Shloka 19
Śrāddha-Kalpa: Pitṛ-Pūjā and Tithi-Phala (श्राद्धकल्पः पितृपूजा च तिथिफलम्)
गृह्नन्ति विहितं चेत्थं पिण्डो देय: कुशेष्विति । उसे ऊपर उठी देख मुझे बड़ा आश्वर्य हुआ। भरतश्रेष्ठ! साक्षात् मेरे पिता ही पिण्डका दान लेनेके लिये उपस्थित थे। प्रभो! किंतु जब मैंने शास्त्रीय विधिपर विचार किया
bhīṣma uvāca | gṛhṇanti vihitaṃ cetthaṃ piṇḍo deyaḥ kuśeṣv iti | tato 'haṃ tad-anādṛtya pitur hasta-nidarśanam |
毗湿摩说道：“（我如此思量：）‘若仪式须依所敕而行，则毗ṇḍa当置于库沙草（kuśa）之上。’因此，我甚至没有顺从父亲在我眼前伸出的那只手。唯以经法为最终权威，谨记供献之微细法则，我将一切毗ṇḍa都只安放在库沙草上。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even extraordinary personal experience (such as a father appearing to receive an offering) should not override śāstric injunction. Dharma here is defined by fidelity to the prescribed ritual method—offering the piṇḍa on kuśa-grass—rather than by emotional impulse or miraculous signs.
Bhishma recounts performing ancestral offerings. Though he perceives his father’s hand as if to take the piṇḍa directly, he restrains himself and follows the Vedic rule: the piṇḍa is to be placed on kuśa-grass, since Pitṛs are not to be fed by hand in this rite.