28 - The Description of the Rite of Shraddha

Sanaka said: 

1. O leading sage, listen to the excellent procedure in the performance of Shraddha,1 on hearing which one is undoubtedly liberated from sins. 

1. Shraddha 

This is an important topic as it forms an integral part of Hindu Dharma Shastra. The belief in the after-death survival of deceased ancestors and their separate world (Pitru-loka) belongs to the Indo-Iranian period and as such is pre-Vedic (vide S.B.E. Vol.IV, p. 262 for the Iranian Fravarshis of Yima-Yama). Ancestor-worship for one's prosperity, continuation of one's race is as old as the Rug-Veda. It is not only NP. but several other Puranas deal with the ritual of shraddha, e.g., AP.163.2-42, GP.I.210, KP.II.22.20-62, Pd.P. (Sruşhti-Khanda) 9.140-186, VP.III.15.13-49, MP.17.12-60. Most of them prescribe practically the same procedure as given in the Gruhya Sūtras and Smrutis of Manu and Yajñavalkya. If the author of a Purana follows a particular Sūtra, he prescribes the procedure of his Sutra. For example, in the present case, the procedure of Shraddha given in the NP. shows much resemblance to the details given in the Shraddha Sutra of Katyayana (which by the way has so much similarity with the procedure of Shraddha given in the Yajnavalkya Smruti). 

We find that NP. and Katyayana use the same full mantras, tilo'si, ya divya prescription of the repetition of the word madhu thrice (in addition to the Gayatri and Madhumati verses) and recital of the following texts while the Brahmanas are being fed: 

The Gayatri (once or thrice), the five Rakşhoghni verses (RV.IV.4.1-5); the Purusha Sūkta (RV. X.90), the Apratiratha hymns (RV.X.103.1-13), the Svadha-vāchana relates both to paternal and maternal ancestors (cf. Yäjn. - Smru. I.244).

In addition to the blessing recorded in Yajnavalkya 1.246-47, Katyayana requires the performer to pray for and receive from Brahmanas the following blessings: 

(i) "May the Pitrus be not terrible to us and

(ii) May our family prosper. 

The Madhyandina Brahmanas of Bengal follow Raghunandana's Yajur vedi-Shraddha-tattva which is based on the Shraddha-sutra of Katyayana. Possibly the author of the NP. who prescribes the rules of Katyayana's Shraddha sutra might be an East Indian.

2. On the day previous to the Kshayāha (day of the Death anniversary) the householder should take his bath. He should take only a single meal on that day. He should duly invite the Brahmanas (for the next day). In the night he should observe celibacy and lie on the ground. 

3. The performer of Shraddha should avoid cleaning of the teeth, chewing the betel leaves, anointing the body with oil, and foodstuffs of an aphrodisiac nature. 

4. The performer of Shraddha and the partaker of food therein should avoid long journey, quarrel, fury, sexual inter-course, bearing of burdens and sleep during the day.2 

2. These restrictions are both on the invitee and the inviter. Katyayana prescribes that from the time of giving invitation by the performer of Shraddha to the time of completion of the Shraddha ritual marked by the final achamana, Brahmanas should remain pure, free from anger, hurry, negligence, should speak the truth, avoid journey, sexual intercourse, hard work, study the Veda and control speech and the Brahmanas invited should observe the same rules (Shraddha sutra I) 

akrodhano'tvaro'mattaḥ satyavādi samahitaḥ |

bharam maithunam adhvånam shråddha-krud varjayed japam ||

compare also Mt.P.16-27-28. --KP.II.22.6.

5. If he, who is invited for a shraddha indulges in sexual intercourse, incurs the sin of Brahmana-slaughter and falls into hell. 

Qualifications of the Brahmana Invitee for Shraddha: 

6. The Brahmana who has the following characteristics can be invited for a Shraddha3: He should be well-versed in the Vedas and devoted to Vishnu. He should be an abider by his own conventional conduct of life. He should be born of a good family and be of quiet nature. 

