History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.278.1

v5.c74.t2.278.1

There are several works, printed and in mss , that deal with the procedure of Gayāśrāddha. There is the Gayāśrāddha-paddhati of Vācaspati printed at the Chandraprabha press, Benares city, the Tīrtha-yātrā-tattva of Raghunandana (which contains a Gayā- paddhati) published in Bengali characters. Then I consulted two mss. viz the Gayā-śrāddha-paddhati of Raghunātha son of Mādhava (D. C. ms. No. 93 of 1891–95) and the Gayāśrāddha-vidhi of Vācaspati (D. C No 245 of 1887–91). The procedure in the Tīrthayātrā-tattva of Raghunandana is set out here briefly without actually citing in full the Vāyupurāṇa passages which it quotes profusely. Raghunandana appears to follow the Tīrthacintāmaṇi closely as some of the notes will show. After the pilgrim enters Gayā he should first make an appropriate saṅkalpa¹⁵²¹ for a bath in Phalgu, take the clay from the river, apply it to his body and bathe Then he should perform *tarpaṇa*¹⁵²² to the twelve male and female ancestors (specified in note 1516 above) Then he should declare a saṅkalpa that he would perform Gayāśrāddha with the words 'Oṃ! adyetyādi Gayātīrthaprāpti-nimittaka-śrāddhamaham kariṣye'. Then he should perform a *pārvaṇa-śrāddha* (described above pp. 485–505) excepting the *āvāhana* and *arghya* rites If the pilgrim be unable to perform all the details of śrāddha, he may offer only piṇḍas.