Sacred Texts
Mahānirvāṇa Tantra cover

॥ श्री ॥tantraFor reading

Mahānirvāṇa Tantra 8.99

Traditional

Ullāsas
14
Published
8
Verses
1201
Minutes
600
Level
advanced

Ullāsa 8 · Verse 99

पितृशुश्रूषादिकर्मणां मुख्यत्वम्Service of parents comes first

Verse 99

त्यक्त्वा स्वाध्यायनं पित्रोः शुश्रूषान्दाररक्षणम् । नरकाय भवेत्तीर्थं तीर्थाय व्रजतां नृणाम् ॥ ९९ ॥

tyaktvā svādhyāyanaṁ pitrōḥ śuśrūṣāndārarakṣaṇam | narakāya bhavēttīrthaṁ tīrthāya vrajatāṁ nṛṇām || 99 ||

Translation

For men who go on pilgrimage leaving aside sacred study, service of their parents and the protection of their wife, the pilgrimage leads to hell.

Word by word

tyaktvā
leaving aside
svādhyāyanaṁ
sacred study
pitrōḥ
of their parents
śuśrūṣān
(śuśrūṣām) service
dāra
of their wife
rakṣaṇam
the protection
narakāya
to hell
bhavēt
(bhavet) leads
tīrthaṁ
the pilgrimage
tīrthāya
on pilgrimage
vrajatāṁ
who go
nṛṇām
for men

Meaning

Pilgrimage is no virtue if it means neglecting one's duties at home. The same logic as the rules on renunciation (verses 17 to 19): spiritual practice that abandons dependants turns into its opposite.

Commentary

Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated

See the commentary on verse 96.