History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.t1.253

v5.c73.t1.253

An important question which exercised the minds of many medieval writers was 'who was the real recipient (sampradāna)¹⁰²³ of the offerings made in śrāddha, whether the brāhmaṇas or the pitṛs'. Relying on the words of the Āśv. gṛ. IV. 8. 1 (quoted above in n. 966 'etasmin kāle ... dānaṃ) and passages of the purāṇas such as the Varāha (13. 51) 'vibhave sati viprebhyo asmān uddiśya dāsyati', the Mahārṇavaprakāśa, Harihara and some others held that brāhmaṇas were the recipients, while others like Śrīdatta, relying on indications furnished by śruti passages like Vāj. S. 19. 36 (*akṣan pitaraḥ amīmadanta pitaraḥ*) and such formulas as '*pitar-etat te arghyam*' or '*etadvāḥ pitaro vāsaḥ*,' hold that the real recipients intended were the pitṛs, but, as the pitṛs had gone to another world and could not be bodily present to receive the gifts of such things as sandlewood paste, flowers and clothes, the latter were only handed over or assigned to the brāhmaṇas who were for the moment contemplated as not different from the pitṛs. Vide Sm. C. (śrāddha pp. 447-449), Śr. Pr. pp. 30-31 for a discussion of these two viewpoints. It should, however, be noted that the water given to the brāhmaṇas and the *dakṣiṇā* given to them were only meant for the brāhmaṇas, the former for purification and the latter for the inexhaustible merit that dakṣiṇā to brāhmaṇas conferred.