History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.3

v5.c73.3

The Brahmapurāṇa defines śrāddha as follows: 'whatever is given with faith to brāhmaṇas intending it to be for the (benefit of) *pitṛs* at a proper time, in a proper place, to deserving persons and in accordance with the prescribed procedure is called śrāddha⁷⁵¹. The Mit on Yāj I. 217 defines śrāddha as 'abandonment with faith of an article of food or some substitute thereof, intending it for (the benefit of) the departed'. The Kalpataru on śrāddha defined it as 'the giving up of sacrificial material intending it for *pitṛs* and its acceptance by brāhmaṇas'. The Śrāddhaviveka of Rudradhara and the Śrāddhaprakāśa define śrāddha in the same way as the Mit. but in a more involved manner. Yāj. I. 268 (= Agnipurāṇa 163. 40-41) states that the *pitṛs* viz. Vasus, Rudras and Ādityas that are the deities of śrāddha, being gratified by śrāddha, give gratification to the ancestors of human beings. This verse and Manu III. 284 make it clear that the three ancestors of a man, viz. the father, paternal grand-father and the paternal great-grand-father are respectively to be identified with the three orders of superintending *pitṛ* deities, viz. Vasus, Rudras and Ādityas, when performing śrāddha. According to some,⁷⁵² śrāddha denotes three things, viz. *homa*, the offering of *piṇḍa* (ball of cooked food) and gratification of brāhmaṇas invited to a dinner; the application of this word to any one of these three can only be in a secondary sense.