Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.1

sūta uvāca

atha te samparetānāḿ

svānām udakam icchatām

dātuḿ sakṛṣṇā gańgāyāḿ

puraskṛtya yayuḥ striyaḥ

SYNONYMS

sūtaḥ uvāca — Sūta said; atha — thus; te — the Pāṇḍavas; samparetānām — of the dead; svānām — of the relatives; udakam — water; icchatām — willing to have; dātum — to deliver; sa-kṛṣṇāḥ — along with Draupadī; gańgāyām — on the Ganges; puraskṛtya — putting in the front; yayuḥ — went; striyaḥ — the women.

TRANSLATION

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Thereafter the Pāṇḍavas, desiring to deliver water to the dead relatives who had desired it, went to the Ganges with Draupadī. The ladies walked in front.

PURPORT

To date it is the custom in Hindu society to go to the Ganges or any other sacred river to take bath when death occurs in the family. Each of the family members pours out a potful of the Ganges water for the departed soul and walks in a procession, with the ladies in the front. The Pāṇḍavas also followed the rules more than five thousand years ago. Lord Kṛṣṇa, being a cousin of the Pāṇḍavas, was also amongst the family members.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness