Shloka 45

Pitṛ-śrāddha-haviḥ-phala-nirdeśa

Offerings for Ancestors and Their Stated Results

Devanagari script

उत्पादने तथोपायमभिजम्मुश्न मानवा: । आपो रसालले यास्तु संस्पृष्टाश्चित्रभानुना

Transliteration

utpādane tathopāyam abhijajñuḥ manuṣyāḥ | āpo rasātale yās tu saṃspṛṣṭāś citrabhānunā, bhārgava! |

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“噢，婆尔伽婆啊，为使火显现，人类发现了方法——以娑弥木相摩擦而生火。又在罗娑多罗（Rasātala，地下界）中，那些曾与火神赤焰者（Citrabhānu）相触之水，被其光辉所炙而温热；当它们释出那热力，便化作山间涌出的温泉。”

Word by Word

• {'utpādane': 'in producing, in bringing forth (especially fire here)', 'upāya': 'means, method, practical device', 'abhijajñuḥ': 'they came to know, they discovered', 'manuṣyāḥ': 'human beings', 'āpaḥ': 'waters', 'rasātale': 'in Rasātala, the nether region', 'yāḥ tu': 'those which indeed', 'saṃspṛṣṭāḥ': 'touched, contacted', 'citrabhānunā': 'by Citrabhānu (a name of Agni, the Fire-god)', 'bhārgava': 'O Bhārgava (descendant of Bhṛgu

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bhārgava (a Bhṛgu-descendant sage, addressee)
• Agni
• Citrabhānu
• Rasātala
• śamī (wood used for fire-churning)
• mountain springs (heated waters)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage links human ingenuity and ritual knowledge (discovering fire by friction) with a dharmic-cosmic view of nature: phenomena like hot springs are explained as effects of Agni’s presence and power, reinforcing reverence for elemental forces central to Vedic life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses a Bhārgava sage and explains (1) how people learned the practical method of manifesting fire through churning wood (śamī), and (2) why certain waters become hot—because they touched Agni in Rasātala and later release that heat as warm springs.