The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c36.s3.8

v2.c36.s3.8

The second great Çrauta offering is that of the Pitṛyajña, or Mahāpitṛyajña, which takes place on the afternoon of the second day of the Sākamedhas, the third of the four-month offerings.¹ The recipients of offerings are the Fathers with Soma, or Soma with the Fathers, the Fathers who sit on the strew, and the Fathers burned by Agni, while some add Yama with or without the Aṅgirases. The offerings to the three sets of Fathers are a cake, grains, and the offering of meal pap mixed in the milk of the cow, which has lost its own calf, and which has been given another to bring up. The sacrifice is conducted within a hut erected south of the southern fire, in which is made an altar with its orientation based on the intermediate points, on which the southern fire is placed. The technical terms of the offering for the Fathers *oṁ svadhā*, *astu svadhā*, *svadhā namaḥ*, replace those used for the gods. An offering for Kavyavāhana is substituted for the usual Sviṣṭakṛt offering at the end of a sacrifice. Washing water is poured out for the Fathers, and lumps are placed at the south-east and west corners of the altar, but the names, not of the latest but of the more distant Fathers, are uttered, the sixth, fifth, and fourth respectively. On the northern side the offerer wipes his hands and says, ‘Here, O Fathers, do ye delight yourselves’, and then all leave the hut, placing the sacred cord over the left shoulder, and adore the Āhavanīya fire, and then the Gārhapatya. They then return to the hut, altering the position of their cords: the offerer declares that the Fathers have delighted themselves and offers them reverence in the shape of six payings of homage.