Vārāha Śrāddha-kalpa
Vārāha Śrāddha-kalpa · vārāha-śrāddha-kalpa, “the rule of śrāddha seen by Vārāha”
Madgu has other meanings too: see all meanings of Madgu.
The Vārāha Śrāddha-kalpa is the rule of śrāddha that was seen by Vārāha, and so it is famed by his name. In the Brahma Purāṇa, Vyāsa gives it to the munis in his teaching on śrāddha: the substances it forbids must not be given to the brāhmaṇas at a śrāddha, nor eaten.
What it forbids
- Meats not fit for śrāddha: the rohita fish, the boar, the tortoise and the uḍumu (monitor lizard).
- Creatures whose offering brings the naraka Raurava: the cakravāka, the water-crow (madgu), boneless fish, the osprey (kurara), the house-sparrow (kalaviṅka), the peacock, the bhāradvāja bird, the śārjaka bird, the mongoose, the owl, the tittiri bird, the jackal, the tiger, the bear and the hyena (tarakshu). One who offers these goes to Raurava, and he casts even the pitṛ-devatās who are in svarga into naraka.
- Substances whose offering makes the yajamāna fall, with the pitṛ-devatās, into the naraka Pūyavaha: kusumbha greens, jambīra, śigruka, kovidāra, oil-cake (piṇyāka), viprusha, masūra, guñjana, hemp (śaṇa), kodrava, kokilāksha, cakra, kambuka, padmaka, the cakora, the hawk, tāḷinī and the palmyra fruit.
Rather than offer and eat what the Vārāha Śrāddha-kalpa forbids, Vyāsa says, it is better to eat one’s own flesh.
The prāyaścitta
If these are offered or eaten by mistake, unknowingly, prāyaścitta must be performed: taking only fruits, roots, milk, curd, buttermilk, gomūtra and gruel for seven days removes the fault of eating forbidden food. And a Vishṇu-bhakta who performs the śrāddha in this way according to rule brings satisfaction to the whole world, from Brahmā down to a tuft of grass.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 220
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 220