Shloka 1
प्रतिग्रहभेदः — The Distinction between Giving and Accepting
Vṛṣādarbhī–Saptarṣi Dialogue
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठका १ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ५५ श्लोक हैं) ऑपन--माज बछ। अकाल एकनवतितमो<ध्याय: शोकातुर निमिका पुत्रके निमित्त पिण्डदान तथा श्राद्धके विषयमे निमिको महर्षि अत्रिका उपदेश
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | kena saṅkalpitaṃ śrāddhaṃ kasmin kāle kim-ātmakam | bhṛgv-aṅgirasike kāle muninā katareṇa vā |
Nagsalita si Yudhiṣṭhira: “Lolo, sino ang unang nag-isip at nagtatag ng ritwal na śrāddha? Sa anong panahon ito lumitaw, at ano ang tunay nitong kalikasan? Kung ang simula nito’y nasa panahon nina Bhṛgu at Aṅgiras, aling muni ang naghayag nito? Sabihin mo rin sa akin kung aling mga gawain, aling mga prutas at ugat, at aling mga uri ng butil ang dapat iwasan sa śrāddha.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames śrāddha as a dharmic obligation grounded in tradition: Yudhiṣṭhira seeks authoritative origins, proper timing, essential nature, and purity-based exclusions, implying that ancestral rites must be performed with correct intention (saṅkalpa) and disciplined observance.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira asks an elder authority (contextually Bhīṣma) to explain how śrāddha began, which sage promulgated it, what it essentially is, and what actions and foods are prohibited in its performance.