Shloka 39
The Glory of Truthful Oaths and Keeping One’s Promise
Satya & Pratijñā
तस्यान्नं तु जलं ब्रह्मन्न ग्राह्यं पितृदैवतैः । त्यक्त्वा धर्मो गृहं तस्य भीत्या याति द्विजोत्तम
tasyānnaṃ tu jalaṃ brahmanna grāhyaṃ pitṛdaivataiḥ | tyaktvā dharmo gṛhaṃ tasya bhītyā yāti dvijottama
ఓ బ్రాహ్మణా, ఆ మనిషి అన్నం నీరు పితృదేవతలకు గ్రాహ్యం కాదు। ఓ ద్విజోత్తమా, ధర్మం భయంతో అతని ఇంటిని విడిచి వెళ్లిపోతుంది।
Unspecified narrator/speaker addressing a Brahmin (likely within the Bhīṣma–Pulastya dialogue framework of the Padma Purāṇa)
Primary Rasa: raudra
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Sandhi Resolution Notes: तस्यान्नं → तस्य अन्नम् (अ + अ); ब्रह्मन्न → ब्रह्मन् (सम्बोधन) + (पदपूरणार्थं न्); पितृदैवतैः (समास); भीत्या (तृतीया-हेतौ) ।
FAQs
The verse indicates ritual and ethical disqualification: when a householder’s conduct becomes adharmic, offerings associated with ancestral rites (śrāddha, pitṛ-yajña) lose their sanctity and are not received by the Pitṛ-related deities.
It is a moral metaphor: righteousness does not remain where actions, livelihood, or household practices violate dharmic standards; such a home becomes spiritually inhospitable, so ‘Dharma’ is portrayed as departing.
It teaches that ancestral rites are not merely formal rituals—personal integrity, purity of conduct, and dharmic living are essential for offerings to be spiritually effective.