Markandeyapurana 32
English (machine translation) 32
- Language
- English
Contents
- 32.39 — 3 parts
32.1
Listen further to this, O son: what is offered with devotion / for the pleasure of the ancestors, what is to be avoided, and what brings pleasure.
32.2
The satisfaction of the ancestors lasts for a month through sacrificial food. / The forefathers attain satisfaction for two months through fish-meat.
32.3
Meat of deer should be known to provide satisfaction for the ancestors for three months, / and the flesh of a hare nourishes the ancestors for four months.
32.4
Meat of birds [nourishes them] indeed for five months, meat of boar for six months, / goat-meat indeed for seven months, and that of the spotted deer provides satisfaction for eight months.
32.5
The meat of the ruru deer certainly produces satisfaction for nine [months], no doubt; / the flesh of the gayal produces satisfaction for ten months.
32.6
Likewise, mutton gives satisfaction to the ancestors for eleven months; / and cow's milk or pāyasa [satisfies them] for a year.
32.7
The flesh of a vārdhrīṇasa rhinoceros, sword-fish meat, black greens, and honey, / meat offered by a daughter’s son, and whatever else is offered by those born in one’s own family—
32.8
these, and likewise the hornless red goat, bestow infinite satisfaction / upon the ancestors, dear son, as does a śrāddha at Gayā; of this there is no doubt.
32.9
Śyāmāka and royal śyāmāka, and likewise prasātikā, / nīvāra, and abundant grains are for the satisfaction of the ancestors.
32.10
Barley, rice, along with wheat, sesamum, mudga beans along with mustard, / priyaṅgu, kovidāra, and niṣpāva beans are exceedingly splendid.
32.11
Markaṭaka beans should be avoided in a śrāddha, as should rājamāṣa beans and aṇu grains;
viprāṣikā and masūra lentils are also condemned in the śrāddha ritual.
32.12
Garlic, leeks, onions, turnip roots,
karambha porridge, and whatever else is deficient in taste or colour,
32.13
gāndhārikā, bitter bottle-gourds, salt from saline soil,
resins that are reddish, and visible mineral salt,
32.14
these are to be avoided in a śrāddha, as well as whatever is not praised in speech,
what has been acquired through bribes and the like, or obtained from an outcaste,
32.15
and wealth derived from an unlawful bride-price is condemned here.
Foul-smelling, frothy water, and likewise very scanty water,
32.16
where a cow cannot find satisfaction, and what has been fetched at night,
what is not offered for all birds, and undrinkable water from a trough—
32.17
that water should always be avoided, my dear son, in rites for the ancestors;
as well as milk of deer, sheep, camels, and of all one-hoofed animals,
32.18
of buffaloes, yaks, and of a cow within ten days of calving,
and whatever is obtained by saying, 'Give it to me for the sake of the ancestors!'
32.19
Such milk should always be avoided by the good in the śrāddha rite.
Land full of vermin, parched, or scorched by fire should be avoided;
32.20
and in this rite, land that has unpleasant, bad noises or harsh, foul smells.
Those who dishonour their family, having assembled at a śrāddha, or those who harm their family,
32.21
the naked, and sinners destroy the ancestral rite merely with their gaze;
a eunuch, an outcast, a rooster, a village pig,
32.22
and a dog ruin the śrāddhas, as do sorcerers, by their sight.
Therefore, one should offer it closely enclosed, scattering sesame seeds on the ground.
32.23
Thus protection is secured in a śrāddha, dear son, for both [the performer and the meal].
Food touched by those defiled by a corpse or childbirth, or by the chronically ill,
32.24
or by outcastes and the filthy, does not nourish the grandfathers.
Likewise, the sight of a menstruating woman must be avoided at a śrāddha;
32.25
so too close contact with shaven-headed ascetics and drunkards by the sacrificer out of respect.
Food contaminated with hair or insects, and likewise looked upon by dogs,
32.26
foul, stale food, eggplants, and sour gruels
must indeed be avoided in a śrāddha, as well as what has been fanned by the wind from a cloth.
32.27
Given with supreme faith, according to name and gotra, to the ancestors,
whatever food they come to eat [in their new births], it turns into that very food.
32.28
Therefore, by one possessing faith, into a worthy recipient, whatever is commended in ancestral rites
must be duly given by one desiring the satisfaction of the ancestors.
32.29
And yogins should always be fed at a śrāddha by a wise man;
for the ancestors depend on yoga; therefore one should always worship them.
32.30
If a yogin is the foremost guest before thousands of brahmins,
he ferries across both the sacrificer and the partakers, like a boat across the water.
32.31
Gāthās of the ancestors are also sung here in this regard by the proclaimers of the Veda,
which were previously sung by the ancestors to the king, the son of Ilā:
32.32
'When will an eminent son be born in our lineage to someone,
who will offer a piṇḍa on the earth with the food left over after yogins have eaten?
32.33
Or an offering at Gayā, rhinoceros meat as a great oblation,
kālaśāka greens, or rice cooked with sesamum and beans for a month's satisfaction!
32.34
Rhino meat is fit for the all-gods and auspicious, a supreme oblation;
by the acquisition of hornless rhinoceros meat, we enjoy it until the sun lasts.
32.35
He should perform a śrāddha on the thirteenth lunar day under the asterism Maghā according to the rules,
with milk-rice combined with honey and ghee, during the southern course of the sun.'
32.36
Therefore a man should worship his ancestors with devotion, O son,
desiring all wishes and the release of himself from sin.
32.37
The Vasus, the Rudras, the Ādityas, the lunar mansions, the planets, and the stars
are pleased by men whose ancestors are gratified by a śrāddha.
32.38
Longevity, intellect, wealth, learning, heaven, liberation, and happiness,
as well as kingship, the ancestors bestow when gratified by a śrāddha.
32.39
This rite of the śrāddha has been told to you, O son, as traditionally prescribed.
Now hear, child, the declaration of lunar days for optional śrāddhas.
32.39.p1
Thus ends the thirty-second chapter, named 'The Injunctions for the Śrāddha', in the venerable Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa.
32.39.p2
Thirty-third Chapter
32.39.p3
Madālasā said:
Translations (1)
- The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa — Frederick Eden Pargiter 1888, English
Linked texts (1)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit