Shamyu said:
1. The first topic discussed is about the vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes liked by Pitris and therefore should be served to Brāhmaṇas while dining at a Shraddha (vide vv. 3-9).
Apastamba Dh.S. (600 B.C.) prescribes flesh-eating as obligatory at Shraddha and enumerates the animals the flesh of which gratifies Pitris for a specific period e.g. the flesh of a gavaya (a cow-like animal) offered in Shraddha gratifies the Pitris for a year (samvatsaraṁ gavayena truptih). For other animals and the period of gratification etc., sec Apastamba Dh.S. II. 7.16-25; II.17.3. For refusal to accept non-vegetarian food at a Shraddha one has to go to hell (Vishnudharmottara I. 140-49-50, also Manu V.35; KP. II.17.40).
Manu III.267-272, Yajñavalkya I. 158-260, Mbh. Anushasana Ch, 88, Kātyāyana’s Shraddha-Sutra (Kandikā 7-8), KP. II.40-42, Mt. P. 17,31-35, Bd.P. 2.3.19, VP. III.16.1-3 and such other Purānas specify the flesh of certain animals served at Shräddha and the period of gratification of Pitris thereby. Hemadri opines that greater the period, greater is the gratification (iha sarvatra priyatishayo vivakshitah-Shraddha p. 590).
In Southern India, though neither Mitaksharā nor Kalpalaru have prohibited flesh-diet at Shraddha, strict vegetarianism is observed.
Bruhaspati said:
2. Listen to those sacrificial offerings which are to be made at the time of Shräddha as the knowers of Shraddha have under stood. Listen also to the benefit of these in accordance with their strength.
3. Grandfathers are pleased for a month by a Shraddha in which gingelly seeds, grains of rice, barley, black gram, water, fruits and roots are offered.
4. They are pleased for two months if fishes are offered; for three months if venison is offered; for four months if the meat of hare is offered; and for five months if the meat of birds is offered.
5. They are delighted for six months with the flesh of boars, for seven months with goats’ flesh and for eight months with the flesh of a spotted doe.
6. The manes are delighted for nine months with the meat of the Ruru deer. They will have contentment lasting for ten months with the meat of Gavaya (a kind of ox).
7. They are propitiated for eleven months with the meat of a tortoise. Know that Shraddha with products of) cow’s milk lasts for a year.
8. So also in the case of milk-pudding along with milk products, honey and ghee. The satisfaction with the meat of a Vadhriņasa (a rhino-like animal?) lasts for twelve years.
9. With the meat of Khadga (rhinoceros) during the rites of Pitris, the pleasure is everlasting. So also with the meat of a black goat and an alligator provides endless pleasure.
10. In this connection, those who know the ancient lores mention about the gathās (traditional verses) sung by Pitris. I shall narrate them to you. Listen and understand precisely.
11-12. (Pitris sing) “Will a son be born in our own family who will give us on the Trayodashi (thirteenth) day, cooked food, milk pudding, honey and ghee on the occasion of Gajacchāyā Parvan?1 Or give the same with the meat of a goat that is entirely red during the rainy season and under the constellation of Magha? It is better to wish for many sons. At least one of them will go to Gaya or marry a girl eight years old or dis charge a blue ox (free to wander).”
1. The conjunction that occurs when the Moon is in the Maghã constellation, the Sun is in Hasta and the Tithi is the 13th in the rainy season, it is called Gajacchaya or Kuñjaracchāya.
1. This is called ‘the rite of letting free a bull’ (Vrushotsarga-vidhi). For the details vide Vişhnu Dh. S. 86.1-20. Vişnudharmottara I.147. 1-19 repeat the same procedure. Though the words ‘nilam vruşham’ are translated as ‘blue bull’ the bull is not blue in colour. Though the adjective ‘blue’ (Nila) is variously defined, Mt. P. 207.38 defines it as ‘a bull having white legs, face & tail and the rest of the body as red’ I could not trace the verse lohito yastu varnena etc. in Bd. P. though Kane quotes it as ascribed to it (HD, IV p. 540, fn 1215)
For the benefit accruing from Vrushotsarga see the following w. 16-20.
