Shloka 37

मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity

Devanagari script

देवकार्यपरो निन्‍्यं॑ जुह्मानो जातवेदसम्‌ | पौण्डरीकस्य यज्ञस्य फल प्राप्रोत्यनुत्तमम्‌

Transliteration

Bhīṣma uvāca | devakāryaparo nityaṁ juhvāno jātavedasam | pauṇḍarīkasya yajñasya phalaṁ prāpnoty anuttamam ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: Ai luôn chuyên tâm vào bổn phận đối với chư thiên, và mỗi ngày dâng lễ vật vào lửa—Agni, Jātavedas, đấng biết mọi sự sinh khởi—người ấy đạt được quả báo vô song của tế lễ Pauṇḍarīka. Lời dạy nhấn mạnh rằng sự thờ phụng và phụng sự bền bỉ, có kỷ luật, chứ không phải phô trương, mới đưa đến công đức tối thượng của tế tự.

Word by Word

• देवकार्यपरः: intent on the work of the gods
• देवकार्यपरः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: देवकार्यपर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• नित्यम्: always, daily
• नित्यम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्यम्

• जुह्वानः: offering (oblations)
• जुह्वानः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: हु (जुहोति)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, शतृ (present active participle)

• जातवेदसम्: Jātavedas (Agni)
• जातवेदसम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: जातवेदस्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• पौण्डरीकस्य: of the Pauṇḍarīka
• पौण्डरीकस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पौण्डरीक
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• यज्ञस्य: of the sacrifice
• यज्ञस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• फलम्: fruit, result
• फलम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: फल
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• प्राप्नोति: attains
• प्राप्नोति: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + आप् (प्राप्नोति)
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अनुत्तमम्: unsurpassed, supreme
• अनुत्तमम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनुत्तम
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Agni (Jātavedas)
• Devas
• Pauṇḍarīka-yajña

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Consistent devotion to divine duties—especially daily fire-offerings (agnihotra) performed with sincerity—yields the highest sacrificial merit, comparable to the supreme fruit of the Pauṇḍarīka sacrifice.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma instructs on dharma and religious observances; here he states that one who regularly offers oblations to Agni and remains devoted to the gods attains the unsurpassed result associated with the Pauṇḍarīka yajña.