3. The qualities and qualifications required of a Brahmana invitee for Shraddha. Cf. Smr.c. (Smruti Chandrika) III (Shraddha-Kanda) pp. 389-394. Mt.P. 16:8-10 state the same qualities as in NP. The ancient Smrutis insist on the pure character and not so much on the scholarship of the invitee. As Manu says (I1.118) “A Brahmana who knows only the Gayatri but is self-controlled, is preferable to a Brahmana who knows three Vedas but lacks in self-control, eats everything and sells anything (prohibited by Dharma)". He insists on the close enquiry of the antecedents of such an invitee. Later Puranas slackened these restrictions.

7. He should be devoid of passionate attachment and hatred. He should be an expert in the interpretation of the Puranas. He must be conversant with the madhu verses (viz. RV.I.90.6-8, Vaj. S.13.27-29 in which the word madhu occurs) and must have studied the Tri-suparna, (viz. the three anuvākas beginning with Brahmametu måm etc. (Tait. Aranyaka X.48-50). 

8. He should be engaged in the worship of the deities and be an adept in the principles of Smrutis. He must be a past-master in the knowledge of the principles of the Upanishads. He must be interested in the welfare of all worlds. 

9-10. He should be grateful and richly endowed with all good qualities. He must be engaged in serving his preceptor. He must be engaged in advising others by recounting the good scriptural texts. These are the Brahmanas, O leading sage, who can be employed in a Shraddha. I shall mention those who should be excluded from the Shraddhas. Listen with great attention.

Disqualifications of an Invitee4

4. Disqualifications of a Brahmana rendering him ineligible for invitation to Shraddha: This is an echo of Manu III. 150-169. Manu's list of disqualified Brahmanas is very comprehensive as it includes Ninety-three disqualifications. It includes physically defective or handicapped persons e.g., a person with de formed nails, black teeth or a squint-eye or a scabby person, an epileptic, a leper, a person with scrofulous swelling of gland, a blind man, a lunatic, an impotent or a consumptive person. 

It excludes Brahmanas of the following professions: a physician, a temple priest, a vendor of meat, a shop-keeper, a paid servant (of a village or the king), a usurer, a tender of cattles, an actor or singer, a seller of Vedas and Smrutis, a teacher of Shudras, a navigator, an oilman a manufacturer of weapons, a trainer of animals, a bird fancier, an architect, a messenger, a falconer, a carrier of dead bodies. Brahmanas with immoral character (such as a thief, gambler, a debauchee, etc.) Brahmanas with good heredity were eligible but not socially unacceptable ones such as marrying before elder brothers or bastards like Kundas or Golakas. A reference to SC.III., pp. 394-403 will show how writers on Dharma Sutras, Smrutis and Puranas gave importance to the selection of Brahmanas for a Shraddha. As Manu puts it one may not put Brahmanas to test for work pertaining to gods but in the case of Pitrus (Shraddha) one must be scrupulously careful (III. 149)-an opinion endorsed by most other writers on Dharma Shastra. 

11-18. One who is physically a deformed being wanting in a limb or by having a superfluous limb, a miser, a sickly person, a leper, one with deformed nails, a person with long suspended ears, one who has broken his religious vows, a person whose livelihood is the reading of the stars (i.e. astrology), he who (professionally) burns corpses, a person indulgent in here tical arguments, the younger brother who marries when the elder brother is yet a bachelor; a professional worshipper of idols, a rogue, a person who speaks ill of others; a hot-tempered person, a knave, the village priest, one who is interested in un holy scriptures, one who is devoted to and dependent on) other men's food, one who supports the son of a Shudra woman, the paramour of a Shudra woman, Kundas and Golakas (i.e. bastards born of adultery when the husband is alive or when the husband is dead), one who performs the Yajna of those who are not eligible to perform it, a man of fradulent conduct, a man who shaves off his head without purpose, one who is enamoured of another man's wife or wealth, one who is devoid of devotion to Vishnu; one who turns his face away from devotion to Shiva, those who sell the Vedas (i.e. accept fee for recitation and teaching of the Vedas), the sellers of Vratas, those who sell Smrutis, and Mantras (who charge fees for these), professional musicians, composers of poems, those who maintain themselves by means of practising medicine (for money), one who is engaged in decrying the Vedas, arsonists of villages and forests, one who is over-passionate, one who sells intoxicating beverages and one who indulges in deceitful arguments. All these should be excluded scrupulously from the Shraddha. 

