Mahabharata — Volume IX (Dutt edition) — Chapter 88

MBh 9 88.1

युधिष्ठिर उवाच किंस्विद् दत्तं पितृभ्यो वै भवत्यक्षयमीश्वर। किं हविश्चिररात्राय किमानन्त्याय कल्पते॥

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca kiṃsvid dattaṃ pitṛbhyo vai bhavatyakṣayamīśvara| kiṃ haviścirarātrāya kimānantyāya kalpate||

Yudhishthira said O you of great power, tell me what that object is which if dedicated to the departed Manes, becomes inexhaustible! What Havi, again, (if offered) lasts for all time? What, indeed, is that which becomes eternal?

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.2

भीष्म उवाच हवींषि श्राद्धकल्पे तु यानि श्राद्धविदो विदुः। तानि मे शृणु काम्यानि फलं चैव युधिष्ठिर॥

bhīṣma uvāca havīṃṣi śrāddhakalpe tu yāni śrāddhavido viduḥ| tāni me śṛṇu kāmyāni phalaṃ caiva yudhiṣṭhira||

Bhishma said Hear me, O Yudhishthira, what those Havis are which persons conversant with the ritual of the Shraddha consider as suitable for the Shraddha and what the fruits are of each.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.3

तिलैब्रीहियवैरिद्धिर्मूलफलैस्तथा। दत्तेन मासं प्रायन्ते श्राद्धेन पितरो नृप॥

tilaibrīhiyavairiddhirmūlaphalaistathā| dattena māsaṃ prāyante śrāddhena pitaro nṛpa||

With sesame seeds, rice, barley, Masha water, root and fruits, if given at Shraddhas, the departed Manes, O king, remain pleased for a month.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.4

वर्धमानतिलं श्राद्धमक्षयं मनुरब्रवीत्। सर्वेष्वेव तु भोज्येषु तिलाः प्राधान्यतः स्मृताः॥

vardhamānatilaṃ śrāddhamakṣayaṃ manurabravīt| sarveṣveva tu bhojyeṣu tilāḥ prādhānyataḥ smṛtāḥ||

Manu has said that if a Shraddha is performed with profuse sesame, such Shraddha becomes inexhaustible. Of all sorts of food, sesame seeds are considered as the best.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.5

द्वौ मासौ तु भवेत्तृप्तिर्मत्स्यैः पितृगणस्य ह। त्रीन्मासानाविकेनाहुश्चतुर्मासं शशेन ह॥

dvau māsau tu bhavettṛptirmatsyaiḥ pitṛgaṇasya ha| trīnmāsānāvikenāhuścaturmāsaṃ śaśena ha||

With fishes offered at Shraddhas, the departed Manes remain pleased for two months. With mutton they remain pleased for three months and with the flesh of the hare for four.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.6

आजेन मासान्ग्रीयन्ते पञ्चैव पितरो नृप। वाराहेण तु षण्मासान् सप्त वै शाकुलेन तु॥

ājena māsāngrīyante pañcaiva pitaro nṛpa| vārāheṇa tu ṣaṇmāsān sapta vai śākulena tu||

With the flesh of the goat, o king, they remain pleased for five months, with becon for six months, and with the flesh of birds for seven.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.7

मासानष्टौ पार्षतेन रौरवेण नव प्रभो। गवयस्य तु मांसेन तृप्तिः पितॄणां माहिषेण तु॥

māsānaṣṭau pārṣatena rauraveṇa nava prabho| gavayasya tu māṃsena tṛptiḥ pitṝṇāṃ māhiṣeṇa tu||

With venison got from those deer that are called Prishata, they remain pleased for eight months, and with that obtained from the Ruru for nine months, and with the meat of the Gavaya for ten months.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.8

