Shloka 20
Vasiṣṭha on Saṃsāra, Guṇas, and Misattributed Agency
Mahābhārata 12.292
आहितानिनेहिं धर्मात्मा यः स पुण्यकृदुत्तम: । वेदा हि सर्वे राजेन्द्र स्थितास्त्रिष्वग्निषु प्रभो
āhitāgnir iha dharmātmā yaḥ sa puṇyakṛd uttamaḥ | vedā hi sarve rājendra sthitās triṣv agniṣu prabho ||
Sinabi ni Parāśara: “O hari, ang nagtatag ng mga banal na apoy at araw-araw na nagsasagawa ng Agnihotra ay tunay na matuwid; sa mga gumagawa ng kabutihang may gantimpala, siya ang pinakadakila. Sapagkat, O panginoon ng mga hari, ang lahat ng Veda ay wari’y nagkakatawang-tao at nananahan sa tatlong apoy—Gārhapatya, Āhavanīya, at Dakṣiṇa.”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that steadfast performance of the householder’s Vedic duty—especially maintaining the consecrated fires and offering the daily Agnihotra—constitutes exemplary righteousness and merit; the three sacred fires are revered as the living seat of Vedic authority.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, the sage Parāśara addresses a king and praises the āhitāgni householder, asserting that the Vedas are effectively present in the triad of ritual fires, thereby elevating daily sacrificial discipline as a central ethical-religious practice.