendant of Bhṛgu

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bhārgava (a Bhṛgu-descendant sage, addressee)
• Agni
• Citrabhānu
• Rasātala
• śamī (wood used for fire-churning)
• mountain springs (heated waters)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage links human ingenuity and ritual knowledge (discovering fire by friction) with a dharmic-cosmic view of nature: phenomena like hot springs are explained as effects of Agni’s presence and power, reinforcing reverence for elemental forces central to Vedic life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses a Bhārgava sage and explains (1) how people learned the practical method of manifesting fire through churning wood (śamī), and (2) why certain waters become hot—because they touched Agni in Rasātala and later release that heat as warm springs.