गव्येन दत्तं श्राद्धे तु संवत्सरमिहोच्यते। यथा गव्यं तथा युक्तं पायसं सर्पिषा सह॥ वाध्रीणसस्य मांसेन तृप्ति दशवार्षिकी॥

gavyena dattaṃ śrāddhe tu saṃvatsaramihocyate| yathā gavyaṃ tathā yuktaṃ pāyasaṃ sarpiṣā saha|| vādhrīṇasasya māṃsena tṛpti daśavārṣikī||

With the meat of the buffalo they remain pleased for eleven months. With beef presented at the Shraddha, they remain pleased for a full year. Payas mixed with clarified butter is as much as acceptable to the departed Manes as beef. With the meat of the Vadhrinasa the Pitris remained pleased for twelve years.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.9

आनन्याय भवेद्दत्तं खङ्गमांसं पितृक्षये। कालशाकं च लौहं चाप्यानन्त्यं छाग उच्यते।

ānanyāya bhaveddattaṃ khaṅgamāṃsaṃ pitṛkṣaye| kālaśākaṃ ca lauhaṃ cāpyānantyaṃ chāga ucyate|

The flesh of the Rhinoceros, offered to the departed Manes on the anniversaries of the lunar days on which they died, becomes endless. The potherb called Kalashaka, the petals of the Kanchana flower, and meat of the goat also, thus offered, prove inexhaustible.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.10

गाथाश्चाप्यत्र गायन्ति पितृगीता युधिष्ठिर। सनत्कुमारो भगवान् पुरा मय्यभ्यभाषत॥

gāthāścāpyatra gāyanti pitṛgītā yudhiṣṭhira| sanatkumāro bhagavān purā mayyabhyabhāṣata||

Regarding it, O Yudhishthira, there are some Verses, originally sung by the departed Manes, that are now sung (in the world). Sanatkumara communicated them to me former days.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.11

अपि नः स्वकुले जायाद् यो नो दद्यात्त्रयोदशीम्। मधासु सर्पिःसंयुक्तं पायसं दक्षिणायने॥

api naḥ svakule jāyād yo no dadyāttrayodaśīm| madhāsu sarpiḥsaṃyuktaṃ pāyasaṃ dakṣiṇāyane||

He who has taken birth in our race, should give us Payasa mixed with clarified butter on the thirteenth day (of the dark fortnight), under the constellation Magha, during the Sun's southward course.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.12

आजेन वापि लौहेन मघास्वेव यतव्रतः। हस्तिच्छायासु विधिवत् कर्णव्यजनवीजितम्॥

ājena vāpi lauhena maghāsveva yatavrataḥ| hasticchāyāsu vidhivat karṇavyajanavījitam||

One born in our race, should under the constellation Magha, as if in the observance of a vow, offer the meat of goat or the petals of the Kanchana flower. One should also offer us, with due rites, Payasa mixed with clarified butter, dedicating it on a spot covered by the shadow of an elephant.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.13

एष्टव्या बहवः पुत्रा योकोऽपि गयां व्रजेत्। यनासौ प्रथितो लोकेष्वक्षय्यकरणो वटः॥

eṣṭavyā bahavaḥ putrā yoko'pi gayāṃ vrajet| yanāsau prathito lokeṣvakṣayyakaraṇo vaṭaḥ||

Many sons should be coveted so that even one may go to Gaya, where stands the banian that is celebrated over all the worlds and that makes all offerings made under its branches endless.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)

MBh 9 88.14

आपो मूलं फलं मांसम्मनं वापि पितृक्षये। यत् किंचिन्मधुसम्मिश्रं तदानन्त्याय कल्पते।॥

āpo mūlaṃ phalaṃ māṃsammanaṃ vāpi pitṛkṣaye| yat kiṃcinmadhusammiśraṃ tadānantyāya kalpate|||

Even a little of water, roots, fruits, meat, and rice, mixed with honey, if offered on the anniversary of the day of death, becomes endless.

— tr. M.N. Dutt (1891–96) (public domain)