History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.t1.413
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.t1.413
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v5.c73.t1.413.1
The question about how śrāddha was to be performed if one or more of the three paternal ancestors were alive engaged the thoughts of writers from very ancient times. The Āśv.¹¹³⁹ Śr. S (II. 6. 16-23) first sets out the views of Gānagāri, Taulvali and Gautama and then refutes them. Gānagāri held that out of the three paternal ancestors piṇḍas should be offered to those that were dead and those that were alive should be honoured in person, since the śrāddha rite is meant for pleasing the ancestors; Taulvali opined that piṇḍas should be offered to all the three ancestors, whether living or dead, since in the rite of śrāddha they are only a secondary matter (a detail). Gautama thought that piṇḍas should be offered to dead ancestors, upto three from the father if the latter was living, from the grandfather if he was alive and from the great-grandfather if all the three be living. Āśv. replies; one cannot offer piṇḍas to three ancestors¹¹⁴⁰ beyond the father, grand-father or great-grandfather, since one has no *adhikāra* to do so; one cannot offer piṇḍas to an ancestor after whom there is an ancestor (within three degrees) living. One may offer *homa* into fire to those that are alive. (If all three ancestors are alive) all the three piṇḍas must be cast into fire or he may not begin the rite at all. The Kātyāyana śr.¹¹⁴¹ sūtra provides that piṇḍas are offered only to deceased ancestors;
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therefore if a person's father be alive or if there is a deceased ancestor between whom and the performer there is an ancestor that is alive, then one whose father is alive can only perform *homa* (into fire, but no piṇḍadāna) or he should not undertake at all (the rite of piṇḍa-pitṛyajña or pārvaṇaśrāddha); that Jātūkarṇya prescribes that no piṇḍadāna is possible when a living ancestor (father) intervenes between the performer and a deceased ancestor, since a śruti text says 'one does not offer pindas to ancestors that are beyond a living ancestor.' Manu (III. 220-222) deals with this question as follows: If the performer's father be alive he should offer piṇḍas to three ancestors beginning from the paternal grand-father or he may request the father to dinner as he would do to a stranger brāhmaṇa and offer piṇḍas to the deceased grand-father and great-grand-father. If the father be dead and the grandfather be alive, he may offer a piṇḍa only to the father and the great-grandfather (i. e only two piṇḍas) or the grand-father who is alive may be invited to dinner as if he were the stranger brāhmaṇa invited to represent a deceased grand-father or if permitted by the grandfather who is alive he may offer piṇḍas to father, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather. The Viṣṇudharmasūtra (chap. 75) has several rules of a similar character. Some of the Purāṇas such as Skanda VI 225.24-25, Agni 117.58-59 deal with this matter. Gobhilasmṛti (II.
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93 ff) has a long passage on this question, one verse of which is quoted below.¹¹⁴² Many of the commentaries and digests hold divergent views on this subject, viz. the Mit. on Yāj. I. 254, Kalpataru (śr. pp 240 ff), Śr. K. K. pp. 552-556 and Nirṇayasindhu (III. pp. 499-503). It is impossible to reconcile all the views. The Kalpataru (on śr. p. 240) states that there are three alternative courses for him whose father is alive, (1) he should pass over the father that is alive and offer pindas to those three ancestors to whom his father offers piṇḍas; (Manu. III. 220, Viṣṇu Dh. S 75.1); (2) he should simply offer *homa* into fire as stated in Āśv. Śr. S. quoted above, (3) he should not engage in the rite of piṇḍapitṛyajña or pārvaṇaśrāddha at all (Gobhila-smṛti II. 93). The Nirṇayasindhu says that there are numerous alternatives mentioned by different writers, that they are forbidden in the Kali age and that one view is that a man whose father is alive cannot engage in a pārvaṇaśrāddha and that the real conclusion is that śrāddha may be offered to those to whom the father (of the performer) who is living offers piṇḍas. It is clear that one whose father is living should have nothing to do with piṇḍadāna for deceased ancestors. Manu (in latter half of III. 220) allowed an alternative viz. one should feed one's father at a dinner (and honour him with the details of worship such as *gandha*, *dhūpa*, *dīpa*) and offer piṇḍas to the deceased grandfather and great-grandfather.
v5.c73.t1.413.4
When any one or two out of the three paternal ancestors are alive and śrāddha is permitted to a descendant several alternatives become possible by permutation and combination, which are passed over here from considerations of space and utility. But the various views held by different writers as described above show clearly what a firm grip the theory of the supreme benefits to be derived from śrāddhas had on the minds not only of common people but of learned men, who, in spite of the fact that the father was alive and was there to offer piṇḍas to his three ancestors, allowed even the son (whose father was living) to offer piṇḍas to the same three ancestors. The Viṣṇu Dh. S. extends the procedure about 'jīvatpitṛka' to one's mother's paternal ancestors (changing the mantra where necessary).1142a Similar rules apply where the performer's mother is alive (Agnipurāṇa 117.60 'evam mātrādikasyāpi tathā mātāmahādike').