Text 29
śrī-śuka uvāca
svānāṁ vibhīṣaṇaś cakre
kosalendrānumoditaḥ
pitṛ-medha-vidhānena
yad uktaṁ sāmparāyikam
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; svānām — of his own family members; vibhīṣaṇaḥ — Vibhīṣaṇa, the brother of Rāvaṇa and devotee of Lord Rāmacandra; cakre — executed; kosala-indra-anumoditaḥ — approved by the King of Kosala, Lord Rāmacandra; pitṛ-medha-vidhānena — by the funeral ceremony performed by the son after the death of his father or some family member; yat uktam — which have been prescribed; sāmparāyikam — duties to be performed after a person’s death to save him from the path to hell.
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Vibhīṣaṇa, the pious brother of Rāvaṇa and devotee of Lord Rāmacandra, received approval from Lord Rāmacandra, the King of Kosala. Then he performed the prescribed funeral ceremonies for his family members to save them from the path to hell.
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 śrāddha ceremony, as prescribed in authorized śāstra, must be performed. Rāvaṇa was killed by Lord Rāmacandra and was destined for hellish life, but by Lord Rāmacandra’s advice, Vibhīṣaṇa, Rāvaṇa’s brother, performed all the duties prescribed in relation to the dead. Thus Lord Rāmacandra was kind to Rāvaṇa even after Rāvaṇa’s death.