Skandapurana 5.216

English (machine translation) 5.216

Language: English

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Ānarta said: / By what rite is the whole śrāddha to be performed, O lord of sages? / Explain that to me today in its entirety; great faith has arisen in me.

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Bhartṛyajña said: / Listen, O king, I will explain the supreme rite of the śrāddha, / which grants constant satisfaction to the ancestors and bestows all desires upon men.

One should procure the items for the śrāddha with wealth earned by one's own labor, / not by deceit or other [wicked means], not by theft, not through fraud, and not by cheating. / One should gather the material for the śrāddha with wealth earned by one's own livelihood; / for brahmins, [wealth] derived from worthy gifts is superior.

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For a king, it should be obtained through protection; for a vaiśya, from agriculture; / and for a śūdra, obtained through trade: [with such] it is enjoined to perform a śrāddha.

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When wealth endowed with such purity has thus been brought near one's house, / having approached on the evening of the previous day the twice-born worthy of a śrāddha,

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having gone to their house, purified and free from desire and anger, / he should invite ascetics, next snātakas, and performers of sacred rites;

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in their absence, householders devoted to the knowledge of Brahman, / brahmins devoted to the agnihotra, and those proficient in the learning of the Vedas;

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and Vedic scholars, as well as elders, those always devoted to the six duties, / those having many servants and dependents, the poor who are endowed with good qualities,

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those free from bodily defects, free from disease, of subdued diet, and pure. / These are the brahmins proclaimed worthy of a śrāddha, O king.

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Now hear also those who are designated unworthy; I shall tell them to you: / those with deficient limbs, those with extra limbs, omnivores, those who have neglected their sacred duties,

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those with black teeth, those with irregular teeth, those who sell the Veda, / those who corrupt the Veda, or those destitute of the Veda and the scriptures,

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those with deformed nails, those afflicted with disease, the twice-naked, those who harm others, / those burdened with public censure, atheists, and liars,

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usurers, those engaged in improper deeds, those devoid of purity and proper conduct, / those who are excessively tall, or emaciated, or obese, and the excessively hairy.

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One who desires the honor of the ancestors should avoid at a śrāddha hairless men, / those who take pleasure in another's wife, and one who is the husband of a vṛṣalī.

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A barren woman is indeed called a vṛṣalī, and a vṛṣalī is one whose offspring have died; / another declared to be a vṛṣalī is a maiden who has menstruated [unmarried].

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A eunuch, a thief, an impostor, those who earn a living by slandering the king, / one born of a woman of the same gotra, and the son of a woman sharing the same pravara,

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a younger brother who has set up the sacred fires first, or who has married first, / and he who was consecrated before [his elder brother]: such a one along with his household is to be rejected;

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one who abandons father and mother, and likewise one who defiles his guru's bed, / one who abandons a faultless wife, an ungrateful man, and a cultivator of the soil,

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one who lives by a craft, a negligent man, one who lives by merchandise, one who bears arms— / these whose lineage is not known, one must avoid at a śrāddha.

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Henceforth I shall speak of those who are commended in the śrāddha rite, / the brahmins who were renowned of old as sanctifiers of the row [of diners] for sins:

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one who knows the Triṇāciketa, the Trimadhu, the Trisuparṇa, one who knows the six auxiliaries of the Veda, / one who has bathed upon completing both sacred study and vows, one who recites the Dharmadroṇa,

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one who knows the Purāṇas, a wise man, one to be recognized as knowing the Jyeṣṭhasāman, / one who knows the Atharvaśiras, one who attends sacrifices, a doer of good deeds,

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one who immediately washes [clean], a blameless man, a daughter's son, / a son-in-law, a sister's son, one devoted to helping others,

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an eater of sweet food, one whose speech is sweet, and one who is always devoted to recitation of mantras— / all these brahmins are to be recognized without exception as sanctifiers of the row.

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Mingled with these, even all censured twice-born born of good families / bring satisfaction to the ancestors once they have dined.

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Therefore, by every effort the lineage of the twice-born must be known, / then conduct, age, name, and after that the giving of a maiden.

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If a man gives a śrāddha or a maiden to one devoid of learning and good conduct, / even if he knows the law, it is as if he made an oblation without fire,

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or sowed grain in saline soil, or pounded empty husks. / Therefore, one should employ at a śrāddha those endowed with the conduct of their lineage,

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brahmins, O tiger among kings, even if possessing little learning. / Knowing those brahmins thus, and then taking hold of their feet,

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carefully with the left hand and with the right, / having bowed again and again to an even number [of them] according to one's ability,

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and then touching the right knee, he should utter this mantra: / 'May the fortunate and exceedingly mighty Viśvedevas come,

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summoned with devotion by me; and may you too be a participant in this observance.' / Having thus invited an even number of twice-born for the sake of the Viśvedevas,

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then shifting the sacred thread to the right side, he should invite for the sake of the ancestors / three brahmins, according to his ability, separately for each one,

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or one for each, or he may invite just one for the three. / On the mother's side also, this very rite is prescribed for the brahmins.

