History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c73.t1.563

v5.c73.t1.563

Some of the works on śrāddha such as the Pṛthvī-candrodaya deal with what is called 'saṅghāta-śrāddha.'1232a When on the same day several persons die, but not at the same time, then the śrāddhas for them should be performed, as said by Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, in the order in which they died. But if five or six persons die at the same time on the same day (as when a vessel sinks in the sea or a market is burnt down all at once ), then the order in which śrāddhas are to be performed is determined by the nearness of relationship to the performer of śrāddha in the case of each. For example, if a person's wife, son, brother and paternal uncle meet death at the same time, then the order should be this that the śrāddha of the wife is performed first, then of the son, then of the brother and then of the uncle. If the parents die at the same time by accident, then the father's cremation or other rites should be first performed and then of the mother.