Chapter X. Ekoddista and Other Shrāddhas

Volume IV pp. 516–551

Chapter X. Ekoddista and Other Shrāddhas

EKODDISTA AND OTHER ŚRĀDDHAS Having dealt at great length with Pārvaṇaśrāddha which is the model of all śrāddhas it is now time to speak of Ekoddiśta śrāddha that is a modification of Pārvaṇaśrāddha ¹ The word Ekoddiśta means ‘that in which only one deceased person² is intended (to be invoked or benefited)’. The Pārvaṇa- śrāddha is intended for three paternal ancestors and is thus distinguished from Ekoddiśta. In Sān gr. IV. 2, Bauḍ gr. III. 12.6, the Śrāddhasūtra of Kātyāyana (kaṇḍikā 4), and Yaj. I. 251-252, the points of difference between the two are clearly set out.³ In this śrāddha only one arghya is offered, there is only one pavitra and only one pinda is offered, there is no āvāhana (as there is in Pārvaṇa), no agnau- kāraṇa, there are no brāhmaṇas invited to represent the Viśve-devas; the question about being satiated by the dinner is to be asked in the word ‘svaditam’ (did it taste well) and the brāhmaṇas reply with ‘susvaditam’ (it had excellent taste); instead of saying ‘may it be in- exhaustible,’ the formula here used is ‘May it approach’ (or wait upon the deceased person), when the brāhmaṇas are sent away at the end of the dinner the word used is ‘be satisfied (or delighted)’ and they reply ‘we are delighteḍ’ The Viṣṇu- purāṇa (III 13. 23-26) and Mārkaṇḍeya (28 8-11) closely follow the Śrāddhasūtra and Yaj. According to Sān gr. (IV. 2. 7),⁴ Manu III. 257, Mārkaṇḍeya (28. 11), Yāj. I. 256 and others, for one year after the death of a twice-born person till the sapindīkaraṇa śrāddha is performed this is the way in which śrāddha is to be performed for the preta every month. The Viṣṇudharmasūtra 21. 2 provides that suitable changes (ūha) should be made in the mantras employed (e. g. instead of ‘atra pitarmādayadhvam’ the mantra should be ‘atra pitarmādayasva’ (O father ⁵ regale thyself here). In Ekoddiṣṭa such a formula as ‘ye ca tvām-anu’ (those that come after thee) can-not be employed and the word ‘pitṛ’ is not to be employed (till sapindīkaraṇa is performed), but the word ‘preta’ (Aparārka p. 525 quoting Śaunaka-gṛhyapariśiṣṭa).⁶

As seen above (p 262, note 591a) Ekoddiṣṭa śrāddhas are of three kinds, nava, navamiśra and purāṇa. Navaśrāddhas are those that are performed till the 10th or-11th day after death, navamiśras (or miśras) are those that are performed after the 11th day till one year (or six months, according to some) after death. Aparārka quotes a verse from Vyāghra ⁷ that Ekoddiṣṭa-śrāddha is performed on the 11th day, on the 4th day, at the end of each month for a year after death and every year on the day of death and a verse of Kātyāyana that Ekoddiṣṭa) śrāddha should be performed for one who had kept sacred fires on the 11th day after the day of cremation and that the Dhruva śrāddhas should always be performed on the day of death. Aparārka explains ‘Dhruvāṇi’ as meaning those that are performed after three fortnights from death. About the navaśrāddha there is again a divergence of viewṣ One meaning has already been given above on p 262 note 593. The Skandapurāṇa VI (Nāgarakhaṇḍa) 205. 1-4 and Garuḍapurāṇa (pretakhaṇḍa 5. 67-69) state that navaśrāddhas are nine viz. the three performed where a man died, where the funeral pro-cession rested on the way and where the burnt bones were collected and six more performed on the 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th days after death. Numerous works lay down that there are sixteen śrāddhas which must be performed for a deceased person and that if these are not performed then his spirit is not freed from the condition of being a preta and a piśāca.⁸ There is a great deal of diver- gence of views about what these sixteen śrāddhas are, some works including sapiṇḍīkaraṇa among the 16, others excluding it therefroṃ Gobhilasmṛti III. 67 enumerates⁹ the 16 as follows: The twelve monthly śrāddhas (performed every month on the tithi of death), the first (i. e. the śrāddha on the 11th day), two śrāddhas on (a day prior to the expiry of) every six months from the tithi of death and sapiṇḍīkaraṇa are the sixteen śrāddhaṣ The Garuḍapurāṇa¹⁰ refers to three groups of which one enumerates the 16 śrāddhas as those performed on the 12th day (after death), after three fort- nights, after six months, after every month and at the end of the year, while the Padmapurāṇa¹¹ enumerates them as sixteen śrāddhas are those performed on the 4th day after death, at the end of three fortnights, after six months, after a year and twelve śrāddhas performed each month (on the tithi of death). The Kalpataru p. 25 and Brahma- purāṇa q. by Aparārka (p. 523) state that the 16 śrāddhas are those performed on 4th, 5th, 9th and 11th days after death and the twelve monthly śrāddhas (on the tithi of death¹²). Laugākṣi and others say that after performing the 16 śrāddhas according to the procedure for Ekoddista śrāddhas sapindana should be performeḍ¹³ The Madanapārijāta (p. 615), the Nirnaya- sindhu (III. p. 599) and others say that in this conflict of views one should follow the usage of one’s country, Vedic Śākhā or family. There were two views about the śrāddha on the 11th day. It should be remembered that Yāj. III. 22 laid down impurity on death for 10, 12, 15 and 30 days respectively for the four varnaṣ One view espoused by Śankha and Paithi- nasi was that in spite of the days of impurity not being over śrāddha must be performed on the 11th day (and for the moment the performer becomes pure for that purpose). The other view was that of the Matsyapurāṇa and Viśnudharmasūtra 21.1 that the first śrāddha (ekoddista) was to be performed on the expiry of āśauca.

In the case of ascetics dying it is provided by Uśanas¹⁴ that by the fact of their taking to the order of sannyāsa (of the ekadandi kind in the Kaliyuga) they have not to undergo the condition of being preta, no Ekoddista nor Sapindikarana should be performed for them by their son or other relative but only pārvaṇaśrāddha on the 11th day and every year thereafter. Śatātapa provides¹⁵ that no Ekoddista, no water, no pinda and no cremation rites should be observed, but pārvaṇa-śrāddha should be performeḍ Pracetas quoted by Mit. on Yāj. I. 256 states that no ekoddista is to be performed for an ascetic nor sapindi- karaṇa, but only pārvaṇa on the day of death every year in Bhādrapada dark half. The Śivapurāṇa (Kailāsa-saṃhitā) chapters 22 and 23 deal with the rites to be performed on an ascetic’s death on the 11th and 12th dayṣ

In the Navaśrāddhas no incense, no lamps are employeḍ All mantras having the words 'pitṛ' and 'svadhā namah' are omitted and so is the word ‘anu’ omitted and there is no japa and no recital of mantras in the hearing of the brāhmaṇas, As stated in the Brahmapurāṇa, the śrāddhas performed in the house at the end of impurity on the 12th day, at the end of a month etc. are called ekoddiṣṭa. It follows that the rites called navaśrāddhas offered during the days of impurity are per- formed at the place of death or in the cemetery or at a place where water and piṇḍa are offered (and not in the house), vide Sṃ C. (aśauca p. 176). In the navamīśra śrāddha mantras are employed according to some. In former times and now also all the 16 śrāddhas are performed on the 11th day. Hardly any one waits for one year to perform Sapiṇḍīkaraṇa. In former times it was laid down (e. g. by the Mit) that in times of difficulty, Sapiṇḍīkaraṇa should be performed even before a year elapses after performing the sixteen śrāddhaṣ But now this exception has become the rule.