19. He should invite the Brahmana the previous day or on the same day. The Brahmana who is invited should maintain celibacy and conquer his sense organs.5

5. brahmachári, etc. 'The invited Brahmana should abstain from sexual inter course, etc. Some Puranas (e.g., Mt.P. 16-20) and some Smrutis (Prajapati 63) state that the invited Brahmana should be requested with the traditional verse 

akrodhanaiḥ shauchaparaiḥ satatam brahmachãribhiḥ |

bhavitavyam bhavadbhish cha mayă cha Shraddha-kårina || 

20. With his sense-organs duly subdued, a householder should take darbha-grass in his hands and invite an intelligent Brahmana with the following words: “O excellent Sir, you should do me a favour and accept my invitation for Shraddha".6

6. The procedure of invitation to Shraddha as detailed in Mt. P. 16-17-20 is as follows: 

The inviter should respectfully invite the Brahmanas on the previous day or in the morning of the day of Shraddha. He should (with darbha=grass in his hand) touch the right knee of the invitee and extend the invitation. SC-- Shraddha (p. 406) quotes Pd.P. Srushti 9.85-88 which are the same as Mt.P. 

21. He should get up early in the morning and perform the daily morning routine. The learned man should perform the Shraddha at the hour called Kutapa7 (i.e., the eighth muhurta or five hours and thirty-six minutes after the sunrise). 

7. Kale Kutapa Samjnite: 'In the period of the day called Kutapa', Although SC. (Shraddha), p. 433 gives eight meanings of Kutapa, here 'The 8th muhurta from the sunrise' is applicable. Its derivation is from Ku (bad, a sin) + tapa (that which burns). The muhurta begins from five hours and thirty-six minutes after the sun-rise. Prajapati states that out of the fifteen muhurtas comprising a day, Kutapa is the 8th and a Shraddha should begin from the 8th muhurta and should not extend beyond the Rauhiņeya (12th) muhūra. 

arambham kutape kuryad rauhinam na tu langhayet |

elat pancha muhurta'ntaḥ shraddha-kala udahrutaḥ ||

Prajapati Smr. 158.

22. That hour in the eighth Kala (Muhurta) of the day when the sun begins to be less fierce is called the Kutapa. That which is given to the Pitrus at that time is of everlasting benefit. 

23. The afternoon is the time granted to the Pitrus by the self-born deity (god Brahma). Hence, the Kavya (oblations to Pitrus) should be given by excellent Brahmanas only at that time. 

24. O excellent sage, if the Kavya is offered along with the monetary gifts at the wrong hour it should be known as belonging to the Rakshasas. It never reaches the Pitrus. 

25. The Kavya offered in the evening too becomes something pertaining to the Rakshasas. The giver as well as the partaker of food falls into the hell.

Decisions about Shraddha-Tithis8 

8. VV. 26-29 give decisions regarding the Tithi (lunar-day) acceptable for Shraddha. When the particular Tithi is not full (covering the civil day) but spreads over two days, etc. (for discussion of Tithis vide the next chapter).

26. If the duration of the Tithi of the annual Shraddha be of only one ghatikā (danda = 24 minutes) on the previous day, O Brahmana the Shraddha must be performed on the Tithi the afternoon of which is affected (touched) by another Tithi, by a person knowing (the required religious rite).9

9. Verses repeated in Saura P. 19.13-14. 

P.V. Kane states that two mandalas are to be drawn in front of the performer's residence to receive the Brahmanas. Of the two Mandalas one should be on the northern side sloping towards the north for Brahmanas representing devas and the second on the southern side sloping towards the south for Brahmanas representing Pitrus. 

(H.D.IV. pp. 456-57).

27. If the Tithi (lunar-day) of the death anniversary spreads over the afternoons of two (consecutive) days, the Shraddha should be performed on the previous day if there be the Kshaya (less duration, loss) of the (particular) Tithi and on the next day if that Tithi has extended duration (Vruddhi).

28. If the Tithi of the death-anniversary is for two Muhurtas (i.e., one hour and thirty-six minutes) in the previous day and spreads till evening on the next day, the latter is recommended for Shraddha.

29. Some opine that when the Tithi (of the death-anniversary is of the duration of two muhurtas, the Shraddha should be performed on the previous day, but o chief of sages, this is not a universally held view about the performance of Shraddha. 

30. O excellent Brahmana, when the invited Brahmanas have all assembled together, the householder with his sons purified through expiation, should formally solicit their permission. 

31. On being formally permitted to perform the Shraddha, he should invite the Brahmanas again in accordance with the injunctions—two for the purpose of Vishve-devas and three for the Pitrus. 

32. Or he should invite one for each, i.e., for Devas and the Pitrus respectively; when he has been permitted to perform Shraddha, he should make two mystic diagrams called Mandala10 (on the ground).

10. There is nothing mystical here but application of the rules of SK. grammar: The use of genitive case: asmat-pitru-pitámahaprapitämahanam-idam asanam/ (This seat is for my father, grand-father, great-grand-father). 

The use of the accusative case: pitru-pitämahån åvähayāmi (I invoke my father...great grand sire). RV.X.16.12 uses the same case wherein Agni is requested to invite the ancestors. 

33. The diagram of a Brahmana (performer of Shraddha) should be square or four-cornered; that of the Kshatriya triangular; that of a Vaishya should be known as circular. As for a Shudra the consecration by sprinkling is enough. 

34. If Brahmanas are not available, one should engage even one's own brother or son or the Atman himself but he should never engage a Brahmana devoid of the Vedas. 

35. He should wash the feet of the Brahmanas. After they had performed the Achamana rite, they must be seated. Remembering Lord Narayana, they should be suitably worshipped. 

36. Repeating the ŘK mantra Apahataḥ (RV. X.76.4, V.S. II.29) etc., the householder should strew gingelly seeds in between the Brahmanas and at the threshold. 

37. He should offer the seat to the devas by means of barley grains and Darbha grass, saying "This is the seat unto the Vishve-Devas”. After giving this, he should offer Kshana-pratikshana (a formality of invitation). 

38. For the expression of imperishability and the offering of seat, Shashti (the genitive case) is used; in invoking Dvitiya (the accusative case) is used; in offering food Chaturthi (the Dative case) is used; all the rest are addressed as Sambuddhis (the Vocative case).11

11. The use of the Dative case; pitre idam arghyaṁ dattam na mama / 'The Arghya is given to my father'...saying this the performer is to offer water mixed with sesamum seed on the palm of the invited Brāhmaṇa.

39. He should take up two vessels joined together by means of the Darbha grass. Repeating the ruk Shanno Devi (Vaj.S. 36.12, (RV.X.9.4)- (May the divine waters be for our happiness, etc.), he should sprinkle water on it. 

40. Restrained in speech he should offer scents and flowers after putting barley grains repeating the Mantra Yavosi 

(V.S.5.26) etc. Thereafter, he should invoke Devas by means of the ruk Vishve devāsaḥ (RV.I.3.7, V.S.7.34)- “Come, Ye all gods, listen to this my call and sit on this darbha grass.” 

41. With great attention he should offer Arghya repeating the Mantra Ya Divya (TB.II.7.15.4a), etc. Thereafter, he should worship by means of scents, leaves, flowers, incense and lamps. 

42. After being permitted by the Brahmanas representing Devas, he should worship the groups of the Pitrus. He should offer them good seats by means of Darbhas mixed with sesamum seeds. 

43. He should take up three vessels. The Brahmana should place them as before for the purpose of Arghya. Reciting the Mantra shanno Devi (RV.X.9.4) etc. he should pour water and then put gingelly seeds repeating Tilosi (Ashvalayana Gr. S.4.7.11), etc. 

44. With great attention the Brahmana should invoke the Pitrus by means of the k Ushantaḥ (RV.X.16.12) etc. He should offer Arghya as before by means of the Mantra ra Divya, etc. (TB.II.7.4a). 

45. O excellent one, he should honour and worship them in accordance with his capacity, by means of scents, leaves, flowers, incense and lamps as well as garments and ornaments.

Agnau-Karana12

12. VV 46-51 describe what is technically known as agnau-karana. When domestic sacrificial fires are not maintained (as is the case of majority of homes now-a-days), the right hand of the Brahmana is regarded as fire and the oblations are offered in his hand as if it is the sacrificial fire, with the mantras mentioned in these verses.