Shamyu asked:
13. O dear one, recount the benefit of the holy centres Gay, etc. to me who ask. Please mention the merit entirely that is derived by performing the rites of Pitris.
Bruhaspati said:
14. O son, a Shraddha performed in Gay, yields endless benefit. Japas, Homas and penances (performed there) are also beneficial endlessly. Hence on the anniversary day of the death of father, Shraddha performed there is remembered as everlasting.
15. A son begot after marrying a girl of eight years sanctifies twenty-one generations. Moreover, he sanctifies six generations in the family of his maternal uncle. This is remembered as the benefit of such a marriage).
16. I shall recount the benefit derived from (discharging) a bull. Even as I recount listen and understand. The discharger of the bull sanctifies ten previous generations and ten succeeding generations.
17. At the time of letting free the bull whatever is sprinkled with water as it emerges from water on to the ground, is said to yield endless benefit.
18. There is no doubt in this that all those things touched by water tossed about by its tail etc., give endless satisfaction to Pitris.
19. The ground dug up by the bull by means of its hoofs or horns, serves as canals of honey perpetually feeding Pitris.
20. The satisfaction derived by Pitris at the rite of letting free the bull is more than that when they hear that a tank, a thousand Nalvas square, has been dug (a Nalva=400 hands).
21. If anyone gives gingelly seeds mixed with honey and jaggery, it yields everlasting benefit.
Bruhaspati said:
22. One should not test Brāhmaṇas always in order to give them anything. But testing is heard about (i.e. prescribed in śhrutis) in regard to the rites of Devas (gods) and Pitris.1
1. Verses 22-31 state the qualifications of the Brahmins eligible for invitation to Shrāddha, though it has been already discussed in Ch. 17. Yogins are given the first preference as Yoga-dharma was regarded as the foremost among Dharmas.
23-27. One should invite these for the Shraddha rite: Those who have studied all the Vedas and who have performed all rites; the Brāhmaṇas who are the sanctifiers of the row; important Brahmaņas who know the Bhāshyas (Glosses on Aphorisms); those who regularly study Grammar; those who study Purāņas and Dharmaśhāstras; those who are conversant with the three-Nachiketas-Vidyas; the worshippers of five fires; the Trisuparnas, the knowers of the six ancillary subjects of the Vedas; a son of the Brāhma form of marriage; a master of Vedic Prosody (or chanter of the Vedas); a singer of the Jyeshtha Saman; one who has taken baths in sacred waters (at holy places); those who have taken part in important Yajñas and taken the concluding (u) ablutions; those who observe rites immediately; those who strictly adhere to their own duties; those who are not wrathful and those who are always calm and quiescent. And those who perpetually observe the ten meritorious deeds shall also be invited.
28. Whatever is offered to these, yields everlasting benefit. These are the sanctifiers of the row. Those Brāhmaṇas who observe Yogic rites and duties should be revered faithfully.
29. They are the foremost due to their adherence to the duties of their specific) stages of life. In regard to the offering of Havyas and Kavyas, they are the leaders. He who worships them worships the three deities Brahmä, Vişhnu and Maheśhvara.
30. One who worships these, worships all the worlds along with the Pitris. (Yogadharma) is the holiest of all holy things, the most auspicious of all auspicious things.
31. Yogadharma is mentioned as the first among all Dharmas.
I shall recount those who cannot be included in the row (i.e, cannot be invited) for a Shrāddha.1 Listen and understand as I recount them:
1. Verses 31-42 give a list of persons unfit for invitation to a Shraddha. Long lists of such unfit persons are given by Gautama Dh.S. XV. 16-19, Manu III. 150-166, Yājñavalkya I. 222-224, Mbh. Anušhāsana 90.6-11, Mt.P. 16.14-17, KP.II. 21.23-43.
32-36. A rogue, a drunkard, a patient of pulmonary consumption, a cattle breeder, an ugly person, a common servant of all in the village, a usurer, a professional musician, a merchant, an incendiary, an administerer of poison, a pimp, a seller of Soma juice, a person who undertakes sea voyage, one whose skin is defiled, a dealer in oil, a deceitful person, one who quarrels with his father, one who has a co-husband at home, a calumniated person, a thief, a person whose livelihood is arts and crafts, a tale-bearer, a person giving wrong information about holy days, one who is malicious to his friends, a group-beggar, an atheist, a discarder of the Vedas, a mad fellow, a eunuch, a knavish fellow, a destroyer of foetus, a defiler of the preceptor’s bed, a follower of the physician’s profession for livelihood, a messenger and an adulterer.