Sapiṇḍīkaraṇa or Sapiṇḍana is the reception of a deceased person into the community of pitṛs to whom piṇḍas are offereḍ Several times were prescribed by ancient works for thiṣ Acc to the Kauśitaki gr. IV, 2 this śrāddha could be performed after the death of the deceased at the end of a year or at the end of three fortnights or on the happening of a lucky event (like the birth of a son or a marriage). The Bhāradvāja¹⁶ gr (III 17) allowed it at the end of a year (after death) or in the 11th or 6th or 4th month or on the 12th day. The Bauḍ Pitṛmedhasūtra II. 12.1 mentions five times for sapiṇḍīkaraṇa viz one year, 11th, 6th or 4th month or 12th day. The Garuḍapurāṇa (Pretakhaṇḍa 6 53-54) states the time of Sapiṇḍīkaraṇa to be one year, six months, three fortnights, the 12th day or on a lucky occasioṇ The Viṣṇupurāṇa (III. 13. 26ff) makes similar provisions about sapiṇḍīkaraṇa (which is an ekoddiṣṭa śrāddha). Aparārka (p. 540) after a long discussion holds that there are three times for a performer who is an āhitāgni viz 12th day, some day between the end of āśauca and the first amāvāsyā (after death) or the first amāvāsyā after āśauca ends and prescribes four times for one who has not kept sacred fires, viz a year, six months, three fortnights or when a lucky event occurṣ The Madanapārijāta quotes a verse of Vyāsa that the 12th day is commended (for the sapindana śrāddha) because family usages are innumerable, because man's life is short and because the body is evanescent. The Viṣṇu Dh S. (21.20) provides that for śūdras 12th day after death is the only day for Sapindi- karana (but without Vedic mantras). Gobhila laid down that after Sapindikarana was performed, there was to be no per- formance of śrāddhas every month, but Gautama (or Śaunaka, according to Aparārka p 543) held the view that they may be performed according to the procedure of ekoddiṣṭa śrāddhaṣ Bhattoji says ¹⁷ that when Sapindikarana is performed before the end of the year, then all the sixteen śrāddhas must be per- formed before Sapindikarana, yet the monthly śrāddhas should again be performed at their proper times for one year. Yāj. I. 255 and Viṣṇu Dh. S. 21. 23 prescribe that even if Sapindi- karana is performed for a deceased person within less than a year from death still for one year food and a jar of water should be given to a brāhmaṇa for the whole year (for the benefit of the deceased). Uśanas provides that even if the heirs of a deceased person are divided in wealth, still the navaśrāddhas, the sixteen śrāddhas, and sapindikarana must be performed by one alone ¹⁸ (e. g. the eldest son), but Pracetas provides that when a year has (elapsed) śrāddha may be performed separately by each heir ¹⁹.

The procedure of Sapindana or Sapindikarana is des- cribed in numerous works such as the Śāṇ gr. V. 9, Kausi- take gr. IV. 2, Baud Pitṛmedhasūtra III. 12.12, Śrāddha-sūtra of Kātyāyana (kaṇḍikā 5), Yāj. I. 253-254, Viṣṇupurāṇa III. 13.27 ff, Vișnu Dh. S. 21. 12-33, Padma (Sṛṣṭikhaṇḍa 10. 22-33), Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa 28. 12-18, Garuda-purāṇa I 220, Viṣṇu- dharmottara II. 77, Smṛtyarthasāra pp. 57-58, Nirṇayasindhu (III. p. 614). It is briefly set out here. ²⁰ As said by Bauḍ Pitrmedhasutra III, 12,12, in this śrāddha there is invitation to the brāhmaṇas the previous day, there is agnaukarana, there is the recital of Vedic texts when the brāhmaṇas are engaged in eating, Vaiśvadeva brāhmaṇas are honoured, the Viśvedevas are Kāma and Kāla (vide ṇ 1018), there is the presentation of incense and lamp, there is svadhā and also namaskāra. Four vessels for arghya should be got ready and filled with sandal-wood paste, water and sesamum grains, one being for the deceased (the preta) and three for his paternal ancestors, two daiva brāhmaṇas should be invited, one to represent the preta and three to represent the three paternal ancestors of the preta; if a man is unable to invite so many brāhmaṇas, he should invite three, one for Viśvedevas, one for the preta and one for the three paternal ancestorṣ He should request 'I shall unite the vessel for the preta with the vessels for his three paternal ancestors' When permitted in the words 'do unite', he should cast the kuśas in the vessel for the preta into the vessels for his three paternal ancestors, should keep a little water mixed with kuśas in the vessel for the preta and distribute the rest of the water from the preta vessel into the three vessels for his ancestors with the two mantras²¹ 'ye samānā' (Vāj. S. 19. 45-46) Arghya is offered to the brāhmaṇa representing the preta with the water that remains in the preta vessel, arghya is offered to the three pitrya brāhmaṇas from the three pitrya vesselṣ Four pindas should be prepared, one for the preta and three for his ancestors and then the performer requests 'I shall unite the pretapinda with the pindas for the three ancestors of his'; when permitted in the words 'do unite', the performer divides the pretapinda into three parts and puts each third into each of the three pindas with the same two mantras (Vāj. S 19. 45-46). The Garuḍapurāṇa (I, 220,6) strikes a discordant note in that it states that the pretapinda is to be divided in two parts, each of which is to be placed inside the pindas for pitāmaha and prapitāmaha only. Sapinḍīkaraṇa partakes of the character of both ekoddiṣṭa and pārvaṇa, the first applying to the preta and the 2nd to the three ancestors of the preta, so that in it two kinds of śrāddhas are combineḍ When the sapinḍīkaraṇa rite is completed by the giving of dakṣiṇā to the brāhmaṇas, then the preta ceases to be so and himself becomes a pitṛ. The status of being a preta involves the experiencing of great torments due to hunger and thirst and becoming a pitṛ means being brought in contact with the śrāddha devatās called Vasu, Rudra and Āditya.²² The word preta has two meanings, (1) a person who is dead and (2) one who being dead has not the sapinḍīkaraṇa performed for hiṃ The result of sapiṇḍana is that the ²³ great-grandfather of the deceased whose sapinḍana is performed drops out from the list of pitṛs entitled to pinda and becomes one called 'lepabhāk' (entitled to only wipings of the hand) and the former preta becomes one of the pitṛs and entitled to participate in the pindas offered at a pārvaṇaśrāddha thereafter. As stated in the Garuḍapurāṇa I 220. 2 the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa-śrāddha is to be performed like the pārvaṇa in the afternooṇ

It may be noted that in some works the mantras recited at the time of pouring the water from the preta vessel into the pitṛ vessels are different. For example, the Viṣṇu Dh. S. 21. 14 says²⁴ the mantras are 'Samsṛjatu tvā pṛthivi' (May the earth unite thee) and 'samānī vā ākutiḥ' (Rg. X. 191. 4), while the Grhya-pariśiṣṭa ²⁵ of Āśv. employs the three Madhumati verses (Rg. I. 90.6–8) and the three fine verses at the end of the Ṛgveda beginning with ‘sangacchadhvam’ (Ṛg. X. 191. 2-4, ‘May you unite’ &c.).

