Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 83
Śrāddha-vidhi for Pitṛs: Invitations, Purity, Offerings, and Conduct
अनग्निरध्वगो वापि तथैव व्यसनान्वितः / आमश्राद्धं द्विजः कुर्याद् विधिज्ञः श्रद्धयान्वितः / तेनाग्नौ करणं कुर्यात् पिण्डांस्तेनैव निर्वपेत्
anagniradhvago vāpi tathaiva vyasanānvitaḥ / āmaśrāddhaṃ dvijaḥ kuryād vidhijñaḥ śraddhayānvitaḥ / tenāgnau karaṇaṃ kuryāt piṇḍāṃstenaiva nirvapet
Dù người dvija không có lửa tế (agni), hoặc đang trên đường, hoặc gặp tai ương, nếu biết nghi pháp và có lòng tin thì vẫn nên cử hành āma-śrāddha. Nhờ nghi lễ ấy, người ấy dâng cúng vào lửa, và cũng nhờ chính nghi lễ ấy mà tiến hiến các viên piṇḍa.
Vyasa (narrator) conveying śrāddha injunctions within the Kurma Purana’s dharma-teachings
Primary Rasa: vira
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
This verse is primarily a dharma-vidhi instruction (ritual duty) rather than an explicit ātma-tattva teaching; it emphasizes śraddhā (faithful intention) and continuity of duty even under constraints, a practical foundation that supports inner purification valued in the Kurma Purana’s broader spiritual vision.
No direct yogic technique is taught here; the practice emphasized is disciplined performance of pitṛ-yajña (śrāddha) with śraddhā, which the Purana treats as a purifying karmic discipline that steadies the mind and upholds dharma—supportive to later contemplative teachings such as Pāśupata-oriented devotion and inner restraint.
This verse does not explicitly mention Śiva or Viṣṇu; it reflects the Purana’s integrative dharma framework where ritual obligations (like śrāddha to the Pitṛs) are upheld as part of a unified sacred order, within which Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava syntheses are taught elsewhere (notably in the Upari-bhāga’s Īśvara-gītā context).