History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.53

v5.c73.53

From the sūtra period (about 600 B. C) to the most modern among medieval Dharmaśāstra works the authors wax eloquent over the praises or the importance or benefits of the institution of śrāddhas. One of the earliest works among these, viz. the Āp. Dh. S gives the following interesting information:⁷⁸³ "Formerly men and gods lived together in this world. The gods went to heaven owing to sacrifices (i. e. as a reward of sacrifices that they performed), but men remained behind. Those among men who perform sacrifices in the same way as the gods did, dwell in the other world (i. e. heaven) with the gods and Brahman. Then (seeing that men lagged behind) Manu promulgated the rite which is designated by the word 'śrāddha' and which tends to the salvation (or happiness) of mankind. In this rite the Manes (*pitarah*) are the deities but the brāhmaṇas (that are fed) are in the place of the āhavanīya fire (in which in sacrifices to gods oblations are offered)". On account of this last sūtra Haradatta (com. of Āp. Dh. S.) and others hold that feeding the brāhmaṇas is the principal act at a śrāddha. The Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa (Upodghātapāda 9. 15. and 10. 99) speaks of Manu as the promulgator of śrāddha rites and Viṣṇupurāṇa III. 1 30, Vāyu 44. 38 and Bhāgavata III. 1. 22 designate Manu as Śrāddha-deva. Similarly, in the Śāntiparva 345.⁷⁸⁴ 14–21 and the Viṣṇu-dharmottara I.139 14–16 it is stated that the institution of śrāddha was established in the Boar incarnation by Viṣṇu and that Viṣṇu should be regarded as dwelling in the three piṇḍas offered to the father, grand-father and great-grandfather. From this and from the passage of the Āp. Dh. S cited above we may infer that it was believed even several centuries before Christ that the institution of śrāddhas had a hoary antiquity behind it and that it was as old as Manu, the father of mankind according to the Ṛgveda (VIII. 63. 1, VIII 30. 3.). It is, however, very remarkable that the word 'śrāddha' itself does not occur in any undoubtedly authentic and ancient Vedic passage, though the rite called Piṇḍapitryajña⁷⁸⁵ (performed on the amāvāsyā of each month by an *Ahītāgni*), the Mahāpitṛyajña (performed in the Cāturmāsya called Sākamedha) and the rites called Aṣṭakās were known to the early Vedic literature. The word śrāddha occurs in the Kaṭhopaniṣad (1.3.17) 'whoever proclaims this highly esoteric doctrine in an assembly of brāhmaṇas or at the time of śrāddha tends to secure immortality.'⁷⁸⁶ The other early occurrences of the word śrāddha known to me are confined to the sūtra literature. The most reasonable and probable inference to be drawn from these facts is this that only a few rites (mentioned just above) were known as related to the *pitṛs* and that therefore no need arose for a generic term in very ancient times to comprehend several rites for the *pitṛs*. But when the number of rites in honour of *pitṛs* increased, the generic term 'śrāddha' was hit upon.