SECTION LXXXIX
"'Bhishma continued, "Listen to me, O Yudhishthira, as I tell thee what those optional Sraddhas are that should be performed under the different constellations and that were first spoken of by Yama unto king Sasavindu.[402] That man who always performs the Sraddha under the constellation Krittika is regarded as performing a sacrifice after establishing the sacred fire. Such a person, freed from fear, ascends to heaven with his children. He that is desirous of children should perform the Sraddha under the constellation Rohini, while he that is desirous of energy should do it under the constellation Mrigasiras. By performing the Sraddha under the constellation Ardra, a man becomes the doer of fierce deeds. A mortal, by performing the Sraddha under Punarvasu, makes such again by agriculture. The man that is desirous of growth and advancement should perform the Sraddha under Pushya. By doing it under the constellation Aslesha one begets heroic children. By doing it under the Maghas one attains to pre-eminence among kinsmen. By doing it under the prior Phalgunis, the doer of it becomes endued with good fortune. By doing the Sraddha under the later Phalgunis one attains to many children; while by performing it under Hasta, one attains to the fruition of one's wishes. By performing it under the constellation Chitra one obtains children endued with great beauty. By doing it under the constellation Swati, one makes much profit by trade. The man that desires children acquires the fruition of his wish by performing the Sraddha under the constellation Visakha. By doing it under Anuradha one becomes a king of kings.[403] By making offerings in honour of the Pitris under the constellation Jyeshtha with devotion and humility, one attains to sovereignty, O foremost one of Kuru's race. By doing the Sraddha under Mula one attains to health, and by doing it under the prior Ashadha, one acquires excellent fame. By performing it under the later Ashadha one succeeds in roving over the whole world, freed from every sorrow. By doing it under the constellation Abhijit one attains to high knowledge. By doing it under Sravana one, departing from this world, attains to a very high end. The man that performs the Sraddha under the constellation Dhanishtha becomes the ruler of a kingdom. By doing it under the constellation presided over by Varuna (viz., Satabhisha), one attains to success as a physician. By performing the Sraddha under the constellation of the prior Bhadrapada one acquires large property in goats and sheep; while by doing it under the later Bhadrapada one acquires thousands of kine. By performing the Sraddha under the constellation Revati one acquires much wealth in utensils of white brass and copper. By doing it under Aswini one acquires many steeds, while under Bharani one attains to longevity. Listening to these ordinances about the Sraddha, king Sasavindu acted accordingly, and succeeded in easily subjugating and ruling the whole earth."'"
SECTION XC
"'Yudhishthira said, "It behoves thee, O foremost one of Kuru's race, to tell me unto what kind of Brahmanas, O grandsire, should the offers made at Sraddhas be given away."
"'Bhishma said, "The Kshatriya who is conversant with the ordinances about gift should never examine Brahmanas (when making gifts unto them). In all acts, however, that relate to the worship of the deities and the Pitris, an examination has been said to be proper. The deities are worshipped on earth by men only when they are filled with devotion that comes from the deities themselves. Hence, one should, approaching them, make gifts unto all Brahmanas (without any examination of their merits), regarding such gifts as are made to the deities themselves. In Sraddhas, however, O monarch, the man of intelligence should examine the Brahmanas (to be employed for assisting the doers of the Sraddha in getting through the ritual and making gifts unto them of the offerings made to the Pitris). Such examination should concern itself with their birth and conduct and age and appearance and learning and nobility (or otherwise) of parentage. Amongst the Brahmanas there are some that pollute the line and some that sanctify it. Listen to me, O king, as I tell thee who those Brahmanas are that should be excluded from the line.[404] He that is full of guile, or he that is guilty of foeticide, or he that is ill of consumption, or he that keeps animals, or is destitute of Vedic study, or is a common servant of a village, or lives upon the interest of loans, or he that is a singer, or he that sells all articles, or he that is guilty of arson, or he that is a poisoner or he that is a pimp by profession, or he that sells Soma, or he that is a professor of palmistry, or he that is in the employ of the king, or he that is seller of oil, or he that is a cheat and false swearer, or he that has a quarrel with his father, or he that tolerates a paramour of his wife in his house, or he that has been cursed, or he that is a thief, or he that lives by some mechanical art, or he that puts on disguises, or he that is deceitful in his behaviour, or he that is hostile to those he calls his friends, or he that is an adulterer, or he