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Then, touching the two feet of the twice-born, he should say this / with a mind purified by faith, devoted to honoring the ancestors:

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'May my father, and likewise my grandfather, / along with his own father, truly enter this body of yours, and may you be devoted to the observance.'

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Having thus summoned the paternal ancestors and then the maternal grandfathers, / those invited brahmins, practicing self-restraint,

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and the sacrificer with a tranquil mind, observing celibacy, / having passed that night and arisen early in the morning,

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should strictly avoid on that day anger, Vedic recitation, vile acts, / anointing with oil, exhaustion, travel, and riding a mount.

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Then, when the sun has reached the zenith, at the time called kutapa, / having bathed, wearing white garments, having gratified the ancestors and the gods, / and having invited those Brahmins who are contented, one should perform the śrāddha, 41

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in a secluded, pleasant spot in the middle of the house, sloping toward the south, / where the gaze of sinful men of cruel deeds does not fall. 42

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A śrāddha that is looked upon by a dog, a menstruating woman, / an outcaste, or a boar, that śrāddha goes in vain. 43

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And food that is stale, smeared with oil, / with hair, or contemptible, if given, that śrāddha goes in vain. 44

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A śrāddha lacking proper distribution, and devoid of silence, / and that which lacks a sacrificial fee, that śrāddha goes in vain. 45

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Where the sounds of the grindstone and the mortar are heard, / or especially that of a winnowing basket, that śrāddha goes in vain. 46

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Where a quarrel arises while it is being prepared, / and especially discrimination in the dining row, that śrāddha goes in vain. 47

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That which is performed in the morning, at night, or during the two twilights, / or in an open space under the sky, that śrāddha goes in vain. 48

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If a brahmin or the patron, without celibacy, / eats or offers a śrāddha, O king, that goes in vain. 49

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Grain with husks, pulse, leftover food, / or half-consumed ghee and milk that is given, that śrāddha goes in vain. 50

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At which times a śrāddha that is given becomes imperishable, / those I shall declare; listen with a focused mind, O king. 51

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I shall also tell you of the manvādi days; listen to them, O ruler of men: / they are ever dear to the ancestors and destroy all sins. 52

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On these days, even water mixed with sesame seeds poured upon the earth / for the ancestors with a mind purified by faith becomes inexhaustible. 53

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The bright ninth of Āśvina, the twelfth of Kārttika, / the third of Māgha, and likewise [the third] of Bhādrapada, 54

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the new moon of Tapasya, the eleventh of Pauṣa, / likewise the tenth of Āṣāḍha, the seventh of the month of Māgha, 55

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the dark eighth of Śrāvaṇa, the full moon of Āṣāḍha, / likewise that of the month of Kārttika, and another of Phālguna, 56

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and those of Caitra and the month of Jyeṣṭha—these five full moons, O king: / these lunar days are declared by me to be the beginnings of the Manvantaras, O king. 57

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Having bathed on these days, whoever offers even water mixed with sesame and darbha grass / designated for the ancestors goes to the supreme state. 58

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In this world and in the next, by the favor of the ancestors— / what need then to speak of [offerings of] various foods, delicacies, clothes, and sacrificial fees? 59

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Now listen, O best of kings, to the beginnings of the Yugas, dear to the ancestors, / by the mere praise of which the accumulation of sin is destroyed. 60

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The bright ninth of Kārttika, the bright third of Mādhava, / the new moon of Tapas, and the thirteenth of Nabhasya: 61

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these are the beginnings of the Tretā, Kṛta, Kali, and Dvāpara [yugas] respectively. / In bathing, giving, recitation of mantras, oblation, and especially ancestral libation, 62

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they render the performed meritorious deed inexhaustible and of great fruit. / When the sun enters Aries or when it goes to Libra, 63

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that time is called the equinox and produces inexhaustible merit. / When the sun goes to Capricorn and Cancer, O king, 64

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that is called the solstice; yet the equinox is distinguished. / The transit of the sun into a zodiac sign is spoken of as a saṃkrānti. 65

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Bearing great fruit in bathing, giving, recitation of mantras, śrāddha, oblation, and the like, / the times beginning with the Tretā and the saṃkrāntis have been described in order; / there is no obstacle in these, and what is given is termed imperishable. 66

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Whatever is given by men, even without faith, even to unworthy recipients, / and even out of season, all of that immediately becomes truly imperishable. 67

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Thus ends the two hundred and seventeenth chapter, named 'The Description of the Ascertainment of Proper Materials, Brahmins, and Times for Śrāddha in the Rite of Śrāddha,' in the Māhātmya of Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] in the Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses, the glorious Skandapurāṇa. 217

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit