Shoḍaśa Mātṛkās
Shoḍaśa Mātṛkā, “the sixteen Mātṛkās”
The Shoḍaśa Mātṛkās are the sixteen Mātṛkās. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa gives Mahārāja Yudhishṭhira the vidhi of the vṛshotsarga (the release of a bull) as Gargācārya told it to him, in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa. The first act of the rite is the pūjā of the Shoḍaśa Mātṛkās, then the mātṛ-śrāddha, then the ābhyudayika śrāddha. The chapter does not name the sixteen.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 131
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 131