History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.t1.293

v5.c73.t1.293

There is another conflict of views as regards the ancestors to whom piṇḍas are to be offered at the śrāddha on amāvāsya. Most of the ancient Vedic works refer only to the three paternal ancestors as the *devatās* of the Pārvaṇa-śrāddha and not to any other relatives. The three paternal ancestors are separately the *devatās* of śrāddha and not cumulatively, as indicated by the Āśv. Śrauta II. 6. 15 and Viṣṇu Dh S. 73 13-14. The important questions are whether the wives of the paternal ancestors, viz. the mother, the grandmother and the paternal great-grandmother were associated with their husbands in ancient times and secondly, whether the three paternal ancestors of one's mother viz. the maternal grandfather, the maternal great-grandfather and the maternal great-great-grandfather were invoked together with their wives in the Pārvaṇa The answer to both these questions so far as the Vedas and Brāhmaṇas are concerned is in the negative. Vide Tai. S. I. 8. 5.1, Tai. Br. I. 3. 10, II. 6. 16, Vāj. Ś. 19 36-37, Śat. Br. II. 4. 2. 16, in all of which the only persons expressly named are the pitṛs and three paternal ancestors It may be noted, however, that in Vāj S. 9. 19 (which is cited by Kātyāyana at the end of Śrāddhasūtra 3 as the mantra to be recited when following the brāhmaṇas that are dismissed) there is a clear reference to paternal ancestors and also to mothers Almost all sūtras also are silent as regards the invocation of the maternal ancestors in Pārvaṇa-śrāddha along with paternal ones. Vide ¹⁰⁵³ Āśv. Śr.; Sudarśana on Āp. gṛ. VIII. 21. 2 states that the Sūtrakāra and Bhāṣyakāra did not speak of Mātāmahaśrāddha as it is not obligatory for a daughter's son to offer it. The Śrāddhasūtra of Kātyāyana ¹⁰⁵⁴ speaks of three piṇḍas being made for the paternal ancestors and three for the mother's paternal ancestors. The Gobhilasmṛti provides ¹⁰⁵⁵ that six piṇḍas should be offered, except in the Anvaṣṭakāśrāddha, the first śrāddha (on the 11th day), the sixteen śrāddhas and the yearly śrāddha for a deceased person. Dhaumya ¹⁰⁵⁶ prescribes that where the paternal ancestors are honoured (or fed) the maternal ancestors also should be certainly honoured without making any difference (between the two classes); if he makes a distinction the performer will go to Hell. The Viṣṇupurāṇa, ¹⁰⁵⁷ the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa and the Varāhapurāṇa say that some hold that a śrāddha for maternal ancestors is to be performed separately while other sages hold that one śrāddha is to be offered at the same time to the paternal and maternal ancestors. Bṛhaspati (q. by Kalpataru on śrāddha p. 204) prescribes ¹⁰⁵⁸ that one should offer piṇḍas made from all food cooked for the śrāddha and mixed with honey and sesamum grains for both paternal and maternal ancestors according to the rules of one's gṛhyasūtra. The Varāhapurāṇa (14 40-41) says that *pitrya* brāhmaṇas should be dismissed first and then the *daiva* brāhmaṇas together with those for the mother's ancestors and that separate piṇḍas were to be offered to the mother's paternal ancestors (14 37). Some held the view that the offering of piṇḍas to maternal ancestors was obligatory for the *putrikā-putra* ¹⁰⁵⁹ (son of the appointed daughter) or for a daughter's son that inherited the wealth of his maternal grandfather. Bṛhat-Parāśara (chap. V. p. 153) mentions several views on this point. It seems probable that when the appointment of a daughter as a son became rare or went out of vogue the maternal ancestors came to be associated with the paternal ancestors in pārvana-śrāddha.