श्रीशुक उवाच
स्वानां विभीषणश्चक्रे कोसलेन्द्रानुमोदितः ।
पितृमेधविधानेन यदुक्तं साम्परायिकम् ॥२९॥

Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
svÄnÄá¹ vibhÄ«á¹£aṇaÅ› cakre
kosalendrÄnumoditaḥ
pitá¹›-medha-vidhÄnena
yad uktaá¹ sÄmparÄyikam

 Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; svÄnÄm - of his own family members; vibhÄ«á¹£aṇaḥ - VibhÄ«á¹£aṇa, the brother of RÄvaṇa and devotee of Lord RÄmacandra; cakre - executed; kosala-indra-anumoditaḥ - approved by the King of Kosala, Lord RÄmacandra; pitá¹›-medha-vidhÄnena - by the funeral ceremony performed by the son after the death of his father or some family member; yat uktam - which have been prescribed; sÄmparÄyikam - duties to be performed after a person's death to save him from the path to hell.


Text

ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: VibhÄ«á¹£aṇa, the pious brother of RÄvaṇa and devotee of Lord RÄmacandra, received approval from Lord RÄmacandra, the King of Kosala. Then he performed the prescribed funeral ceremonies for his family members to save them from the path to hell.

Purport

After giving up the body, one is transferred to another body, but sometimes, if one is too sinful, he is checked from transmigrating to another body, and thus he becomes a ghost. To save a diseased person from ghostly life, the funeral ceremony, or Å›rÄddha ceremony, as prescribed in authorized Å›Ästra, must be performed. RÄvaṇa was killed by Lord RÄmacandra and was destined for hellish life, but by Lord RÄmacandra’s advice, VibhÄ«á¹£aṇa, RÄvaṇa’s brother, performed all the duties prescribed in relation to the dead. Thus Lord RÄmacandra was kind to RÄvaṇa even after RÄvaṇa’s death.