Shloka 24
राजधर्मः—प्रजापालनं दानयज्ञश्च
Royal Duty—Protection of Subjects, Generosity, and Sacrificial Discipline
नित्यं स्वाहा स्वधा नित्यं चोभे मानुषदैवते । पुत्रेष्वाशासते नित्यं पितरो दैवतानि च
nityaṁ svāhā svadhā nityaṁ cobhe mānuṣadaivate | putreṣv āśāsate nityaṁ pitaro daivatāni ca ||
毗湿摩说道：“‘娑婆诃（svāhā）’与‘娑陀诃（svadhā）’之诵辞当恒常守持——此二者分别对应神界与人间祖灵之域。因此，诸天与祖先常以期望望向后裔：愿其恒常奉行祭祀以供奉诸天，并以施行施罗陀（śrāddha）供养祖灵（pitṛ）。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should regularly sustain both streams of obligation: offerings to the gods (svāhā, deva-yajña) and offerings to the ancestors (svadhā, śrāddha). These rites are presented as ongoing duties through which descendants repay and uphold the divine and ancestral orders.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira about household and social duties. Here he emphasizes that devas and pitṛs depend upon descendants’ regular ritual acts—yajña and śrāddha—and thus ‘expect’ these duties to be maintained.