46. The intelligent householder should take up a portion of the cooked rice soaked in ghee and say, “I shall consign it to the fire", and solicit their formal permission. 

47. O sage, on being asked by him saying, “May I do?", “Let me do”, those Brahmanas should say, "Please do", "It may be done”, “You may do". 

48. After kindling the fire for worship in accordance with the injunctions mentioned in his own Gruhyasutras, he should utter thus “Svadha and obeisance to Soma accompanied by the Pitrus. 

49. Or he should utter--"Svadha and obeisance to Agni the conveyor of the Kavya". Or as in the Pitru Yajna, the intelligent householder can perform Homa by means of Svaha endings as well. 

50. The satisfaction of the Pitrus shall be everlasting even, thanks to these two Ahutis. If the fire is not available, Homa can be performed in the hands of the Brahmana. 

51. O Brahmana, he should perform it in the hand or in the fire according to the conventional practice. When the Parvana rites are to be performed, fire cannot be kept far off. 

52. O Brahmana, if the Agni is far off, when the Parvana rites are in vogue, he should kindle the fire (ordinary fire, not the hereditarily kept one) perform the rite and be contented after ritualistically dismissing it. 

53-55. When the day of death-anniversary arrives but the hereditary fire is not available, he should make his brothers duly perform the Shraddha, those brothers who are Brahmanas with the sacrificial fire (duly maintained). When the Upasana fire (traditionally kept fire or gruhyagni) is far off, but the brother is nearby and the brothers are maintaining only ordinary fire, if the Homa is performed in the worldly fire or in the hand (of the Brahmanas) he would be a sinner; when the Upasana fire is far off, some Brahmanas wish for this (i.e., they recommend it). 

56. The balance of that he should strew into the dishes of the Brahmanas duly remembering Hari. He should propitiate the Brahmanas with various kinds of edibles, tasty dishes and lambatives. 

57-58. With due attention on either side, he should perform the rite of Annatyāga— “Eschewal of the food”. He should then pray to Devas--"O Vishve Devas, O powerful ones, O blessed ones, come ye all. Be alert in your respective places wherever you have been enjoined and he should repeat the ruk Ye Devasaḥ (RV.I.139.11, etc.)

59-61. By means of the ruk Ye cha ha (RV.X.15.13) he should request the Brahmanas, "Among them embodied and the unembodied Pitrus of illuminating splendour, I bow down always to them who meditate and those who have the Yogic vision.” After bowing to the Pitrus thus, he should be devoted to Narayana and offer the rite, and havis that had been offered to Vishnu. Thereafter, all the Brahmanas should be restrained in speech and partake of the food. 

62. If anyone speaks out or laughs, the Havis offering shall become one pertaining to the Rakshasas. According to convention wine and meat can be served. 

63-65a. Those persons of restrained speech and occupying the (place near) the plates (dishes), should praise the cooking, etc. If any Brahmana engaged in the Shraddha, sets aside his dish, he should be known as the destroyer of Shraddha. He is fit only for the hell. If the Brahmanas taking food touch one another, they should continue their meal, but after completing it, they should perform one hundred and eight Japa of the Gayatri mantra. 

65b-67. While Brahmanas partake of their food, he should remember Lord Narayana with great faith. He should remember the infinite Lord, the unvanquished deity. He should repeat the hymns pertaining to Vishnu, the Rakşhoghni hymns (viz. RV.IV.4. 1-15, RV.X.87, VII.104, X. 118 and 162). He should specially recite the hymns pertaining to Pitrus (viz. RV.X.15. 1-13). He should perform the japa of (or recite) the Purusha Sukta (RV.X.90), the three Nachiketa hymns13, the Tri-madhu14 (RV.I. 90-6-8), Trisuparna15 (RV. V. 57.2), Pavamana Sukta and hymns from the Yajur Veda. 

13. Though the translation follows the text tri-nächiketam... (Japet), the term tri-nachiketa is variously explained: Tri-náchiketa is a person who knows the Náchiketa fire or a person who has thrice kindled the Nāchiketa fire or a person who has studied the Anuväka called virajas. Tait. Br. (III. 11.7-8) describes the Nāchiketa fire and the story of Nachiketas.

14. Tri-madhu-The three Vedic verses (RV.I.90.6-8; VS. 13-27-29, TS. IV. 2.9.3) in which the word madhu occurs three times.

15. Tri-Suparna-Haradatta applies the name to the three Anuväkas beginning with Brahmametu mám (Tait. Ar.X.48-50). Paitrika hymns are RV. X.15.1-13. 

There has been some difference of opinion about the texts to be recited: vide Pd. P. Srushti 9.165-69 also Mt.P. 17.37-39.

68. He should repeat the Uktha and other Säman Mantras that bestow merit. He should also recite verses from Itihasas, Puranas and Dharma shastras. 

69. As long as the Brahmanas continue their meal, he should repeat these mantras, etc. O Brahmana, when the Brahmanas have completed their meal, he should strew (two lumps of rice called) Vikira. 

70-71. He should enquire “What should be done about the remaining food?" He should repeat Madhu Sukta O Narada, then he should wash his own feet and perform the Achamana rite. When the Brahmanas have finished their meals and performed the Achamana rite, he should offer the Pindas. He should then perform the rites of Svasti Vachanaka (utterance of benediction) and Akshayyodaka (getting the blessing that food and water be inexhaustible). 

72-74. After offering the same, with great concentration he should offer salutations to the Brahmanas. If the Brahmanas utter benediction without stirring the vessel, their Pitrus will be the partakers of Ucchishta (leavings of food) for a full year. With these utterances of the Smruti, viz. “May our donors flourish...” (Yajnavalkya I.245-46), etc. he should receive the blessings from them and then prostrate himself before them. According to his ability, he should offer Dakshina and the betel-leaves mixed with sweet scents. 

75. He should then bring the vessel that had been placed with face downwards and repeat the Svadha-Kara (the word Svadha). With the ruk Vaje vaje (RV.VII.38.8) etc. he should ritualistically dismiss the Pitrus and Devas. 

76. The performer of the Shraddha and the partaker of the food thereat should avoid sexual intercourse that night. He should assiduously refrain from the study of the Vedas and undertaking a long journey on foot. 

77. A wayfarer, a sick man and a person devoid of funds should perform Amashraddha (Shraddha with uncooked rice). One whose wife cannot be touched (i.e., is in her monthly courses) shall perform Shraddha through the offer of gold. 

78. If funds are not available, or if the Brahmanas are not available he should prepare the food alone. The wise man should then perform the Homa repeating the Sukta belonging to the Pitrus.

79. If one cannot afford the Havya offerings at all, he may offer grass unto the cows according to his ability. O Brahmana, as an alternative, let him take his bath and duly perform the Tarpana rite with gingelly seeds. 

80. Or he may go to a lonely forest and lament very loudly. The wise man should proclaim “I am indigent. I am a great sinner". 

81. If a performer of Shraddha does not perform the rite of Tarpana for the Pitrus, the next day that family will perish. He will incur the sin of Brahmana-slaughter. 

82. O leading sage, those faithful persons who perform Shraddha do become rich. Their line is never extinct. 

83. Virtually, Vishnu has been worshipped by those who worship the pitrus. If the Lord of the Universe is pleased, the deities are also pleased. 

84. It is eternal Hari himself who manifests as the Pitrus, deities, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Yakshas, Siddhas, and human beings. 

85. Hence, the person who performs the Shraddha and he who partakes of it-everyone is Vishnu, the eternal Lord, from whom the entire universe including the mobile and immobile beings, has originated. 

86. O Brahmana, whatever exists, what does not exist, the visible and the invisible-everything should be known as identical with Vishnu. There is nothing else other than that. 

87. He is the being that supports the universe; He is the Atman of all living beings. He comprises all beings in himself; He is unchanging and of incomparable nature. He is the Lord who partakes of Havya and Kavya. 

88. Janardana is the only Lord who can be called Parabrahman (the Supreme Brahman). The eternal Vishnu does everything himself and makes everyone do so. 

89. Thus, O excellent sage, the excellent procedure of the Shraddha rite has been narrated to you. The sins of those who perform it, perish instantaneously. 

90. If any excellent Brahmana reads this with piety and devotional feelings at the time of Shraddha, the Pitrus are delighted, his progeny flourishes.