Skandapurana 5.223

Ānarta said: / I have heard, O highly fortunate one, of the brahmins who are worthy of śrāddha, / and of the many sons who are to be rejected, O you of noble vows.

Now tell us the procedure accompanied by mantras / that must always be performed by a householder for the satisfaction of the ancestors.

Bhartṛyajña said: / Having bowed and invited the excellent brahmins for the śrāddha, / having brought them at the kutapa hour, he should pray thus to them all:

"May the highly fortunate, mighty Viśvedevas come; / may those who are appointed for this śrāddha be attentive!"

Having thus worshiped all of them, then having circumambulated them clockwise, / placing both knees upon the ground, he should then offer the water of hospitality.

With this mantra, O ruler of kings, with flowers, unbroken rice grains, and sandalwood paste: / "May the best of the twice-born accept this offering of hospitality given by me; / for the washing of feet, may you do what is pleasing to me!"

Having spoken thus, on the surface of the earth smeared [with cow dung], / he should then scatter darbha grass with unbroken rice grains, pronouncing [the names of] the Viśvedevas.

Then, having worn the sacred cord over the right shoulder, / he should throw double-folded darbha grass accompanied by sesame seeds onto the ground, intending it for his ancestors.

In this way, all rites for the gods are to be performed with the sacred cord over the left shoulder, / and those for the ancestors with the sacred cord over the right shoulder, except for the ancestors having joyful faces.

All are to be seated facing east in pairs according to capacity, O king, / and the ancestors on the mother's side are to be seated facing north.

There may be one each, or three each, or each one separately; / he should seat the ancestral [brahmins] in order for the satisfaction of the ancestors.

He should offer them a seat with the genitive case ending, / using straight darbha grass with unbroken rice grains and water, from the right side;

to an uneven [number of ancestral brahmins], with double-folded darbha grass together with sesame seeds from the left side. / Having poured water into the hand, he must never [place] darbha grass [in the hand].

If a man devoid of understanding places a seat made of darbha grass in the hand, / the ancestors do not take their seat on that seat.

The invocation is to be made with the accusative case ending, / so that all of them, called individually, will come.

If he should invoke the ancestors with any other case ending, / the highly fortunate ones do not come, even though they might be hungry.

"O Viśvedevas, come!"—with this mantra, O ruler of the earth, / their invocation is to be made with unbroken rice grains from near the head.

With "Desiring you, [we place you]..." and with sesame seeds, he should then invoke the ancestors; / then he should murmur "May they come to us...", O best of kings.

With the mantra "May the divine [waters] be for our welfare..." accompanied by the utterance "svāhā", / he should likewise pour water into the hospitality vessels of the ancestors.

With "You are barley, separate us [from our sins]...", he should throw unbroken grains there; / he should give sandalwood paste, fragrant flowers, and incense in proper order; / with a concentrated mind, he should offer the water of hospitality into their hands that have purificatory loops.

With the mantra 'yā divyāḥ' accompanied by the exclamation 'svāhā', / he should likewise pour water into the ancestors' argha vessels.

He should scatter sesamum seeds with: 'You are sesamum, sacred to Soma, created by the gods at the Gosava; / mingled with the ancients through svadhā, gladden these ancestors and these worlds for us, svadhā!'

Then indeed, with the mantra 'yā divyāḥ', he should present the arghya, / taking up all the arghya vessels into the vessel for the ancestors.

Then, accompanied by the mantra, he should place that vessel face down. / One who desires a full lifespan must not look at that water with his eyes.

Then he should offer [articles] beginning with sandalwood and ending with lamps. / Next, taking the cooked food, he should ask the brahmins, best of the twice-born:

'I shall perform the burnt offering in the fire pertaining to the ancestors. / O sirs, let permission be granted to me as I wear the sacred thread over the right shoulder.'

When told by them, 'Do so,' he approaches the fireplace; / the first oblation is: 'To Agni the bearer of the kavyas, svāhā!'

And after that: 'To Soma accompanied by the ancestors, svadhā!' / The offered food and what remains are given to those worthy of the śrāddha.

Having then given the desired food, touching the dish, he should recite prayers; / taking the brahmin's thumb and placing it within the cooked food,

taking [the vessel] with 'pṛthivī te pātraṃ' and with the Vaiṣṇava verse. / And one must not give plain salt with one's own hand.

What plain salt is given with one's own hand, O king, / makes that śrāddha futile, if it is given while held and half-consumed. / Knowing the brahmins to be sated, he should then scatter food in front of them:

'May the living beings who have been burned by fire and those not burned in my family / be satisfied by what is given on the ground, and being sated, may they attain the supreme state!'

Having given water once each, he should recite the triplet of the Gāyatrī. / Having chanted 'madhu vātāḥ', he should then ask the best of the twice-born:

'Are you satisfied?', O best of kings; then, full of devotion, / he should request permission for the feeding of relatives with the remaining food.

Afterward, near the leftovers, he should make the altar for the ancestors; / the leftovers of those seated on the ancestors' brahmin seats are not to be near the twice-born.

Then, having prepared the ancestral altar sloping toward the south, / and having arranged darbha grass upon it, he should perform the ablution.

Afterward, with the previous case ending, he should offer the piṇḍas in due order. / Here too he should give water via the ancestral sacred ford, O king, / and he should offer a thread on each piṇḍa, separately on each of them.

One who continuously fastens a thread upon earlier piṇḍas / would cause hostility and severance among them reciprocally.

Then he should worship all the piṇḍas just as he did the best of the twice-born. / Having sipped water and washed his hands and feet, O king,

and having bowed to the ancestors, after having sprinkled thoroughly, / and doing so with the sacred thread over the left shoulder, O king of kings, having asked for excellent blessings:

Inexhaustible water is to be given, and then with the sixth [case]; / taking the purifying blades of grass, he should proclaim upwards, 'svadhā!' / When it is said by them, 'Let there be svadhā,' he should throw [them] onto the piṇḍas.

Then, taking honey, milk-rice, and water with sesamum, / he should sprinkle them over the ancestors with the mantra 'ūrjasvatīḥ'.

Turning the arghya vessel face up, he should give the priestly gift: / gold for the deities, and silver likewise for the ancestors.

Then he should offer water of blessing, beginning with the ancestors and on the left. / Neither by women, nor by a child, nor by any other person—

one should move the vessel of the śrāddha brahmin oneself alone.

Then, joining his hands in reverence, he should pray, O best of kings: / 'May the ancestors be non-terrifying; may our lineage flourish!

May our givers increase; may the Vedas and our offspring [prosper]! / May faith never abandon us, and may we have much to bestow!

May our food be abundant, and may we receive guests! / May there be suitors coming to us, and may we never beg from anyone!'

'May these very blessings be granted! May the Viśvedevas be pleased!' Then, / he should give water for well-being, beginning with the ancestors and on the left.

And after that, he should dismiss [them] with the verse 'vāje vāje'. / Having circumambulated clockwise with 'ā mā vājasya', he should seat them.

Having massaged their feet, he should follow them as far as the boundary. / And from that he should cast an offering, and then take food.

In silence, as long as the sun is visible, O lord of men.

And the man performing the śrāddha who eats when the sun has set— / that śrāddha of his becomes futile; therefore, one should not eat at night.

Thus ends the two hundred and twenty-fourth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Rules for the Śrāddha' in the Śrāddhakalpa of the Hāṭakeśvarakṣetramāhātmya, in the sixth Nāgarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].