37. He who sells the Vedas, religious observances, holy rites and penances-all these are defilers of the row.
What is gifted to an atheist, ungrateful person or a censurer becomes lost.
38. What is given to a trader is not beneficial here or hereafter. The same is the case in regard to a person who misappropriates (deposits), who is knavish and who hates the Vedas.
39-42a. That which is given to a merchant or an artisan devoid of virtue becomes lost; a merchant despises (underrates) the commodities while purchasing and praises (the same) while selling. Hence a merchant, the abode of untruth, does not deserve (invitation to a Shräddha. What is given to a widow’s son (after remarriage) even if he be a Brāhmaṇa, is like what is oblated into ashes.
The following persons if invited to a Shrāddha destroy the merits of the donor: a one-eyed man (destroys) sixty (merits), a eumuch a hundred (merits), a sufferer from leprosy as long as he sees, a sufferer from sinful ailment a thousand (meritorious acts). A donor, by being childish, falls off from the benefit of Dana.
42b-43. Brahma has ordained that he who covers his head while taking food and one who eats food facing the south, he who takes food with shoes on and he who offers Dana scornfully gives the entire share unto the leaders of Asuras.
44. Dogs and demons should not see the performance of a Shraddha.1 Hence it should be screened out all round, and gingelly seeds should be strewn around.
1. Since the period of Dharma Sutras, people believed that food for Shraddha got polluted even by being looked by certain animals and certain categories of people. The list of such unworthies is given in vv. 44-46an echo of Gautama Dh.S. 15.25-28, Manu III. 239-242, and Purāņas like KP. II. 22.34-35, VP. III.16.12-14, Bd.P. 2.3.19, 43-44.
45. It is to ward off Räkşhasas that gingelly seeds are strewn and the screen is to prevent the dogs. Boars destroy the effect of a Shraddha by having a look at it and a cock by fluttering its wings (or by the fall of its feathers within).
46. A woman in her monthly course destroys the Shraddha by touching. If the performer of a Shraddha becomes angry, he destroys the benefit derived. If anyone gets his friends to offer Shraddha and Havis, they do not please Pitris or Devas. Nor does he attain heaven.
47. Grandfathers (manes) are delighted with what is given on the beautiful banks of the rivers and streams as well as of the lakes and in secluded places.
48. One shall not shed tears while performing a Shraddha, nor should he take active part in irrelevant conversation. One should not munch or crunch anything while performing a Shräddha. One should avoid mutual rivalry too.
49. While performing a Shraddha the sacred thread should be worn from right to left and the Darbhas should be held duly in the hands. One should perform a Shraddha till one’s death. Thus one delights Pitris.
50. At the outset, he should formally take permission of the preceptor or the invited Brāhmaṇas. He should then kindle a fire duly. The articles to be offered to Pitris should be placed on the ground over a winnowing basket or on a Kusha mat.
51. During the bright half (of the month), the Shraddha is to be performed in the forenoon by the skilful performer of a Shraddha. During the dark half, it should be performed in the afternoon. In any case the Rauhiņa period (the 4th Muhūrta of the day), should not be transgressed.
52. Thus the great and noble souls, the seers of time and place, the Pitris of great Yoga (yogic power) and great virility should be worshipped.
53. A person always devoted to Pitris attains the excellent Yoga. After eschewing both auspicious and inauspicious actions they attain salvation through meditation.
54. It is for the sake of (promotion of) sacrifices that after deluding the universe, it (Yoga) was eschewed and kept in the cavity (of the heart, i.e. kept secret) by the noble-souled Kaśhyapa.
55. O excellent one among the knowers of Yoga, that nectarine (or immortal) Yoga, the eternal great Dharma was promulgated by Sanatkumāra.
56. It is a great esoteric secret of the Devas. It is the greatest resort of the sages. It can always (be attained) by the devotees of Pitris through filial devotion, piety and endeavour.
57. There is no doubt in this that one who is devoted to Pitris shall, with endeavour, attain everything of that Yoga in essence.
58. To whom are the Shräddhas to be offered; which are the things that yield great benefits when given; what are the holy centres and sacred rivers wherein the Shraddha offered bears everlasting benefits; by what means does one attain heaven all these have been mentioned to you in brief.
Bruhaspati said:
59. The man who after hearing this explanation of the procedure of Shraddhas, becomes malicious, is an atheist enveloped in darkness. He will drown himself in the terrible hell.
60. He who has perfectly controlled his mind, finds all his great ailments terminated. He who is not mindful of the Asramas (stages in life) stated in the Vedas attains the Kumbhīka hell. He attains the status of a thief and gets his tongue cut.
61. Those who censure Yoga become lumps of clay in the ocean1 and decay as long as the earth exists. Hence, this is the Dharma (virtue) intended in the Shraddha that it should be per formed by a man with faith in it).
62. Scandalisation of Yogins should be scrupulously avoided. By scandalising (them), a person becomes a worm and rolls there itself.
63. There is no doubt in this that he who censures Yoga, the cause of salvation unto those who meditate, goes to terrible hell. He who listens to it (the censure), also falls into the hell,
64. By denigrating masters of Yoga, a man certainly falls into the hell surrounded by darkness and terrible to behold.
65. There is no doubt about it that he who pays heed to the vilification of masters of Yoga of fully controlled selves, be comes submerged in the Kumbhīpåka hell for a long time.
66. One should eschew hatred for Yogins mentally, verbally and physically, He will reap the benefit of the same here itself as well as after death. There is no doubt about it.
67. A person who has mastered (all lores) does not get (realize) the Ātman. He wanders within the three worlds due to his own actions. A person who has mastered Rugveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and all their ancillary subjects does not attain Brahman which is devoid of changes and aberrations (avikāram) and therefore, becomes distressed.
1. Verses 54-57, and vv. 61-71 show the blind faith of Purāņic writers in Yogins. Since the times of Vasişhtha Dh.S. XI. 17, Yatis (recluses) and Yogins had a special place of honour among the invitees to a Shrāddha. But Purāņa writers have prohibited denigration of Yogis even orally.
68. (Defective verse)1 He who has crossed the bounds of effects (of Prakruti) goes beyond Prakruti. Mastery of the three Vedas leads to the crossing (of the limits?) of three gunas The (highest) principle is beyond the twenty-four Yogas (?). He is the master of all, who has passed beyond worldly existence. (?)
1. The text is defective and requires slight modifications as per the same verse printed in the Bd. P. 2.3.19.64 which means: “One who has mastered all created things, the products of Prakruti (the nature known as Avidya), one who has mastered the good features in three Vedas, one who has mastered the three gunas (Sattva etc.) and one who has mastered the twenty-four principles, is the person who has crossed the Samsāra to the other shore and is the master of academic studies”.
69.2 (Defective verse) By means of his Yogic power, a knower of Yogas withdraws unto himself the dissolution of the Ātman, in the same manner as the entire creation of the principles by the Atman. He alone becomes the master of all.
2. The text is defective. The corresponding verse in the Bd. P.2.3.19.65 (with slightly different reading) means: “One who is devoted to Brahman duly and wholly, attains it. Similarly, he comprehends the state where everything is merged into the soul”.
The second line of the verse is different. It means, “A Brāhmaṇa who does not take to the Path of Yoga, cannot become the master of everything that comes under the perview of order, by knowledge.”
70. It is the knower of Yogas who knows the Vedas and attains the knowable. They call him the knower of the Vedas, and the master of Vedas.
71. After duly knowing the knowable and what should be known (one becomes the knower of Vedas). They call him the knower of the Vedas. All others are thinkers of the Vedas.
72. A person devoted to Pitris attains the (fruit of) Yajñas, Vedas, all cherished desires, different kinds of knowledge, longevity, progeny and riches.
73. He who invariably reads this Shrāddhakalpa during Shraddha, in the end, gets all these (benefits) and the benefits of charitable gifts at the holy centres.
