Skandapurana 5.224

English (machine translation) 5.224

Language: English

5.224.1

Ānarta said: / Tell me the procedure for the ekoddiṣṭa, O best of speakers, / just as the pārvaṇa was described in full detail, O noble-minded one.

5.224.2

Bhartṛyajña said: / Hear now of the three [rites] prior to the gathering of the bones: / one should perform the śrāddha at that place where death occurs;

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then the ekoddiṣṭa on the road where rest was taken; / then at the place of bone-gathering the third śrāddha is prescribed.

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On the first day, the second day, on the fifth, likewise on the seventh, / on the ninth, and on the tenth: these are the nine śrāddhas.

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And upon reaching the Vaitaraṇī, the deceased spirit attains satisfaction. / The ekoddiṣṭa is devoid of deities, having a single argha and a single pavitra,

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and must be performed without the invocation, O best of kings. / Likewise, the question about satisfaction should be asked, and 'svadita' [is uttered] once then.

The dismissal of the brahmin is with the formula 'abhiramyatām'. / One should make two blades of darbha grass with uncut tips and unsevered ends; / one should know that to be the pavitra prescribed in the ekoddiṣṭa.

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Everywhere [the vocative] 'O Father' (pitaḥ) is prescribed; [the nominative] 'father' (pitā) in the rite of tarpaṇa; / and in ancestral rites at the time of resolution (saṅkalpa); and [the genitive] 'of the father' (pituḥ) at the offering of the inexhaustible (akṣayya). / 8

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Everywhere the gotra ending in a vowel [is used]; [the locative/vocative] gotre in the rite of tarpaṇa; / gotrāya [dative] in the rule of preparation; and gotrasya [genitive] at the offering of the inexhaustible. / 9

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[The vocative] śarman when the arghya and so forth is to be performed; [the nominative] śarmā in the rite of tarpaṇa; / [the dative] śarmaṇe in the offering of grain; and [the genitive] śarmaṇaḥ in the rite of the inexhaustible. / 6.225.10

5.224.11

Mātar [vocative] for the mother, and mātre [dative] and mātuḥ [genitive] in the seat, preparation, and inexhaustible [offering]; / gotre [vocative], gotrāyai [dative], and gotrāyāḥ [genitive] are the case endings beginning with the first. / 11

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Devi, devyai, and devyāḥ—thus one should utter for the mother as well. / The nominative, dative, and genitive are used for the accomplishment of the śrāddha. / 12

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If a śrāddha is performed devoid of case endings or through inversion, / one should know that it is undone; it does not reach the ancestors. / 13

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Therefore, with every effort, by a learned brahmin / the rite should always be performed in the śrāddha with the case endings as stated. / 14

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Thereafter, the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa is prescribed after a year; / or, if an auspicious increase (vṛddhi) is impending, one should cause it to be done even prior [to that]. / 15

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It should be performed for the deceased (preta) by the rite prescribed for pārvaṇa, dedicated to three deities, devoid of [offerings to] the viśvedevas, / and as a single-destination (ekoddiṣṭa) [rite], O king. / 16

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And in my traditional view, it is with a single cooking [of the offering]. / Taking up the vessel of arghya that was prepared for the sake of the deceased, / 17

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one should pour it threefold into the three vessels of the ancestors. / Likewise, dividing the lump of food (piṇḍa) into three, [he joins them] into the three lumps of the ancestors, / 18

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with the two mantras beginning with 'ye samānāḥ'. Thenceforth he is no longer a preta. / Having then performed the avanejana, in proper order beginning with the father, / 19

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he should again bestow everything, beginning with incense and sandal-paste. / Uttering [the names] beginning with the father, he should omit the fourth. / 6.225.20

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Some make the preta the fourth [ancestor] after their own father; / the śrāddha would then be before the father, but this is not my opinion. / 21

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After the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, one should not cause an ekoddiṣṭa to be performed, / except on the anniversary of death and on the fourteenth day for those slain by weapons. / 22

5.224.23

He who assigns a separate piṇḍa to a deceased person who has undergone sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, / should know that it is undone, and he becomes a slayer of his ancestors. / 23

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He whose father is deceased, but whose grandfather is alive, / having uttered the father's name, should utter the great-grandfather's. / 24

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For the grandfather eats and receives the piṇḍa in person. / And on the anniversary of the grandfather's death, a pārvaṇa-śrāddha is prescribed. / 25

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Leaving out one's own father, it is never offered to him. / From a śrāddha left unperformed for him, no small fear arises from the ancestors. / 26

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On all new moon days when the father is dead, a pārvaṇa [śrāddha is performed]; / and this is declared [also] in the midst of the dark fortnight of Bhādrapada. / 27

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As long as the status of sapiṇḍa is not attained, one should not perform [that] śrāddha. / 28

5.224.29

When the father has met with death, and the fortnight of śrāddha arrives, / the śrāddha must be performed for the grandfather and the rest, since there is not yet unity of the piṇḍa. / 29

5.224.225

Thus ends the two hundred and twenty-fifth chapter, titled 'Description of the Rule of Sapiṇḍīkaraṇa', in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection of the glorious Skandapurāṇa. / 225

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit