Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 79
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
षष्टिं वर्षमहस्राणि पितरस्तेन तर्पिता: । पितरोंने कहा--मुने! छोड़े हुए नीले रंगके साँड़की पूँछ यदि नदी आदिके जलमें भीगकर उस जलको ऊपर उछालती है तो जिसने उस साँड़को छोड़ा है उसके पितर साठ हजार वर्षोतक उस जलसे तृप्त रहते हैं ।।
ṣaṣṭiṁ varṣa-sahasrāṇi pitaras tena tarpitāḥ | yaḥ tu śūnyaṁ gataṁ paśuṁ kūlād uddhṛtya tiṣṭhati ||
Wika ni Śakra: “Sa loob ng animnapung libong taon, masisiyahan ang mga Pitṛ dahil sa gawaing iyon. Tunay nga, kung may sinumang sumagip sa isang hayop na pinabayaan at napahamak sa pampang ng ilog, at iningatan itong ligtas, ang kabutihang dulot ng mahabaging pag-iingat na iyon ay nagiging handog sa kanyang mga ninuno, na siyang magpapabusog sa kanila sa napakahabang panahon.”
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Compassionate protection—especially rescuing and caring for an abandoned or endangered animal—is presented as a powerful dharmic act whose merit reaches one’s ancestors, satisfying the Pitṛs for an immense duration.
Indra (Śakra) explains the fruit of a specific righteous deed: saving an abandoned animal from peril at a riverbank and keeping it safe. He states that this act becomes a form of ancestral nourishment (tarpaṇa), gratifying the Pitṛs for sixty thousand years.