Manavashrautasutra 11.9.3

Now we shall explain the ritual procedure for the prosperity ancestral rite.

Now, when an auspicious event has arrived, / the installation of deities is prescribed by tradition,

handed down by caste rule and family tradition, / the cause of prosperity for people.

And at the beginning of all ritual acts, / the Mothers along with the Lord of Hosts

are to be worshipped with effort; / worshipped, they bestow honor.

The seven beginning with Brahmāṇī are remembered, / and likewise Durgā and the guardian of the field;

they must always be worshipped at every prosperity rite, / and afterwards the nāndīmukha fathers.

Three are to be worshipped on the father's side, / and three on the maternal grandfather's side;

these are declared to be the Mothers, / with the father's or mother's sister as the eighth.

Either on bright images, / or having drawn them on cloth and the like,

or on heaps of unbroken rice grains, / [they are worshipped] separately with food offerings.

He should make the stream of Vasu attached to the wall / with clarified butter alone;

he should make seven or five [streams], / neither too low nor too high.

And concentrated in mind, he should murmur there / the longevity-giving verses for peace.

The worship of the Mothers is remembered / with auspicious songs and musical instruments.

The ritual acts that may be performed / repeatedly by the performers,

at each application, these Mothers / and the ancestral rite should not be [repeated].

The ancestral rite should be performed only once; / the offering formulas are separate.

Henceforth I shall declare / whatever distinction there is here:

Having invited brāhmaṇas in the morning, / even in number on both sides,

having seated them, he should give kuśa blades / with an upright hand.

Green darbha grass is fit for solemn sacrifice; / yellow is fit for domestic sacrifice;

that with roots belongs to the deity of the fathers; / variegated grass belongs to the All-gods.

Measuring twelve finger-breadths, prepared with the sacred part of the hand sacred to the fathers,

he should always attend upon the fathers here with devotion, just like a god.

Having seated them upon the kuśa grasses that were given with [the word] "To the fathers,"

avoiding the lineage names, he should have the guest-water presented to the fathers.

Here, placing [the sacred thread] over the right shoulder is not desired, nor is the sacred part of the hand sacred to the fathers.

He should perform the filling of the vessels and the other rites with the sacred part of the hand sacred to the gods.

Having made them in pairs, with the elder's hand higher, with strainers placed on the tips of their hands,

the guest-water should be presented; here it is not given to each one individually.

The three-fold muttering "honey, honey" that is performed there for those wishing to eat—

that [muttering] here, immediately following the Gāyatrī, is free from the three honey mantras.

A completely different muttering is to be performed, destroying demons, as in the rite for the gods.

[The word] "Is it accomplished?" is prescribed in place of the inquiry "Are you satiated?"

When "It is well accomplished" has been said, he should offer the remainder of the food.

When they are satiated, he should say "It is accomplished"; at the parvan rite [the inquiry is] "Are you satiated?"

And likewise he should distribute the scattered offering, and he should make an offering [in the fire] without verses.

And the gods who do not drink soma, who are excluded from a share of the sacrifice—

to them food is to be given, the scattered offering dedicated to the All-gods.

He should feed at least nine [brahmins], in pairs. In rites for prosperity, the attendance is clockwise; they perform the rites meant for sesame with barley grains.

He should deposit the balls mixed with curd, unbroken grains, and jujube fruits.

They gratify the cheerful-faced fathers.

With "O cheerful-faced fathers," he should perform the invitation and other acts.

And they should say: "May they be pleased"; he should put down the balls with "Svāhā."

Having honoured the fathers beginning with the mother, then likewise the maternal grandfathers,

some also [honour] the maternal grandmothers, and he should feed brahmins in pairs.

At a rite for prosperity there are two balls each for each [ancestor] of the father's father.

At the parvan rite there is a single ball, separately for each of the three [ancestors].

Water is to be offered to the three; the ball belongs to three.

The cheerful-faced rite is said to be higher, taking away name and lineage.

The father should give to his own fathers in the consecratory rites of a son.

In a marriage and the like, the son should indeed always give to his own fathers.

Not having offered to the fathers in an ancestral rite, one should not begin a Vedic ritual act.

Even prior to them, on the preceding day, [he should honour] the earlier [ancestors], and afterwards the cheerful-faced fathers.

At the establishment [of the fires] and at the two morning and evening oblations, and likewise at the Vaiśvadeva offering,

at the bali offering and on the new-moon day, and likewise on the full-moon day,

at the first-fruits rite, and at a simple domestic offering—thus the wise declare:

there should be only one ancestral rite for these, not separately for each.

Then, having sprinkled the ground in front with "May it be well sprinkled," and with "May there be auspicious waters" [he pours] water for the pairs, and with "May there be goodwill" [he presents] a flower and unbroken grains, and with "May there be freedom from misfortune" he should present unbroken grains.

And the offering of imperishable water is prescribed just like the offering of guest-water.

He should always perform it with the genitive case alone, never with the dative.

When reply has been made to all the prayers by the foremost of the brahmins,

having had the pairs pronounce a blessing, always grasping the tip of the thumb

of the leading brahmin, having bowed, he should then follow after [them].