Yāj. (I. 254) and Mārkaṇḍeya (28. 17-18) provide that Ekoddiṣṭa and Sapinḍīkaraṇa śrāddhas are performed for women also (but, not pārvaṇa nor abhyudayika). About the Sapinḍīkaraṇa of the mother there are somewhat conflicting dicta. If a woman dies sonless and her husband is alive, her sapinḍana is effected with her mother-in-law (Gobhilasmṛti II, 102). If a woman dies leaving no son and the husband also is dead, then no sapindana can be performed for her. If she died either on the funeral pyre of her husband ²⁶ or afterwards (as a Satī) then her son should perform her sapindana with her husband (i. e. the son’s father) and there is no separate sapin- dāna for her. If she was married in the āsura form or she was made a putrikā, then the son should perform his mother’s sapin- dāna with his maternal grandfather; while a son born of a woman married in the Brāhma and three other proper forms may perform her sapindana with her husband or the paternal grandmother or the maternal grandfather. In the case of these three alternatives if there is a certain family usage that should be followed; otherwise there is an optioṇ If a woman has a step-son, the latter should perform her sapindana with his father, as Manu IX. 183 (= Vaṣ 17. 11) indicateṣ Vide the Mit on Yāj I. 253-254 and Sṃ C. (on āśauca p 169) for discus- sion of these points and for various alternatives ²⁷

The Nirnayasindhu (III, p. 388) says that there is no sapindana for one whose upanayana was not performed when IV] Sapindikarana he died, but if he was more than five years old then the 16 śrāddhas are performed for him (though not sapindana) and pinda is offered on bare grounḍ It may be noted that no auspicious rite like marriage in which ābhyudayika is necessary can be performed until the sapindana of a deceased person of the family has been effected (except in the case of such absolutely necessary ceremonies as simantonnayana).

Manu (V. 89-90) prescribes that no water and other rites like sapindikarana are offered and performed for those who had left off their faith, who were born of condemned mixed marriages, who entered ascetic orders, who had committed suicide (by hanging, poison &c.), who had embraced heretical doctrines, for women that wilfully seek illicit connection with men, that did harm to their foetus or husband (were guilty of abortion and murder of husband) and that were addicted to drinking surā. Yāj. III. 6 contains similar provisionṣ It has to be noted that every kind of suicide is not condemned by the ancient smṛtis Vide H. of Dh. vol. III, pp. 939, 958-9 for cases where suicide was not condemneḍ Except in those cases Yama (q by the Mit. on Yāj. III. 6) provides that in the case of the persons mentioned in Manu and Yāj. there is to be no āśauca observed, no water offered, no tears shed, no cremation and no last riteṣ The Mit. (on Yāj. III. 6) quotes Vṛddha Yājñavalkya and Chāgaleya that in the case of those who are guilty of condemned suicide the procedure of Nārāyaṇabali should be resorted to after a year and then śrāddha may be offered to theṃ Then the Mit. describes at length the procedure of Nārāyaṇabali. Vide note 838 b p. 370 above for the Skandapurāṇa, Nāgarakhanda 219, 19–21 on the view that śrāddha may be performed on the 14th of the dark half for persons who committed suicide or who met a violent death.

The Ābhyudayika-śrāddha is to be now describeḍ Āśv. gr. IV. 7 mentions in one place only four śrāddhas viz. Pārvaṇa, Kāmya, Ābhyudayika and Ekoddiṣṭa (note 966 above). Many of the sūtras such as Āśv. gr. II. 5. 13-15, Sāṅ. gr. IV. 4, Gobhila gr. IV. 3. 35-37, Kauśitaki gr. IV. 4, Bauḍ gr. III. 12. 2-5, the Śrāddhasūtra of Kātyāyana (kandikā 6) briefly describe this śrāddha. According to most of these sūtras this śrāddha is performed when there is a lucky event such as the birth of a son, or his caula, upanayana or marriage or there is the commencement of a charitable (pūrta) act (such as the dedication of a well or a tank or a park to the public). Āśv. gr. and Gobhila gr. are very brief. They say that in this śrāddha performed on auspicious occasions or on the undertaking of meritorious acts an even number of brāhmaṇas is to be fed, that the rite is to be performed from left to right and that yavas (barley) are to be used instead of sesamum grainṣ As this śrāddha is only a modification (vikṛti) of pārvana (as said by Aparārka p. 514) all rules of the latter will be applicable to the former except where special directions are giveṇ The Āśv. gr. pariśiṣṭa II. 19, Smṛtyarthasāra (p. 56), Pitṛdayitā pp. 62-71 give a compact but tolerably full description of this śrāddha.

In this śrāddha which is to be performed in the morning (except on the birth of a son when it is to be done at once) the Viśve-devas are called Satya and Vasu, it is performed in the forenoon, the brāhmaṇas to be invited must be even in number, the darbhas are to be straight (and not doublefolded) and are not to be with their roots; the performer wears his sacred thread in the usual form (and not in the prācīnāvīta form), all actions are to be done from left to right (pradakṣiṇam and not prasavyam); the word svadhā is not to be used; yava grains are to be employed instead of sesamum grains, he invites them with the words 'find time to attend Nāndīśrāddha'. The brāhmaṇas say 'be it so'. He says 'May you two come (to my house)'; they reply 'we two shall come'. The performer faces the east or north (but never the south); the mantra about yavas is 'yavoṣi' (vide note 966)²⁸ he requests 'I shall invoke the pitṛs called Nāndīmukha'.²⁹ When permitted by the brāhmaṇas in the words 'do invoke' he says 'may the Nāndīmukha pitṛs be pleased'; he offers arghya only once with the words 'O Nāndīmukha pitṛs! this is the arghya for you'. Sandalwood paste, incense, lamp are to be given twice; the homa is made on the hand of the brāhmaṇa, the two mantras being 'to Agni, the bearer of kavyal svāhā' and 'to Soma accompanied by the pitṛs! svāhā'. While the brāhmaṇas are eating the dinner, the Rākṣoghna mantras and mantras addressed to Indra and propitiatory mantras may be recited but not the mantras addressed to pitṛs (viz. Rg. X. 15. 1-13); when he sees that the brāhmaṇas are satiated, he recites the five verses (Rg. IX. 11. 1-5) beginning with ‘upāsmiai gāyatā narāḥ’ (O men! sing for this soma) instead of the Madhumati verses (viz. Rg. I. 90. 6-8) and at the end he makes the brāhmaṇas hear the mantra ‘the pitṛs have partaken (of the food), they have regaled themselves’. The performer should ask ‘I shall request the nāndīmukha pitṛs to utter benedictions’ at the stage where (in Pārvana) ‘akṣayyodaka’ is asked for, to which the brāhmaṇas respond with the words ‘do request.’ The performer employs the word ‘sampannam’ (was it perfect) in asking about the gratification of the brāhmaṇas, who reply with the word ‘susampannam’ (it was quite perfect). On the brāhmaṇas sipping water after their dinner, he cowdungs the places where the dinner was taken, strews darbha grass thereon with their tips turned towards the east and offers thereon two piṇḍas for (each of the ancestors) made with the food that remains after the brāhmaṇas have eaten mixed with curds, jujube fruit and prsadājya ³⁰ (mixture of curds and clarified butter). The piṇḍas are offered to the mātṛs, to the three paternal ancestors and the three maternal ancestors (viz. mother’s father, mother’s paternal grandfather and her maternal great-grandfather). Some do not offer piṇḍas in this śrāddha (as stated by Āśv. gr. parisista II. 19). The Pitṛdayitā and Śrāddha-tattva (Jiv. p. 297) say that no mātṛśrāddha is to be performed in Abhyudayikāśrāddha by the followers of the Sāmaveda. It is possible that the śrāddha for the mother, paternal grandmother and paternal great-grandmother was inspired by the Anvastakya śrāddha, as the sūtras from Āśv. gr. quoted below will indicate.³⁰

The words Nandiśrāddha and Vṛddhiśrāddha are synonymouṣ When Yaj I, 250 says³¹ that the Nāndimukha pitṛs should be worshipped with piṇḍas when there is vṛddhi (a lucky or auspicious event), he indicates that Nandiśrāddha and Vṛddhi- śrāddha mean the same thing. As noted by the Mit. on Yaj. I. 250 quoting Śātātapa this śrāddha is made of three parts, viz. mātṛ-śrāddha, pitṛśrāddha and mātāmahaśrāddha.³² On the other hand the Bhavisya-purāṇa I, 185. 15 states that there are two śrāddhas in this viz Mātṛ-śrāddha and Nandimukha-pitṛśrāddha. Abhyudayika-śrāddha and Vṛddhiśrāddha are treated as synonyms in some works such as the Padmapurāṇa,³³ though it may be said that Abhyudayika śrāddha is wider in import than Vṛddhiśrāddha, since it is also applicable to śrāddha performed on the commencement of a pūrta act.

The Viṣṇupurāṇa III. 13. 2–7, Mārkaṇḍeya 28. 4–7, Padma-purāṇa (sṛṣṭi 9. 194–199), Bhavisyapurāṇa I 185. 5–13, the Viṣṇudharmottara I. 142. 13–18 describe briefly the procedure of Nāndīśrāddha and also the occasions on which it is to be performeḍ The occasions specified are³⁴: on the marriages of sons and daughters, on entering a new house, on naming a child, at the time of Cūḍākarma, at Sīmantonnayana, on the birth of a son, a householder should honour the group of pitṛs called Nāndī-mukha. The Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa 28. 6 notes that some desire that this śrāddha should not have Vaiśvadeva brāhmaṇas, but the Padmapurāṇa (sṛṣṭikhaṇḍa 9.195) says that in this Vṛddhi-śrāddha the mothers are to be first honoured, then the fathers, then the mātāmahas and then the Viśve-devas Hemādri (śr. p. 107) quotes two verses from the Brahmapurāṇa to the effect that the father, paternal grandfather and paternal great-grand-father are called asrumukha pitrs, while the three paternal ancestors beyond the great-grandfather are called Nāndimukha pitrṣ³⁵ The Kalpataru (on śrāddha p 270) explains these verses as meaning no more than this that in case the three paternal ancestors of a man are living and there is a lucky event, then the devatās for Nāndīśrāddha in his case would be the three paternal ancestors beyond the great-grandfather. The Bhavisya-purāṇa notes that according to family usage some did not offer pindas in Vṛddhiśrāddha.³⁶

The word mātaraḥ' has two meaningṣ Gobhilasmṛti³⁷ prescribes that at the beginning of all rites the Mātrs together with Gaṇeśa have to be worshipped and it names fourteen mātṛs such as Gaurī, Padma, Śacī (I 11–12),³⁸ In the Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa (88,11–20 and 38) they are said to be seven viz Brahmāṇī and otherṣ Vide H. of Dh. vol. II pp. 217–218 for the Mātrs and their worship.³⁹ Aparārka (p. 517) quotes verses to the effect that in Vṛddhiśrāddha one must offer worship to the seven mātṛs (Brahmāṇī and others), then to one's mother, paternal grandmother, and paternal great-grandmother, then to the Nāndīmukha pitṛs and then to the mātāmahas together with their wives The Śrāddhaprakāśa (of Viramitrodaya) quotes Vṛddha-Vasiṣṭha to the effect that in the Mātṛśrāddha (as part of Vṛddhi-śrāddha) if a sufficient number of brāhmaṇas be not available then for the groups of mātṛs and of mātāmahīs four women (for each group) whose husbands are living and who have a son or sons should be invited to dinner ⁴⁰ and honoureḍ

The Pratsaṁatsarka or Pratyābdika śrāddha has already been described above at great length. It is to be performed every year on the day of death (Gobhilasmṛti III, 66). It is laid down that in the case of one's parents this śrāddha par-takes of the character of pūrvana.³⁹ The Bhavisya-purāṇa and Skanda state that the Sāṁvatsarika śrāddha is the most eminent among śrāddhas and that if a son does not perform the yearly śrāddha of his parents on the day of death he goes to the horrible Hell called Tāmisra and then is born as a pig in a towṇ⁴¹ In connection with this, if the tithi or month of death or both are not known then Bṛhaspati, the Skandapurāṇa, Padma and Bhavisyapurāna lay down certain rules, viz.⁴² (1) if the tithi is known but the month is not known, then the śrāddha should be performed on that tithi in the month of Mārgaśīrsa or Māgha; (2) if the month is known but the tithi is not known, then the śrāddha should be performed on the amāvāsyā of the month; (3) if both the tithi and the month are not known, then one should take the tithi and the month when the deceased started from home; (4) if even the day and month of starting be not known, then the tithi and month in which a person hears of the death of a relative should be takeṇ It is to be noted that the month in pitrya rites is lunar and the words 'dina, ahah, vāsara' in connection with pitrya rites mean 'tithi' (Aparārka p. 545). There is no pratyabdika śrāddha in an intercalary month (Skanda VII. 1. 206. 59).

A few words may now be said about some other śrāddhaṣ

A well-known śrāddha is the Mahālayāśrāddha. Some of the purāṇas deal with thiṣ The Padmapurāṇa (Srsti-khanda) says 'In the fifth fortnight (paksa) beginning from the Full Moon day of Āsādha, one should perform a śrāddha, whether the Sun is by that time in the zodiacal sign of Kanyā (Virgo) or not. The sixteen days when the Sun is in Kanyā are equal to the solemn sacrifices which are completed with the gift of the best of dakṣiṇāṣ If it is not possible to perform the śrāddha in the dark half (when the Sun is in Kanyā), one may perform it when the Sun is in Tulā (Balance). When the Sun enters the sign of Scorpion (without a śrāddha being performed), the Fathers go away losing all hope and after pronouncing a terrible curse (on their descendants) they return to their abode.⁴³ The fifth fortnight from the Full Moon day of Āṣādha is the dark half of Bhādrapada. The dark half is the preserve of pitṛṣ In Bhādrapada the Sun is in the middle of its apparent motion in dakṣiṇāyana. Therefore the dark half of Bhādrapada is specially chosen as the best period for śrāddha to the pitṛs i. e. for the Mahālaya The śrāddha performed in Bhādrapada dark half is called Mahālaya-śrāddha, since that fortnight is the abode (ālaya) as it were of the maha (i. e. festival day) for pitṛṣ The real idea is that the dark half of Bhādrapada is specially to be welcomed for a śrāddha when the Sun is in Kanyā during that fortnight and that even if the Sun is not in Kanyā the dark half of Bhādrapada is still a good time for a śrāddha to the pitṛṣ The Skandapurāṇa⁴⁴ also says 'In the fifth fortnight from the Full Moon of Āṣādha, when the Sun occupies the sign of Kanyā, the pitṛs of him who offers a śrāddha on the tithi of the death (of one's father) certainly derive gratification for one year thereafter.' The Kalpataru quotes the Bhaviṣyapurāṇa to the effect that if a man has not performed śrāddha in Mahālaya (i. e. in the dark fortnight of Bhādrapada when the Sun is in the sign of Kanyā) he should offer it on the 15th day (of the dark half of Āśvina) on which, it is well-known, lamps are lighteḍ⁴⁵ The Śrāddha-sāra (p. 113) and the Smṛtimukta-phala (on śrāddha p. 745) quote Vṛddha-manu to the effect that the latter half of Bhādrapada when the Sun is in Kanyā is called Mahālaya and also Gajacchāyā. Various views are held on the question of the exact day on which the Mahālayaśrāddha is to be performed, viz. it may be performed on any day from the first tithi of the dark half of Bhādrapada to the amāvāsyā or from the fifth of the dark half to the amāvāsyā of Bhādrapada or from the 8th or 10th of the dark half to amāvāsyā or from the 5th of the dark half of Bhādrapada to the 5th of the next fort-night or on any day on which the Sun is in Kanyā or on any day till the Sun enters Scorpioṇ⁴⁶ Prajāpati states that there are numerous śrāddhas described by the Purāṇas, all of them yield rewards but the Mahālaya (śrāddha) is the most eminent among theṃ⁴⁷

The Mahālayaśrāddha is to be performed, as stated by the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, in accordance with the procedure of Pārva-ṇaśrāddha.⁴⁸ The Smṛtyarthasāra states that if it is not possible to perform all śrāddhas (except sapiṇḍīkaraṇa) according to the detailed procedure of Pārvaṇaśrāddha they should be performed by the procedure called ‘Saṅkalpavidhi’, which consists in performing the details laid down for Pārvaṇa as far as possible except the details of āvāhana, arghya, homa and piṇḍadāna.⁴⁹ The Madanapārijāta (pp 609-610) also states that when a man has to perform a ‘saṅkalpa-śrāddha’ he need not go through the details of arghyadāna, vikira and there is no āvāhana, no agnaukaraṇa and no piṇḍadāna even, but he has simply to feed a brāhmaṇa or brāhmaṇas In the Mahālayāśrāddha the Viśvedevas are Dhuri and Locana. This śrāddha is performed for the benefit not only of the paternal and maternal ancestors with their wives, but also for other relatives and persons that are dead (together with their wives, sons and husbands if these be dead) viz one's step-mother, one's wife, son, daughter, paternal uncle, maternal uncle, brother, paternal aunt and maternal aunt, sister, paternal uncle's son, son-in-law, sister's son, father-in-law, mother-in-law, ācārya, upādhyāya, guru, friend, pupil and any other relative.⁵⁰ Some perform only for the paternal ancestors with their wives and the maternal ancestors with their wiveṣ The day on which the moon is in Bharani nakṣatra in the dark half of Bhādrapada is called Mahābharaṇī and śrāddha performed on that day is said to be equal to Gayāśrāddha (Matsyapurāṇa q. by Śr. K. L p 99) The Mahālaya-śrāddha is to be performed on the 12th tithi of Bhādrapada dark half in the case of a sannyāsin and on no other tithi and his yearly śrāddha is to be performed by his son according to pārvana method as in the case of householderṣ The dvādaśī is sacred to Viṣṇu and yatis always repeat the words ‘namo Nārāyaṇāya ’ and therefore the 12th is the special tithi for the mahālaya-śrāddha of yatiṣ The Mahālayāśrāddha is not to be performed in an intercalary month (malamāsa).

Two more śrāddhas that are performed even to this day may be mentioned here. One is called ‘Mātāmahāśrāddha’ or ‘Dauhitra-pratipad-śrāddha’. A daughter's son whose parents are alive can alone perform a śrāddha for his maternal grand-father (together with the maternal grand-mother if she also be dead) on the first tithi of the bright half of Āśvina ⁵¹. A daughter's son can perform it even if his maternal grand-father has a son or sons living It may be performed with or without piṇḍadāna (generally without it) and it may be performed even if the daughter's son has not been invested with the sacred threaḍ The Śrāddhasāra notes that the mātāmaha-śrāddha is based only on the usage of śiṣṭas (p. 24).

Another is the ‘Avidhavānavamīśrāddha’, which is performed for one's mother or other women of the family who died while the husbands were alive. It is performed on the 9th of the dark half of Bhādrapada. It ceases to be performed when the husband dies after the woman's death. The Nirnayasindhu notices several views about this and says that one should follow the usage of one's country ⁵². According to the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa in this śrāddha not only a brāhmaṇa but also a woman whose husband is alive is to be fed and presents of a girdle, a garland and bangles are to be made to her.

It will have been seen from the translation of Āśv. gr., Yaj and the Padmapurāṇa that dakṣiṇā, according to one's ability, has to be given in each śrāddha towards the end of the rite. The Skandapurāṇa (VI. 218. 12-14) provides that whatever is wanting in mantras or the proper time or in procedure becomes perfect by dakṣiṇā. Śrāddha without dakṣiṇā is like rain on an arid place or like dancing in the dark or like singing before a deaf person, that he who desires the permanent gratification of himself and his Manes should not offer a śrāddha without dakṣiṇā. The Rāmāyaṇa shows how on the 12th day after the death of king Daśaratha gifts of jewels, of hundreds of cows, wealth, food in abundance and vehicles, of male and female slaves, of spacious houses were made to the brāhmaṇaṣ ⁵³ The Āśramavāsikaparva (14 3-4) recounts the valuable gifts to brāhmaṇas in honour of Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Duryodhana and other fallen warriors, adding that persons of all varṇas were treated to profuse food and drink. The Vāyupurāṇa (chapter 80) propounds in great detail the rewards of various kinds of gifts made in śrāddhaṣ From considerations of space those descriptions are passed over here and only a brief eulogy of the gift of cooked food is given in the note below. ⁵⁴ The Śāntiparva (chap 42. 7) states that while Yudhisthira performed the after-death ceremonies of the fallen heroes he erected sabhās, prapās, water reservoirs and the like intending them for each separately. Devala stateṣ ‘when the brāhmaṇas have sipped water after dinner, dakṣiṇā is to be given’ and Bṛhaspati prescribes ‘Dakṣiṇā should be given to all the brāhmaṇas according to the learning of them by means of (gifts of) cows, land, gold, clotheṣ He should do this in such a way that they feel satisfied, one who is well-off should do this specially.’⁵⁵ The Āśvamedhika-parva (62. 2-5) states that Vāsudeva offered śrāddha to his sister’s son Abhimanyu and donated to sixty thousand brāhmaṇas, gold, cows, bed-steads, clothes and fed theṃ A special rule was provided by Bṛhaspati that the clothes, ornaments, bed-stead and the like, the horse and the like that were used by the father during his lifetime should be presented to the brāhmaṇa invited for śrāddha after honouring him with sandalwood paste and flowerṣ⁵⁶ The Anuśāsana-parva (chap. 96) states the origin of the practice of giving an umbrella and sandals on the completion of a śrāddha.

Something must be said about the gift of the bed-stead (śayyā) used by the deceased on the 11th or 12th day after death. The Garuḍapurāṇa (Pretakhaṇḍa 34. 69-89 ), Padma (sṛṣṭikhaṇḍa 10. 12 ), the Matsyapurāṇa highly eulogise the gift of śayyā to a brāhmaṇa and his wife. The Matsyapurāṇa states that on the 2nd day after the end of impurity on death the performer (of śrāddha) should donate a bed-stead possessing special characteristics; on it the golden image of the deceased should be placed and also fruits and clotheṣ After honouring a brāhmaṇa couple with many ornaments this should be done; then a bull should be let loose (for the benefit of the deceased) and the gift of a dark brown cow should also be made.⁵⁷ The Garuḍapurāṇa (Pretakhaṇḍa 34. 73-82 ) gives a more elaborate description which appears to be almost identical with the verses of the Bhavisya quoted by Hemādri. The Bhavisya-purāṇa quoted by Hemādri ( and from Hemādri by the Nirnaya-sindhu p. 596 ) states the mantra to be recited viz ‘just as the bed-stead of Kṛṣṇa is never devoid of Lakṣmī, the daughter of the ocean, similarly my bed may not be empty in each birth that I may have to undergo.’⁵⁸ Acceptance of the gift of a śayyā was looked down upon in former times and even how it is only the poor brāhmaṇas ( that are not generally learned ) that accept this gift The Padmapurāṇa condemns the accept-ance of the gift of śayyā in no measured termṣ It says ‘when a brāhmaṇa accepts the gift of a bed-stead, he should have to undergo the ceremony of upanayana agaiṇ In the Veda as well as in the Purāṇa ( the gift of ) a bed-stead is everywhere condemned and all those who accept the gift go to hell.’⁵⁹

Certain other matters connected with śrāddhas may be briefly touched upoṇ In very ancient times twelve kinds of sons were recognized out of whom the kṣetraja,⁶⁰ the putrikā-putra and dattaka were most important All these were the sons of two fatherṣ The question mooted was : to whom were they to offer pindas ? The Madanapārijāta (pp 607-608) quotes a passage from the Hārīta-dharmasūtra ⁶¹ and explains it. Harita sayṣ 'seed does not grow without a field Since it is seen that both are necessary the child born is the child of both. Out of the two ( fathers ) the procreator is to be first invoked (and then the kṣetrin ). He (the son) may offer two piṇḍas to each grade of the ancestors or he may offer a single piṇḍa (to the father and) may repeat the names of both (fathers) as to that single piṇḍa. The son (of the son of two fathers) may repeat two names as to the 2nd piṇḍa (i. e. the piṇḍa for paternal great-grandfather); the grand-son (of the son of two fathers) may do the same as to the third piṇḍa (viz. the piṇḍa for paternal great-grandfather ).’ Manu IV. 140 and Gobhila-smṛti II. 105 say about the putrikāputra ⁶² that he presents the first piṇḍa to his mother (as she was appointed as a son), the 2nd to her father and the third to his father’s father. This appears to be one order in which piṇḍas are to be offered by the putrikāputra, while Manu IX. 132 sets out another method since it says that a putrikāputra inherits the entire wealth of his own father if he is sonless and he gives two piṇḍas (i. e. performs two śrāddhas) for his own father and for his maternal grandfather. The Śāṇ Śr. S. provides ⁶³ that if there be two fathers, the son should recite the names of both (bījin and kṣetrin) with reference to the same piṇḍa. Even Yāj. says ‘The son procreated according to the rules of niyoga by a sonless man on the wife of another inherits the wealth of both and offers piṇḍa to both.’ ⁶⁴ The Mit. adds that if a person appointed to procreate a son on another’s wife has a son, then the son so begotten becomes the son of the kṣetrin alone and not of the bījiṇ As the kṣetraja and putrikā- putra have become obsolete for several centuries the subject has only an academic interest now. But the dattaka is still in vogue and a few words must be said here about the persons to whom the dattaka offers piṇḍaṣ The Kalpataru quotes from the Pravarādhyāya a passage on this point which is as follows:⁶⁵ ‘If these (i. e. those who are bijin) have no issue born of their own wives, (the sons begotten by niyoga or given in adoption) should inherit their wealth and offer piṇḍas to them up to three ancestors; if both (the bijin and kṣetrin or the giver and taker in adoption) should offer piṇḍa to both, in one and the same śrāddha they should repeat (the names of) the two ancestors respectively (of the acceptor and that of the begetter) after having separately intended the same piṇḍa for both up to the third ancestor.' The Bauḍ Dh. S, ⁶⁶ quotes a verse as follows ‘The son of two fathers shall give the piṇḍa (to his two fathers and pronounce) two names with each piṇḍa; three piṇḍas will thus serve for six persons (ancestors).' It would be seen from the passage quoted above from Hārīta that some authorities allowed two separate piṇḍas for each degree of 142 lays down ‘the son given should not take the gotra and wealth of his natural father, the piṇḍa follows the gotra and wealth; the svadhā (obsequies) of him who gives (his son in adoption) cease or fail (so far as that son is concerned).' This verse has been so interpreted by some decisions of the High Courts and of the Privy Council as to mean that the son adopted becomes totally severed from the family of his birth. This subject has been discussed at great length in H. of Dh. vol III pp 690-697 and it is established there that the severance of the son given in adoption is only partial, that the gotra of natural family persists even after adoption into another family for purposes of marriage and āśauca and that the Nirṇayasindhu, ⁶⁷ the Dharma-sindhu and the Dattaka-candrikā declare that the son given away in adoption into another family can perform the śrāddha of his natural father, if the latter has no son at the time of his death and can also take his wealth.

Vrsotsarga (the letting loose of a bull). This topic has been dealt with by several sūtra works such as the Śāṇ gr. III. 11, the Kauśitakī gr. III 11 (in Benaras S. S. and III. 6 in Madras University Series), Kāthaka gr. 59, 1 ff., Pāraskara gr. III, 9, Viṣṇu-dharmasūtra, chap. 86. 1–20. In numerous works some verses called gāthās sung by the pitṛs are set out one of which expresses the yearning of the pitṛs as follows: ⁶⁸ ‘one should desire to have many sons; since if even one (of the sons) goes to Gayā (and offers śrāddha after his father’s death) or if he performs a solemn horse sacrifice or lets loose a dark-coloured bull (the man having such a son will secure final release)’. The description in the Viṣṇudharmasūtra being tolerably full is set out here; ⁶⁹ “(This ceremony) takes place on the full moon day in Kārtika or Āśvina In this rite he must first examine the bull The bull must be the offspring of a milch cow having young ones living, he must have all auspicious marks (i. e. must not be deficient in any limb), must be dark- coloured ⁷⁰ or red but having a white mouth, white tail, white feet and white horns, he must be one that can protect the herd (or that throws into the background by his height all the herd). Then after having kindled a blazing fire among the cows (in the cowpen) and having strewn kuśa grass around it let him boil with milk a dish sacred to Pūṣan and offer (two oblations) with the mantra ‘May Pūṣan follow our cows’ (Rg. VI 54,5) and the mantra ‘here is pleasure’ (Vāj. S. 8,51); a blacksmith should then mark the bull, on one flank with a discus and on the other flank ⁷⁰ with a trident. Let him wash the bull after he is marked with four mantras beginning with ‘the golden-coloured’ (Tai. S. V. 6.1. 1-2) and with the (five) mantras beginning with ‘May the divine (waters) bring us happiness’ (Rg. X. 9. 4-8). Having washed and decked the bull he should bring him together with four young cows which also should have been washed and decked and mutter the Rudras (Tai S. IV 5.1-11), the Puruṣasūkta (Rg 10. 90. 1-16) and the Kūṣmāṇḍīs (Vāj S. XX. 14-16, Tai Ā. X, 3-5). Then let him recite in the right ear of the bull the mantra ⁷² ‘father of calves’ and the following mantras ‘The holy dharma ⁷³ is a bull and is declared to have four feet; I choose him with devo- tion (as the object of worship); may he protect me on all sideṣ This young bull I give you as husband (O young cows!), roam about sportingly with him as your lover. May we not lack progeny, O king Soma, nor physical fitness and may we not succumb to our enemy'. He must drive away the bull together with the young cows in the north-eastern direction and give a pair of garments, gold and a vessel of bell metal to the hotr (officiating priest). The blacksmith should be given wages as desired by him and food seasoned with a good deal of clarified butter should be served to (three) brāhmaṇas (at least). That ⁷⁴ pool at which a bull let loose (in honour of a deceased person by his son or the like) drinks water.serves (reaches) the maneṣ Wherever a bull (let loose) exulting in his strength scratches (or digs up) the earth, that earth becoming abundant food and water waits upon the maneṣ” ⁷⁵ In the Anuśāsanaparva the pitrs are represented as saying that by letting loose a dark-coloured bull, by offering water mixed with sesame and by lighting lamps in the rains a man becomes free from the debt he owes to the pitrs (chap. 125. 73-74).

In the Garuḍapurāṇa it is stated that the deceased person for whom a bull is not let loose on the 11th day after death permanently remains a preta, even if hundreds of śrāddhas are offered for hiṃ The same purāṇa further provides that if a bull be not available on the 11th day, then the effigy of a bull made of darbhas and flour or clay should be symbolically let loose.⁷⁶ In the Bhaviṣyapurāņa the 12th day after death is prescribed for the letting loose of a bull (N. S. III, p. 505). The Nirņayasindhu says that the making of an effigy of a bull with clay, darbhas and flour is without authority. Even at present people let loose a bull but owing to the rise in the prices of bulls this is becoming less frequent. Several medieval digests such as the Pitrdayitā (pp. 84, 94), Śrāddhaviveka of Rudradhara (pp. 69-77), Nirņayasindhu (III pp. 595-596), Śuddhiprakāśa pp. 225-230, Antyeṣṭipaddhati of Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa present a far more elaborate description, but from considerations of space they are passed over here. It is provided in these and other digests that such a bull should not be seized by anyone nor made to draw a vehicle and the cow or cows let loose along with him should not be milked nor confined in a cow-peṇ A bull is not let loose for a deceased woman, but a cow may be donated together with its calf without being branded and after being decked with sandal-wood paste.⁷⁷

What is the idea underlying the letting loose of a bull after the death of a person? If a conjecture may be hazarded, it appears to have been thought that if a bull were freed from toil (that is the lot of most bulls) and placed in the midst of pleasant surroundings, that act of the relatives of the deceased may in a vicarious manner conduce to the happiness of the departed spirit in the other worlḍ

One remarkable matter about śrāddhas is yet to be mentioneḍ The Bauḍ gṛhyasūtra III, 19, the Liṅgapurāṇa (II 45. 8-90, some of which are quoted by Śr. Pr. pp 363-364), the Kalpataru (on śrāddha pp. 277-279), Hemādri (Śr. pp.1704-1717), the Śrāddhaprakāśa (pp. 361-371) and a few other digests describe the procedure of Jīvat-śrāddha or Jīva-śrāddha, which a man was allowed to perform for the benefit of his own soul, while he was himself alive. Baudhāyana's being probably the most ancient extant description it is briefly set out here. ‘A man who desires his own highest happiness should fast on the 13th tithi of the dark half and bring together materials on the same day, which are required in the funeral rites of deceased persons, viz. six garments, a golden needle, a goad, a noose made of (cotton) threads, a ragged garment, a stalk of palāśa leaves, a chair of udumbara wood, jars and other materials also. On the next day he bathes; after standing in the midst of water he comes out and makes (the brāhmaṇas) pronounce ‘this is an auspicious day, may there be happiness and prosperity (for you)'; he makes a gift of garments, a ring and dakṣiṇā and facing the south eats rice boiled in milk and mixed with ghee. He kindles the fire according to the general ⁷⁸ procedure laid down for homa, spreads round it darbhas, cooks food on the fire and offers from the cooked food four oblations of food into the fire; the first is made after first reciting the Puronuvākyā ⁷⁹ (invitatory prayer) 'catvāri sṛṅgā' ('Agni has four horns', Rg. IV. 58. 3, Tai. Ā X. 10. 2) and offers the oblation with the Yājyā (offering prayer) 'tridhā hitam' (placed in three plates, Rg. IV. 58. 4) The Puronuvākyā and Yājyā of the 2nd oblation of rice are 'tatsavitur vareṇyam' (Rg. III. 62. 10, Tai. S. I. 5 6 4) and 'yojayitṛī sūnṛtānām'. Of the third oblation the Puronuvākyā and Yājyā are respectively 'ye catvāraḥ' (Tai. S. V. 7. 2. 3) and 'Dve śruti' (Rg. X. 88. 15, Tai Br. I. 4. 2. 3); the Puronuvākyā and Yājyā of the 4th oblation are respectively 'agne naya' (Rg I 189 1, Tai. S. I 114. 3) and 'yā tiraści' (Br. Up. VI 3 1) ⁸⁰. Then he offers oblations of clarified butter with the Purusasūkta of 18 verses (Vāj. S. 31. 1–18, Tai. Ā, III 12) and 1008, 108 or 28 oblations of clarified butter with the Gāyatrī verse. Then he goes to a spot where four roads meet, makes a gift of the needle, goad, ragged garment, the rope to a short-statured brāhmaṇa who has a dark skin and having made him repeat the words 'May the servants of Yama be gratified' he places the jars on grains of rice. Having wound round the jars that are full of water threads he prepares an effigy of a human being, three threads for the head, three for the mouth, 21 for the neck, 4 for the body, two on each arm, one for the male organ, five for each of the feet with the words 'May the revered Yama be pleaseḍ' Then making ready the chair, washing it with pañcagavya, he makes the effigy of a human being on black antelope skin with palāśa stalks, he establishes the prāṇas in the effigy made on the jar and placing his body on the body made with stalks he should sleep. When he rises, he should himself bathe his body with (the water in) the jars with verses of Purusaśukta and with pañcagavya and pure water and eat in the evening food mixed with sesamum grains together with clarified butter. He should give dinner to brāhmaṇas for the gratification of the servants of Yama. On the 4th day he burns (the effigy) with mantraṣ He should offer water, and piṇḍa with the words 'piṇḍa to me of such and such a gotra for benefit in the next world, svadhā namah.' With these words he should bring to a close the rite. He should observe impurity for ten days for himself, but his agnates have not to observe impurity for hiṃ On the 11th day he performs ekoddiṣṭa. They also cite the following verse 'one who is in distress, a woman and a śūdra having burnt one's body (i. e. effigy) with mantras should perform all rites on that very day. This is the revela- tioṇ' In the case of women the rite is performed silently or with (?) Vedic mantraṣ In this way he should perform his own śrāddha every month for a year and at the end of each year up to twelve yearṣ And then he should stop. When he is not able to do all these (himself) his son and the like may perform theṃ They also recite the following verse: 'Although heirs may be alive one may perform one's śrāddha while alive, having quickly set about doing everything according to the rules, except Sapindana. One should not make delay as to the time specified above, since life is evanescent'."

It may be noted that the Bauḍ gṛhyaśesasūtra III, 22 contains a very brief procedure of the same rite, but therein two verses of Kanva and one of Viṣṇu are quoteḍ It appears that this is a later additioṇ The text of Bauḍ gṛhyaśesasūtra III, 19 is quoted by Śr. Pr. pp. 361-363. But the Śrāddha- prakāśa also quotes a long passage from the Lingapurāṇa and explains it (pp. 363-368). The procedure in the Lingapurāṇa, however, materially differs from that of Baudhāyana. It is passed over here from considerations of space. The Śrāddha- mayūkha also gives an elaborate descriptioṇ Some of its provisions are stated here. In Jīvat-śrāddha the word preta should nowhere be useḍ An effigy of the person is made with fifty kuśas and is to be burnt by another with the mantra 'kravyādam-agnim' (Rg. X. 16, 9 ). The person has to kindle fire on the banks of a river with his face to the south with his gṛhya fire or ordinary fire and has to dig up a pit and make a prayer to the earth as in the case of an actual death.

In the Bombay University Library there is a Mṣ of Jīvat- śrāddha ascribed to Śaunaka in the Bhadkamkar Collectioṇ It contains a far more elaborate procedure than that of Baudhāyana and is in prose. It contains many of the provisions of Baudhāyana. Further details are passed over here.

The provision of a śrāddha for a living person offered by himself is a perversion of the ancient idea of śrāddha. The basic and fundamental conception of a śrāddha was to gratify the spirits of deceased ancestorṣ People had gone crazy with the idea of śrāddhas and invented this new mode to satisfy that craze. I have known persons that performed Jīvat-śrāddha, though they had sons, younger brothers and nephews who would have certainly performed śrāddhas for them on their death.

