History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.799

v6.c81.799

Several works such as the Varṣakriyā-kaumudī and the Dharmasindhu prescribe that⁵⁰⁹ on the evenings of the 14th of the dark half and amāvāsyā of Āśvina men with firebrands in their hands should show the way to their pitṛs (deceased ancestors) with the mantra 'May those men in my family who were cremated and those who had no cremation performed for them and those that were burnt only by resplendent fire (without religious rites?), reach the highest state (or goal); may those (pitṛs) who, leaving the world of Yama, came for the *Mahālaya śrāddhas* (in the dark half of Bhādrapada or Āśvina acc to pūrṇimānta reckoning) find their way by the brilliant light (of the firebrands) and reach (their own worlds)