Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 44: Bhagīratha Delivers his Uncles
Text 1.44.15
पितामहानां सर्वेषां कुरुष्व सलिलक्रियाम्।
स्वस्ति तेऽस्तु गमिष्यामि स्वं लोकं गम्यतां नृप॥
pitāmahānāṁ sarveṣāṁ kuruṣva salila-kriyām
svasti te ’stu gamiṣyāmi svaṁ lokaṁ gamyatāṁ nṛpa
pitāmahānām = of your grandfathers; sarveṣām = for all; kuruṣva = perform; salila-kriyām = the final rites; svasti = auspiciousness; te = unto you; astu = may there be; gamiṣyāmi = I will depart; svam = my; lokam = to abode; gamyatām = you can also leave; nṛpa = O king.
Perform the final rites for all of your grandfathers. May there be auspiciousness unto you. I will depart to my abode. O king, you can also leave.
NOTE. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in Bhagavad-gītā 16.22 purport why the Vedic system promotes the kind of pious activities that Bhagīratha engaged in [such as delivering his forefathers from their ghostlike existence]: “In the Vedic literature, the ways of action and reaction are prescribed to enable one to come to the stage of purification. The whole method is based on giving up lust, greed and anger. By cultivating knowledge of this process, one can be elevated to the highest position of self-realization; this self-realization is perfected in devotional service.”
All such pious activities gradually, over lifetimes, add up to purification from lust, anger and greed. Lord Brahmā, the spiritual master of the entire universe, understands this very well, and was therefore very happy with Bhagīratha’s endeavors to deliver his forefathers.