It is customary to make a gift of a cow with a calf to a brāhmaṇa, preferably a kapilā cow, on the 2nd day after the period of āśauca. Often times this is the only cow given, and the cow called Vaitaraṇī referred to above (p.183, note 427) is rarely donated in the midst of the sorrow and turmoil immediately on the death of a dear and near relative. A declaration is first made that a gift of a cow will be made and then water is poured on the hand of a brāhmaṇa. Then holding kuśas in his hand the donor makes a gift of the cow with a formula noted below ⁸¹. The donee replies with the words 'om svasti' (Yes, may it be well!). Then dakṣiṇā (in gold or silver coins) is given and the brāhmaṇa says 'om svasti', holds the tail of the cow and repeats a Kāmastuti (eulogy of Kāma) ⁸² according to the recension of the Veda he has studieḍ The Anuśāsana parva (57. 28–29 ) eulogises the gift of a kapilā cow with the calf, given with a milking pail of bell-metal, whose horn tips are decked with gold, by stating that such a gift not only saves the donor in the other world but also his sons, grandsons and family for seven generationṣ The Anuśāsanaparva (77.10 ff) sets out a legend why the kapilā cow is the best of all cowṣ

The Purāṇas and digests devote a good deal of space to śrāddhas at tīrthas and at Gayā. Vide Atri 55–58, Vāyupurāṇa 83. 16–42, Hemādri (on Śr.) pp. 1568 ff and 1575 ff. This subject will be briefly dealt with in the section on tīrthaṣ

may be performed in the intercalary month, but if there be none such then in the ordinary month of the same name. When the tithi for performing a śrāddha comes and there is then an intercalary month, Vṛddha-Vasiṣṭha says that śrāddha should be performed in both monthṣ⁸³

Further discussion about what may be done in Malamāsa and what is prohibited therein will be taken up in the section on Kāla. The question as to the day on which a śrāddha is to be performed if the tithi is spread over two days or if there is a kṣaya of the tithi will also be discussed in that sectioṇ

Some of the works on śrāddha such as the Pṛthvī-candro-daya deal with what is called ‘saṅghāta-śrāddha’.⁸⁴ When on the same day several persons die, but not at the same time, then the śrāddhas for them should be performed, as said by Rṣyaśṛṅga, in the order in which they dieḍ But if five or six persons die at the same time on the same day (as when a vessel sinks in the sea or a market is burnt down all at once), then the order in which śrāddhas are to be performed is determined by the nearness of relationship to the performer of śrāddha in the case of each. For example, if a person’s wife, son, brother and paternal uncle meet death at the same time, then the order should be this that the śrāddha of the wife is performed first, then of the son, then of the brother and then of the uncle. If the parents die at the same time by accident, then the father’s cremation or other rites should be first performed and then of the mother.

Provision is made if the performance of a śrāddha is rendered impossible by some obstacle. Rṣyaśṛṅga provides ⁸⁵ 'If impurity (on death) intervenes when a śrāddha is to be offered to the pitṛs, śrāddha should be offered at the end of the period of impurity. If an obstacle arises at the time when an ekoddiṣṭa is to be performed, the śrāddha should be performed in another month on the same tithi⁸⁶. This last refers to a monthly śrāddha. If any of the sixteen śrāddhas fails owing to an obstacle it should be performed on the amāvāsyā or better still on the 11th day of the dark half. If there is an obstacle owing to impurity on death in the performance of a monthly śrāddha or yearly śrāddha it should be performed at the end of the impurity or on amāvāsyā.⁸⁶ The Padmapurāṇa (Pātālakhaṇḍa 101. 68–70) provides similar ruleṣ If the obstacle is the performer’s illness or his inability to collect materials or his wife being in her monthly illness, he may offer śrāddha described above.

It may be noted that while great emphasis was laid on inviting a very learned brāhmaṇa at a śrāddha, that object was often frustrated in practice by the provisions made in certain smṛtis that one⁸⁷ should not partake of śrāddha food for three years after sapiṇḍana (which is often one year after death) and that by dining at a śrāddha in the first year one eats the bones and marrow of the deceased, in the second year his flesh, in the third year his blood and śrāddha in the 4th year is (somewhat) pure. Vide Par. M. vol II part 1 p 423, where smṛti passages prescribing prāyaścittas for partaking of food at various śrāddhas including sāmvatsarika are set out. Hārīta says: one partaking of food at Navaśrāddha should undergo Candrāyaṇa, the Prājāpatya for dining at a monthly śrāddha and fast for one day for dining at a pratyābdika śrāddha. This is on the same lines as acceptance of giftṣ A donor collected merit by making gifts, but it was for the acceptor to decide whether he should accept giftṣ The ideal IV ] placed before brāhmaṇas was that one, though entitled to accept gifts on account of his Vedic learning and tapas, should not accept gifts, if he desires to secure the highest world (Yāj. I. 213), while Manu IV. 186 affirms⁸⁸ that though entitled to accept gifts a brāhmaṇa should not again and again resort to that method, since the spiritual power that he acquires by Vedic study is lost by accepting giftṣ Manu IV. 85–86 (= Padma V. 19. 236–237) say that acceptance of a gift from the king is terrible (in its consequences) and Padma warns that gift appears sweet like honey but is like poison (i. e. deadly in its effects). This reasoning applied with greater force to officiating and dining at a śrāddha, where not only gifts are to be received, but also sumptuous food that will please the palate is served in abundance.

It has been seen above how the most ancient' literary monument, viz the Ṛgveda, shows that the funeral rites per- formed immediately after death were prompted by affectionate concern for the departed spirit mingled with some element of fear, that the object of those rites was to provide sustenance to the departed spirit and to endow it with an intermediate body before it became one of the pitṛṣ It has also been found that in the most ancient times of which we have literary evidence, there were rites for the worship of ancestors, being the Piṇḍa- pitṛyajña performed every month on amāvāsyā, the Mahāpitṛ- yajña performed in the Śākamedha and the Aṣṭakā śrāddhaṣ Gradually the rites for deceased ancestors became more and more frequent, all-inclusive and elaborate, so that ultimately an exaggerated importance came to be attached to the cult of śrāddhas over which there was an enormous expenditure of time, effort and wealth. The question now arises what Indians of the 20th century should do about śrāddhaṣ One finds that in these days when many brāhmaṇas even do not engage in any of the five daily obligatory yajñas (the pañca-yajñas), they are so- licitous to offer śrāddha at least once a year to their ancestorṣ The following may be therefore suggested as a via media for all kinds of people. Those who have faith in the duty of performing śrāddhas and their efficacy for the benefit of the dead may perform them on a small scale, bearing in mind the emphatic admonition of Manu (III. 125–126), the Kūrmapurāṇa II. 22. 27, Padmapurāṇa V. 9. 98⁸⁹ that one should desist from extravagance in the matter of śrāddhas, particularly in the number of brāhmaṇas to be inviteḍ Those whose faith is shaken or shattered by the onrush of modern ideas and English education or firm belief in the doctrines of karma and punarjanma should also remember one thing. The main underlying conception of śrāddha is certainly admirable, viz., a tender and affectionate regard for one’s near and dear relativeṣ It is a good practice to set apart at least one day in a year for the remembrance of one’s near and dear relatives that are no more, to invite relatives, friends, and learned people to a dinner in memory of the dead and to bestow monetary gifts on poor but learned persons of character and devoted to the practice of plain living and high thinking. This will be in keeping with our past traditions and will also give a new orientation to and infuse new life into practices and usages that have become lifeless and meaningless to many people. From very ancient times one of the fundamental conceptions of our faith has been the idea of three debts owed to sages, gods and pitṛṣ The debt owed to the ancestors is paid off by the procreation of a son who would offer piṇḍas to his (and therefore also to his father’s) ancestorṣ This is a grand conceptioṇ Nothing can be more sublime than the formula which one has to repeat at the time of offering piṇḍas and water (with sesame) at Gayā ‘may those of my ancestors that are in the form of pretas be all satiated by means of the (balls made) of barley flour mixed with sesame and may everything, whether moving or immoveable from Brahmā up to blades of grass derive satisfaction from the water offered by me.’ If the implication of this formula be thoroughly understood and IV] implemented by actual practice, it will make the whole world kiṇ Therefore, while discarding the heavy accretions accum- ulated through ages, we Hindus of these days must see to it that we do not throw overboard the gold that lies buried under the crust of ritual and ill-understood ceremonieṣ^*