"The Srāddha, which is called Ekoddistha, should be performed monthly for one year after the death of a person. And at the expiry of one year the ceremony called Sapindana should be observed, Hear, O king (I shall describe) how shall that be celebrated. This ceremony should be celebrated in the same way as monthly obsequies—only four vessels should be placed with water perfumes and sesamum. O king, (of these four) one should be dedicated to the deceased and three to the manes, and the contents of the former should be transferred to the latter three. After the deceased has been included in the list of manes, O king of earth, the ancestors should be again worshipped with all the ceremonies of the Srāddha. The persons connected by the offering of cake, who are competent to celebrate the obsequial ceremonies, are the son, grandson, great grandson, a kinsman of the dead, the descendants of a brother or the prosperity of one connected by funeral offerings. And when all these relations are wanting, the ceremony may be performed by those allied by the offerings of water only or those allied by offerings of cakes or water to maternal ancestors. When males, both in the maternal and paternal families, are extinct, the funeral obsequies may be performed by women or by those who are connected with the deceased in social and religious institutions or by him who inherits his property.

"And even when friends and those who will inherit his property are wanting the king may have his obsequia rites, initiative intermediate and subsequent, celebrated. Hear, I shall now describe the difference of these three classes of rites. The first are those which are performed after the burning of the dead body until the touching of water, weapons &c. The Srāddhas, called Ekoddistha which are performed every month, are called intermediate rites; and the ceremonies, which follow Sapindakarana when the deceased becomes one of his ancestors, are called subsequent rites—from this time the ceremonies become general and ancestral. The initiative ceremonies should be performed by the relative of the father or mother whether allied by the offering of the cake or of water by the companions of the dead man or by the king who inherits his property. Both the intermediate and subsequent rites should be celebrated by sons and other relations, and by daughter's sons and their sons. In every year, O king, the obsequial ceremonies should be performed either by males or females, in the same way as the ceremonies of month by obsequies are enjoined. Hear O king, I shall now describe, at what seasons and in what manner those ceremonies are to be performed".

SECTION XIV.

Aurva said:—"When a man celebrates reverentially the Srāddha of his ancestors, Brahmā, Indra, Rudra, two Aswinis, the sun, fire, Vasus, Maruts, Viçwadevas, Rishis, birds, men, beasts, reptiles, manes and all other creatures, become propitiated. This should be performed, O king, every month, on the fifteenth day of the dark fortnight, or the eighth day of the same period in some months or at particular seasons. Hear, I shall now explain them. A householder should celebrate it when he will find all requisites ready, when a learned Brāhmin has come to the house for which ancestral ceremonies are appropriate. He should voluntarily offer sacrifice upon any atmospheric portent, at the equinoctial and solstitial periods, at eclipses of the sun and moon, on the sun's entrance into a Zodiacal sign, upon unpropitious aspects of the planets and asterisms, on dreaming unlucky dreams and on eating the grain of the year's harvest. The manes obtain satisfaction for eight years from ancestral offerings upon the day of the new moon when the star of the conjunction is Anurādhā, Visakhā or Swāti and for twelve years when it is Pushya, Ardrā or Punarvasu. He, who desires to satisfy the celestials or the manes, very seldom gets an opportunity on a day of new moon when the stars are those of Dhanistha, Purvabhādrapāda or Satabhisā. Hear also the description of another class of Srāddhas which give special delight to the manes as explained by Sanatkumāra the son of Brahmā, to the noble Pururavas when brimful with faith and devotion to the manes he asked how he might please them. The third lunar day of the month of Vaisakha (April, May) and the ninth of Kārtika (October, November) in the light fortnight; the thirteenth of Nabha (July, August) and the fifteenth of Magha (January, February) in the dark fortnight are called by the sages of yore the anniversaries of the first day of Yuga and are regarded as most sacred. On these days water mixed with sesamum-seed should be duly offered to the progenitors as well as on every lunar and solar eclipse; on the eighth lunations of the dark fortnights of Agrahāyana, Māgha and Fālguna on the two days beginning the solstices when the nights and days alternately begin to diminish; on the days which are the anniversaries of the beginning of Manwantaras; when the sun is in the path of the goat and on all these occasions when meteors appear. A Srāddha, performed on these occasions, gives pleasure to the manes for a thousand years; and this is the secret which they have given. The fifteenth day, of the dark fortnight in the month of Māgha when united with the conjunction of the asterism over which Varuna rules, is also a sacred season when offerings particularly afford delight to the manes. When the asterism Dhanishthā is united with the day of new moon, food and water, offered by members of respectable families, satisfy the manes for ten thousand years. And on the day of new moon when Ardra is in the ascendant they rest satisfied by offerings for a whole age.

