Skandapurana 5.223

English (machine translation) 5.223

Language: English

5.223.1

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.

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

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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:

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

5.223.5

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!"

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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;

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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].

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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.

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

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

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"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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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!'

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

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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.

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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:

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'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.'

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

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

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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,

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

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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:

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'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!'

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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:

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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,

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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:

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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.

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

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

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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—

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

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

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

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

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'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.

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

5.223.51

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.

5.223.52

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

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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.

5.223.224

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].

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit