Shloka 6
Draupadī’s Instruction on Marital Conduct and Household Discipline (चित्तग्रहण-उपदेश)
दहन् मृतानि भूतानि तस्याग्निर्भरतो5भवत् | अग्निष्टोमे च नियत: क्रतुश्रेष्ठो भरस्य तु,“उन्हीं “अद्भुत” या गृहपतिके एक अग्निस्वरूप पुत्र उत्पन्न हुआ, जिसका नाम “भरत' है। ये मरे हुए प्राणियोंके शवका दाह करते हैं। भरतका अग्निष्टोम यज्ञमें नित्य निवास है, इसलिये उन्हें “नियत” भी कहते हैं। नियतका संकल्प उत्तम है
dahan mṛtāni bhūtāni tasyāgnir bharato 'bhavat | agniṣṭome ca niyataḥ kratuśreṣṭho bharasya tu ||
Wika ni Mārkaṇḍeya: “Ang apoy ng yaong maybahay ay nag-anyong anak na nagngangalang Bharata. Sinusunog niya ang mga katawan ng mga yumao, ginaganap ang huling ritwal upang maibalik sila sa mga sangkap ng kalikasan. At sapagkat si Bharata ay laging nakatatag sa Agniṣṭoma—pinakadakila sa mga paghahandog—tinatawag din siyang Niyata, ang ‘matatag’, na may napakahusay na paninindigan.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links ethical order (dharma) with disciplined ritual action: fire is not merely destructive but a sacred agent that completes the final rite for the dead, and steadfast commitment to the highest sacrifice symbolizes self-control and unwavering resolve (niyama/niyata).
Mārkaṇḍeya describes a wondrous birth: a householder’s sacred fire manifests as a son named Bharata, whose function is to burn the bodies of the deceased, and who is portrayed as perpetually established in the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice, earning the epithet ‘Niyata’ (the steadfast).