History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.t1.475

v5.c73.t1.475

In this śrāddha which is to be performed in the morning (except on the birth of a son when it is to be done at once) the Viśve-devas are called Satya and Vasu, it is performed in the forenoon, the brāhmaṇas to be invited must be even in number, the darbhas are to be straight (and not doublefolded) and are not to be with their roots; the performer wears his sacred thread in the usual form (and not in the *prācīnāvīta* form), all actions are to be done from left to right (*pradakṣiṇam* and not *prasavyam*); the word *svadhā* is not to be used; yava grains are to be employed instead of sesamum grains, he invites them with the words 'find time to attend Nāndīśrāddha'. The brāhmaṇas say 'be it so'. He says 'May you two come (to my house)'; they reply 'we two shall come'. The performer faces the east or north (but never the south); the mantra about yavas is '*yavosi*' (vide note 966)¹¹⁷⁶ he requests 'I shall invoke the pitṛs called Nāndīmukha'.¹¹⁷⁷ When permitted by the brāhmaṇas in the words 'do invoke' he says 'may the Nāndīmukha pitṛs be pleased'; he offers arghya only once with the words 'O Nāndīmukha pitṛs! this is the arghya for you'. Sandalwood paste, incense, lamp are to be given twice; the *homa* is made on the hand of the brāhmaṇa, the two mantras being 'to Agni, the bearer of *kavya! svāhā*' and 'to Soma accompanied by the pitṛs! svāhā'. While the brāhmaṇas are eating the dinner, the Rākṣoghna mantras and mantras addressed to Indra and propitiatory mantras may be recited but not the mantras addressed to pitṛs (viz. Ṛg. X. 15. 1-13); when he sees that the brāhmaṇas are satiated, he recites the five verses (Ṛg. IX. 11. 1-5) beginning with ‘upāsmai gāyatā naraḥ’ (O men! sing for this soma) instead of the Madhumatī verses (viz. Ṛg. I. 90. 6-8) and at the end he makes the brāhmaṇas hear the mantra ‘the pitṛs have partaken (of the food), they have regaled themselves’. The performer should ask ‘I shall request the nāndīmukha pitṛs to utter benedictions’ at the stage where (in Pārvana) ‘akṣayyodaka’ is asked for, to which the brāhmaṇas respond with the words ‘do request.’ The performer employs the word ‘sampannam’ (was it perfect) in asking about the gratification of the brāhmaṇas, who reply with the word ‘susampannam’ (it was quite perfect). On the brāhmaṇas sipping water after their dinner, he cowdungs the places where the dinner was taken, strews darbha grass thereon with their tips turned towards the east and offers thereon two piṇḍas for (each of the ancestors) made with the food that remains after the brāhmaṇas have eaten mixed with curds, jujube fruit and *pṛṣadājya*¹¹⁷⁸ (mixture of curds and clarified butter). The piṇḍas are offered to the mātṛs, to the three paternal ancestors and the three maternal ancestors (viz. mother’s father, mother’s paternal grandfather and her paternal great-grandfather). Some do not offer piṇḍas in this śrāddha (as stated by Āśv. gṛ. pariśiṣṭa II. 19). The Pitṛdayitā and Śrāddha-tattva (Jīv. p. 297) say that no mātṛśrāddha is to be performed in Ābhyudayikaśrāddha by the followers of the Sāmaveda. It is possible that the śrāddha for the mother, paternal grandmother and paternal great-grandmother was inspired by the Anvaṣṭakya śrāddha, as the sūtras from Āśv. gṛ. quoted below will indicate.