Skandapurana 5.218

English (machine translation) 5.218

Language: English

5.218.1

Bhartṛyajña said: / Now I shall tell you, O lord of the earth, of the optional śrāddhas, / by performing which a mortal obtains that which resides in his heart.

5.218.2

He who desires a woman rich in beauty and adorned with good conduct, / in this world and in the next, for him the first day is fit.

And that which is the primary [day] of the śrāddha fortnight of the ancestors, O king; / he who desires an excellent maiden endowed with good conduct and beauty, / by him a śrāddha should be performed on the second day, O lord of the earth.

5.218.4

The man who desires horses equal to the speed of the wind in swiftness, / by that wise man a śrāddha should be performed on the third day.

5.218.5

He who desires excellent cattle, and movable and immovable wealth, / should perform a śrāddha on the fourth [day] for the satisfaction of the ancestors.

5.218.6

He who desires desirable sons, well-behaved and ornaments to the lineage, / should always perform a śrāddha on the fifth [day], O ruler of men.

5.218.7

O king, he who, gone to the other world, desires a śrāddha / offered by his descendants, by that wise man a śrāddha should be performed on the sixth [day].

5.218.8

He who desires success in agriculture, both of the summer and of the autumn, / it is suitable for him to perform a śrāddha on the seventh [day], without a doubt.

5.218.9

He who desires success in commodities arising from commerce, / it is suitable for him to perform a śrāddha on the eighth [day], O ruler of men.

5.218.10

Performing a śrāddha on the ninth [day], one would obtain various herds of four-footed beasts, / good fortune, the destruction of disease, and union with the beloved.

5.218.11

He who performs a śrāddha on the tenth day with focused mind, / his desired success would be attained in all undertakings at all times.

5.218.12

On the eleventh [day], the performer of the śrāddha would obtain wealth and grain, / as well as the favor of the king, and whatever else is in his mind.

5.218.13

And he who performs a śrāddha on the twelfth [day], endowed with faith, / would obtain excellent sons and desired cattle.

5.218.14

The man who desires liberation for himself together with his ancestors, / and who is without offspring, for his śrāddha the thirteenth [day] is prescribed.

5.218.15

He who desires offspring and performs it [then], his family lineage would perish; / the thirteenth [day] is not prescribed for him for the increase of offspring.

5.218.16

In the rite of śrāddha, O king of kings, there is this ancient traditional saying: / 'May that [man] be born in our lineage who will offer to us on the thirteenth [day]

5.218.17

milk-rice with honey and clarified butter during the rainy season and under the asterism Maghā.' / At the conjunction of Maghā and the thirteenth [day], he should worship the ancestors with milk-rice.

5.218.18

His ancestors do not desire the hospitable rite of śrāddha for that year; / being afraid of excessive religious merit, the offering of rice-balls was rejected.

5.218.19

On that day, the fear of a son's death was shown by Śakra. / And for those who have died by weapons, or suffered an unnatural death,

5.218.20

and for those who died of a pestilence, those who met death by poison, / those burned by fire, those who met death by water,

5.218.21

and those killed by snakes and wild beasts, by horns or by hanging, / an ekoddiṣṭa rite should be performed on the fourteenth [day], O ruler of men.

5.218.22

When that is performed, their satisfaction arising from that fortnight will take place.

5.218.23

All desires previously declared to you by me, O king, / one obtains from a śrāddha on the day of the new moon; of this there is no doubt.

5.218.24

This entire fruit of optional śrāddhas has been told to you, O king, / hearing which a mortal obtains all desired wishes.

5.218.219

Thus ends the two hundred and nineteenth chapter, named 'Description of Optional Śrāddhas' in the Śrāddhakalpa of the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the sixth [part] of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit