Shloka 134

Pitṛ-śrāddha-haviḥ-phala-nirdeśa

Offerings for Ancestors and Their Stated Results

Devanagari script

अष्टौ कविसुता होते सर्वमेभिर्जगत्‌ ततम्‌ । प्रजापतय एते हि प्रजाभागैरिह प्रजा:

Transliteration

aṣṭau kavisutā hote sarvam ebhir jagat tatam | prajāpātaya ete hi prajābhāgair iha prajāḥ ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha nói: “Có tám người con của Kavi; nhờ họ mà toàn thể thế gian này được thấm nhuần và lan tỏa. Quả thật, tám vị ấy là các Prajāpati; và vì họ dự phần vào chính những yếu tố và chức năng của sự sinh thành nơi đây, nên họ cũng được gọi là ‘prajā’ (muôn loài/dân chúng).”

Word by Word

• अष्टौ: eight (as a group)
• अष्टौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• कविसुताः: sons of the sage/poet
• कविसुताः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कविसुत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• होते: are / become
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• सर्वम्: all, the whole
• सर्वम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• एभिः: by these
• एभिः: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• जगत्: world
• जगत्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• ततम्: spread, pervaded
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular, Past Passive Participle, तन्

• प्रजापतयः: Prajapatis, lords of creatures
• प्रजापतयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजापति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• एते: these
• एते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• हि: indeed, for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• प्रजाभागैः: by shares/portions of progeny (i.e., by procreative qualities/parts)
• प्रजाभागैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजाभाग
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• इह: here, in this world
• इह: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह

• प्रजाः: creatures, progeny
• प्रजाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• Kavi
• Prajāpatis

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse links cosmic order to progenitor figures: the world is sustained and ‘pervaded’ through specific creative lineages (Prajāpatis). It also highlights a conceptual overlap—those who generate and govern progeny are called Prajāpatis, yet because they embody the very ‘shares’ or constituents of prajā, they can also be termed prajā, stressing interdependence between ruler/creator and the created.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is explaining a genealogical-cosmological point: he identifies eight sons of Kavi and states that they function as Prajāpatis whose agency spreads throughout the world, accounting for the propagation and organization of living beings (prajā) within the cosmic scheme.