74. He shall be the sanctifier of the row (of diners). He shall be given priority in being fed among the Brāhmaṇas. Or he shall be eligible to teach all the Brāhmaṇas and attain all cherished desires.
75. He who always listens to this after subduing anger, being without malice and becoming free from greed and delusion, attains endless heavenly pleasure.
76. He attains the entire benefit of visiting holy centres, and making charitable gifts etc. This is the most excellent means to liberation. This is the greatest means of attaining heaven, He shall have the greatest contentment in this world too. Hence he should assiduously perform this.
77. He who reads these injunctions about (performance of) Śhrāddha attentively and with purity of mind, in the assembly (of the learned) during Parvan days, becomes endowed with children. With great brilliance, he attains the same region as that of the heaven-dwellers.
78. Obeisance to that self-born deity by whom this Kalpa has been prescribed. I always bow down to the great masters of Yoga.
79. O dear one, these Pitris are the deities of Devas. Pitris are stationed in these seven abodes for ever. They are free from pain.
80. All these noble souls are the sons of Prajapati. The first group is that of Yogins. That is eternal and is ever conducive to the increase in the Yogic Power (of Yogins).
81. The second group is that of Devas and the third is that of their enemies. The other groups are of the members of (four) other castes (Varnas). Thus all have been recounted.
82-83. All Devas worship them. They are stationed in them (Pitris). The four Āshramas too successively worship them. The four castes also worship them in accordance with the injunctions. Similarly, the mixed castes and the Mlecchas (alien outcastes) also worship them.
84. Pitris revere him who devotedly worships Pitris. Pitris in the form of grandfather grant nourishment, progeny and heavenly pleasure to him who desires nourishment or who desires progeny.
85. To a son, the rite for Pitris is preferable to the rite for Devas. Pitris are to be propitiated even before Devas.
86. The subtle movement of the Yogic power of Pitris is in comprehensible to the physical eye which is distant (not empowered by) penance.
87. To all of them a silver vessel or one accompanied with silver is ordained. It is said to be sanctifying and excellent (for the rites) of Devas along with those of) Pitris.
88-89. The three Pindas which the kinsmen offer invoking the names and Gotra, which they place on the ground strewn with Kusa grass after wearing the sacred thread from right to left, delight the respective parents who are present everywhere. What constitutes the diet of the creature (i.e. the devotee who offers) is the diet of Pitts as well.
90. Just as in a cowpen the calf finds out its lost mother, so also the Mantra takes those articles where the Jantu (the man for whom the pinda is intended) stays.
91. The name, Gotra and Mantra take the food offered to him. Even if they had taken a hundred births, the satisfaction follows them. (They are satiated by the Shrāddha offering.)
92. Thus this convention is established by Brahmā, the supreme god. This first creation of Pitris is for the worlds that seek everlasting bliss.
93-95. Thus these Pitris are Devas and Devas are Pitris. O sinless ones, all these following) have been recounted by me Dauhitras, (i.e. daughter’s sons), Yajamänas, worlds, daughters, grandsons, sons, charitable gifts, along with the mode of purity, holy centres, fruit thereof, everlasting nature of the benefit, (the different types of) Brāhmaṇas and the rules governing Yāyāvaras (wandering ascetics). Everything has been mentioned in the manner that Brahma prescribed formerly.
Bruhaspati said:
96. This, Angiras explained in an assembly while the sages sat listening when he had been asked to clear the doubts regarding Pitris.
97. It was formerly in the course of an extensive Satra (sacrifice) lasting for a thousand years wherein the lord of the house was the deity, Lord Brahma.
98. It is heard that Brahmå presided over it for hundreds of years. The following verses were also formerly sung by the sages, the expounders of Brahman (Veda).
99. “When Brahmă, the great Atman, presided over the Satra, then Pitrus were born for the benefit of the worlds seeking everlasting bliss, through Brahma Parameşhthin.”
Sūta said:
100. Bruhaspati who had been asked by his intelligent son formerly, told thus. He recounted the family of Pitris. What he said has been mentioned (by me). Henceforth I shall recount (the race) of Varuna, Understand (it).