Shloka 39

अध्याय २९७ — श्रेयः, धृति, दान-नियमाः

Welfare, Steadfastness, and Norms of Giving

Devanagari script

इष्टि: पुष्टियजनं याजनं च दानं॑ पुण्यानां कर्मणां च प्रयोग: । शकक्‍्त्या पित्र्यं यच्च किंचित्‌ प्रशस्तं सर्वाण्यात्मार्थे मानवो5यं करोति

Transliteration

iṣṭiḥ puṣṭiyajanaṃ yajanaṃ ca dānaṃ puṇyānāṃ karmaṇāṃ ca prayogaḥ | śaktyā pitryaṃ yac ca kiṃcit praśastaṃ sarvāṇy ātmārthe mānavo 'yaṃ karoti ||

Translation

帕罗沙罗说道：“iṣṭi与puṣṭi之仪（息灾与增益之祭）、举行祭祀（yajña）与为他人主持祭祀、施舍财物，以及其他诸般功德之行——确实，凡人依其能力所行的一切可称善的义务，包括祭祖之礼（śrāddha）——归根结底，都是为自身而作（为自身的灵性福祉与未来善果）。”

Word by Word

• {'iṣṭiḥ': 'a sacrificial rite

• an offering/oblation performed with a specific intention', 'puṣṭi-yajanam': 'welfare/propitiatory sacrifice aimed at nourishment, prosperity, or well-being', 'yajanam': 'performing a sacrifice (as the sacrificer)', 'yājanam': 'causing/assisting another to perform sacrifice

• officiating as a priest', 'dānam': 'gift, charity, giving', 'puṇyānām karmaṇām': 'of meritorious actions/deeds that produce religious merit', 'prayogaḥ': 'application, undertaking, performance (of rites/actions)', 'śaktyā': 'according to one’s ability/capacity', 'pitryam': 'ancestral rite

• śrāddha and related duties toward the Pitṛs', 'kiṃcit praśastam': 'anything whatsoever that is praised/commendable', 'sarvāṇi': 'all (these acts)', 'ātmārthe': 'for one’s own purpose

• for one’s own benefit (spiritual good)', 'mānavaḥ ayam': 'this human being/person', 'karoti': 'does, performs'}

Speaker

पराशर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Pitṛs (ancestors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even acts praised as altruistic or religious—sacrifice, priestly service, charity, and ancestral rites—are, at their deepest level, undertaken for one’s own spiritual welfare: to secure merit, purification, and favorable results. The verse highlights the subtle self-regarding dimension of ritual and moral action.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, the sage Parāśara is instructing about dharma and the motivations behind righteous conduct. He lists standard Vedic and social duties (yajña, dāna, śrāddha) and concludes that a human performs them, within his means, ultimately for his own sake.