History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.266

v5.c74.t2.266

One important question on which there is great divergence of views among the medieval digests is about the ancestors to whom śrāddha is to be offered at Gayā. In the Vāyu and other Purāṇas it is frequently said that he who performs śrāddha at Gayā becomes free from the debt due to the pitṛs¹⁵¹¹ or that what is offered to the pitṛs at Gayā, Dharmapṛṣṭha, Brahmasaras, or on the Gayāśīrṣa and under the imperishable Vaṭa tree becomes inexhaustible. In most of these passages the plural of the word 'pitṛ' is used. Therefore it follows that śrāddha is to be offered in Gayā to three paternal ancestors. And on account of a verse attributed to Gautama,¹⁵¹² the three male maternal ancestors also are to be offered śrāddha. The difference arises with reference to the wives of these six male paternal and maternal ancestors. The Agnipurāṇa proposes an option (115 10) that the *devatās* in Gayāśrāddha are nine or twelve. When they are to be nine, the śrāddha is for three paternal ancestors, three male ancestors of the mother and the wives of the latter three male ancestors, while there is a separate śrāddha for the mother, paternal grand-mother and paternal great-grandmother. If there are to be twelve devatās in Gayāśrāddha, then all the wives of the paternal ancestors and of maternal ancestors would be included in one śrāddha. Aparārka allowed an option (as in Agni) in Gayā-śrāddha.¹⁵¹³ According to the Smṛtyarthasāra¹⁵¹⁴ and Hemādri the Anvaṣṭakā-śrāddha and Gayāśrāddha for the paternal ancestors and that for the wives of these (i. e. mother, paternal grandmother &c.) must always be separate, but the śrāddha for the mother's paternal ancestors and their wives should be one (and therefore the *devatās* will be nine). Yama (verse 80) appears to hold that the mother, paternal grandmother and paternal great-grandmother are always to be associated with their respective husbands in śrāddha. Some held that the devatās of Gayāśrāddha were only six viz the three male paternal ancestors and three male maternal ancestors.¹⁵¹⁵ The Tri. S ultimately remarks that the usage of the country should be the deciding principle The Prajāpati-smṛti (183-184) has some rather contradictory views as to when there would be 12 or 9 or 6 devatās in a śrāddha. When there are twelve devatās, the saṅkalpa at the Pretaśilā-śrāddha which is the model of all the śrāddhas at the other sacred spots in Gayā (with suitable modifications) will be as noted below.¹⁵¹⁶