"He, who after having offered food and libations to the manes bathes in the Ganges, Satlaj, Vipasa, Saraswati or the Gomati at Naimisha, is freed from all sins. The manes also sing—'After having obtained gratification for a twelve month we shall derive further satisfaction by libations offered by our descendants at some place of pilgrimage at the end of the dark fortnight of Māgha'. (The songs of Pitris) confer upon men purity of mind, prosperity, prosperous seasons, perfect rites and firm faith and all other things which they desire. Hear, O king, I shall repeat some verses as sung by the manes, hearing which, you will follow them with a controlled mind. 'That wise man who does not shrink from spending his wealth and presents us with cakes shall be born in an illustrious family. He should, if he is rich, give to Brāhmans in our honour, jewels, cloths, land, conveyances, wealth and various other eatables. If he not got so much wealth he should feed with faith and humility excellent Brāhmans according to his means. If he cannot afford to give them food even he should according his might, present them with unboiled grain or with some gifts however trifling they may be. Should he be utterly unable even to do this, O king, he must give to some excellent Brahmin, bowing before him sesamum-seeds, adhering to the tips of his fingers. Or he should sprinkle water mixed with seven or eight sesamum seeds to us upon the ground; or he should gather, as he may, fodder for a day and give it to a cow, by which he will, if firm in faith, give us satisfaction. And if it is impossible for him to go through any of these he should go to a forest raise up his arms to the sun and other planets and say aloud—'I have no money, nor property nor grain nor any thing whatever which I may give as an offering to my ancestors. So I reverentially bow unto my ancestors; may they be propitiated with my devotion only—I throw up my arms in the air.' These are the words of the progenitors. O king, he who endeavours to satisfy their desires, performs the ancestral rite called Srāddha".

SECTION XV.

Aurva said:—"Hear, O king, what description of Brahman should be fed at ancestral ceremonies. He must be Trinachiketa, Trimadhu and Trisuparna; [246] or one who is versed in the six supplementary sciences of the Vedas; one who is well acquainted with the Vedas; one who practises the duties laid down in the Vedas, [247] one who is yogi, [248] one who is Jestha Sāmaga; [249] an officiating priest, a sister's son, a daughter's son, a son-in-law, a father-in-law, a maternal uncle, an ascetic, a Brāhman who keeps up the five fires, a pupil, a kinsman; one who respects his parents. O king, a man should employ the Brāhmans first mentioned in the performance of the Srāddha ceremony of his ancestors; and in the subsidiary rites performed to please his manes he should engage the others. He should not invite at a Srāddha ceremony a false friend, one who has got ugly nails, one who is eunuch, one who has got black teeth, a ravisher, a Brāhman who neglects the service of fire and sacred duty, a vender of Soma plant, a man accused of any crime, a thief, a calumniator, a Brāhman who performs the religious ceremonies for degraded persons, one who gives instructions to his servants in sacred writings; or one who is instructed in it by his servant, the husband of a woman who has been formerly betrothed to another, a man who has neglected his parents, the protector of a Sudra, the husband of a Sudra woman, and a Brāhman who worships idols. On the first day of the Srāddha a wise man should invite eminent teachers of Vedas and other Brahmins, and according to their instructions he must settle what is to be dedicated to the celestials and what to the manes. And in the company of the Brahmins he should abstain from anger, continence and hard work. He, who having eaten himself in a Srāddha and fed Brahmans and appointed them to their sacred offices, is guilty of incontinence, thereby dooms his progenitors to shameful suffering. Therefore on the day before the Srāddha, eminent Brāhmans should be invited. If a Brāhman, who has controlled his senses, comes to the house uninvited he should also be entertained with food. The Brahmins are to be respectfully received with water for their feet and after they have rinsed their mouths and washed their hands they should be offered seats. An uneven number of Brāhmins for the manes and an even number for the gods, as many as he can, should be employed; or one only on each occasion.

[246]The Brāhmans here are classed into Trinachiketa, Trimadhu and Trisuparna. The first is so called from reciting three Anuvakas of the Katha-Ka branch of the Yajur-veda, beginning with the term Trinachiketa &c.; the second from three Anuvakas of the Sama Veda beginning *Madhuvata; and the third from a similar portion commencing Brahmavan namami.
[247]There is some difference between veda vit and Srotya—The first studies the Vedas only and the second practises the rites thereof.
[248]Yogi is one who practices strictest penances.