Garuda Mahā Purana - Preta Khaṇḍa
45 – The mode of Annual Shraddha
1. O Foremost among birds, I shall now tell you the mode of annual shraddha. Either the Kshetraja or the aurasa son should perform the annual shraddha in the manner as he performs the parvana shraddha.
2-3. The other sons should perform ekoddishta and not parvana. If the father or the Kshetraja and aurasa sons do not maintain fire, they should not perform ekoddishta but should do parvana every year or they can perform ekoddishta also.
4-7. If either or both, the son and the father, maintain sacrificial fire, the annual shraddha should be of parvana type and the Kshetraja or aurasa son should perform it. But some say whether the dead man does or does not maintain the sacrificial fire, ekoddishta should be performed on the Kshaya day. If there is Kshaya either at the time of amavasya or in the Pretapaksha, the Shraddha should be of parvana type and can be performed by any son, while ekoddishta should be done for persons without sons or for women.
8. If at the time of parvana shraddha the performer is defiled by impurity he should perform it on the expiry of impurity.
9. If at the time of ekoddishta there is any obstacle, the Shraddha should be performed in the next month on the same day.
10. The shraddha of a shudra should be performed silently (i.e., without reciting mantras) by his wives or sons. The same holds good in the case of a shraddha of an unmarried girl in a brahmin family. So says Manu.
11. If two or more die at the same time, the bathing shall be done simultaneously with due mantras but shraddhas should be performed separately.
12. The Shraddha of the eldest should be performed first and thereafter according to the age. This is the procedure in simultaneous deaths.
13. He who does all this every year without fail will obtain the best of state having liberated all the manes.
14. If the day of death is not known nor the starting day, only the month is known then darsha should be the day for shraddha.
15. If the month is not known but the day is known then that day may be in Margashirsha or in Magha.
16. If both the day and the month of death are not known then the day and the month when he set out on journey' should be taken into count for shraddha as stated by me before.
17. Even if the day and the month of starting are not known then those should be the same when the news of his death is received.
18. Even if the month and day are forgotten, when he is not on travel, these should be taken as before.
19-20. When the householder has gone out of his country and someone dies at home, the period of impurity is over, the shraddha is on and the householder returns to learn about the sad news, in such a state the householder is not effected by impurity.
21. The shraddha that has been started by the sons should be finished by them, while the householder shall remain aloof.
22. If a donor or a receiver does not know of impurity due to birth or death of a relative then no fault accrues.
23. If either of these knows impurity accruing from death or birth of a relative, the fault is of the receiver only, not of the donor of the gift.
24. Whosoever performs the death anniversary of the dead in the above way, liberates him even if the day of death remains unknown to him.
The lord said:
25. In the daily shraddha the brahmins shall be worshipped, according to one's capacity, with scents and other things and the manes should be invoked and worshipped.
26-27. Avahana, Svadhakara, Pinda, Agnikarana need not be performed. The performer shall observe celibacy during the period. He should worship the Vishvedevas, offer the cooked food to the brahmins along with the fee. He should pay homage to them as they take leave of him.
28. With the Vishvedevas in view, the brahmins are fed sumptuously. This rite of feeding the brahmins is called Nitya shraddha or Deva shraddha.
29. The Shraddha for the mother is performed first. That for the father on the anniversary day. That for the grandfather on the father's and mother's side on the next day.
30. If he is unable to perform the same on separate days he should perform all the shraddhas on the same day. The rite of Vaishvadeva should also be performed similarly.
31. In that case, the offering is made first to the father, then to the mother and then to the maternal grandfather.
32. In the shraddha to the mother, if brahmins are not available, eight noble and chaste ladies whose husbands and sons are alive should be fed.
33. When performing Ishtapurta, the procedure is the same. When calamities set in, toward them off, he should perform a shraddha in the manner of daily shraddha.
34. The person performing nitya, daiva and vruddha shraddhas as well as the kamya and naimittika rites in the manner as mentioned before achieves the desired result.
Thus, I have told you all, O Garuda. What else do you want to know?
Summary of chapter 45 of the Garuda Mahā Purana - Preta Khaṇḍa is as follows:
Bhagavān Vishṇu proclaims the magnificent spiritual merit and sanctifying power of the Preta Khaṇḍa itself, declaring it to be a sacred treasure among scriptures. The Lord reveals that reading, listening to, or sharing these holy chapters with devotion dispels the fear of death, clears severe family doshas, and grants wisdom, health, and spiritual prosperity to the household. The Supreme Lord reassures Garuḍa that wherever this sacred dialogue is reverently recited, divine messengers protect the premises and ancestors rejoice in peace.