Shloka 28
Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga
Pulastya’s Instruction
पूरयित्वा नरव्यात्र रुधिरेणेति विश्रुतम् । पितरस्तर्पिता: सर्वे तथैव प्रपितामहा:,पुरुषसिंह! उन कुण्डोंको उन्होंने रक्तसे भर दिया था, ऐसा सुना जाता है। उसी रक्तसे परशुरामजीने अपने पितरों और प्रपितामहोंका तर्पण किया
pūrayitvā naravyātra rudhireṇeti viśrutam | pitaras tarpitāḥ sarve tathaiva prapitāmahāḥ puruṣasiṃha |
Ghūlastya nói: “Nghe truyền rằng ngài đã đổ đầy những hố ấy bằng máu người. Chính bằng dòng máu đó, Paraśurāma đã làm lễ tarpaṇa—nghi thức rưới hiến—để làm thỏa lòng toàn thể tổ tiên mình, cả các bậc cha ông và những bậc cao tổ. Hỡi sư tử giữa loài người!”
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between ritual duty (tarpaṇa to ancestors) and the moral cost of violence: even acts framed as religious offerings can become ethically troubling when fueled by vengeance and bloodshed.
The speaker reports a famed tradition: Paraśurāma filled pits with the blood of slain men and then used that blood to perform ancestral libations, thereby ‘satisfying’ his forefathers and great-forefathers.