that is a preceptor of Sudras, or he that has betaken himself to the profession of arms, or he that wanders with dogs (for hunting), or he that has been bit by a dog, or he that has wedded before his elder brothers, or he that seems to have undergone circumcision,[405] he that violates the bed of his preceptor, he that is an actor or mime, he that lives by setting up a deity and he that lives by calculating the conjunctions of stars and planets and asterisms[406], are regarded as fit to be excluded from the line. Persons conversant with the Vedas say that the offerings made at Sraddhas, if eaten by such Brahmanas, go to fill the stomachs of Rakshasas (instead of filling those of the Pitris), O Yudhishthira. That person who having eaten at a Sraddha does not abstain that day from study of the Vedas or who has sexual congress that day with a Sudra woman, must know that his Pitris, in consequence of such acts of his, have to lie for a month on his dung. The offerings made at Sraddhas if presented to a Brahmana who sells Soma, become converted into human ordure; if presented to a Brahmana who is engaged in the practice of Medicine, they become converted into pus and blood; if presented to one who lives by setting up a deity, they fail to produce any fruit; if presented to one who lives upon the interest of loans they lead to infamy; if presented to one who is engaged in trade, they become productive of no fruits either here or hereafter. If presented to a Brahmana who is born of a widowed mother (by a second husband), they become as fruitless as libations poured on ashes[407]. They who present the Havya and Kavya (offered at Sraddhas) unto such Brahmanas as are divested of the duties ordained for them and of those rules of good conduct that persons of their order should observe, find such presents productive of no merits hereafter. That man of little intelligence who makes gifts of such articles unto such men knowing their dispositions, obliges, by such conduct, his Pitris to eat human ordure in the next world. Thou shouldst know that these wretches among Brahmanas deserve to be excluded from the line. Those Brahmanas also of little energy who are engaged in instructing Sudras are of the same class. A Brahmana that is blind stains sixty individual of the line; one that is destitute of virile power a hundred; while one that is afflicted with white leprosy stains as many as he looks upon, O king. Whatever offerings made at Sraddhas are eaten by one with his head wrapped round with a cloth, whatever is eaten by one with face southwards, and whatever is eaten with shoes or sandals on all goes to gratify the Asuras. Whatever, again, is given with malice, and whatever is given without reverence, have been ordained by Brahmana himself as the portion of the prince of Asuras (viz., Vali). Dogs, and such Brahmanas as are polluters of lines, should not be allowed to cast their eyes upon the offerings made at Sraddhas. For this reason, Sraddhas should be performed in a spot that is properly hedged around or concealed from the view. That spot should also be strewn with sesame seeds. That Sraddha which is performed without sesame seeds, or that which is done by a person in anger, has its Havi robbed by Rakshasas and Pisachas. Commensurate with the number of Brahmanas seen by one that deserves to be excluded from the line, is the loss of merit he causes of the foolish performer of the Sraddha who invites him to the feast.
"'"I shall now, O chief of Bharata's race, tell thee who are sanctifiers of the line. Do thou find them out by examination. All those Brahmanas that are cleansed by knowledge, Vedic study, and vows and observances, and they that are of good and righteous behaviour, should be known as sanctifiers of everything. I shall now tell thee who deserve to sit in the line. Thou shouldst know them to be such whom I shall indicate presently. He that is conversant with the three Nachiketas, he that has set up the five sacrificial fires, he that knows the five Suparnas, he that is conversant with the six branches (called Angas) of the Veda, he that is a descendant of sires who were engaged in teaching the Vedas and is himself engaged in teaching, he that is well-conversant with the Chhandas, he that is acquainted with the Jeshtha Saman, he that is obedient to the sway of his parents, he that is conversant with the Vedas and whose ancestors have been so for ten generations, he that has congress with only his wedded wives and this at their seasons, and he who has been cleansed by knowledge, by the Veda, and by vows and observances,—even such a Brahmana,—sanctifies the line. He who reads the Atharva-siras, who is devoted to the observance of Brahmacharya practices, and who is steady in observance of righteous vows, who is truthful and of righteous conduct, and who is duly observant of the duties laid down for his order, they also that have undergone fatigue and labour for bathing in the waters of tirthas, that have undergone the final bath after performing sacrifices with proper Mantras that are freed from the sway of wrath, that are not restless, that are endued with forgiving dispositions, that are self-restrained masters of their senses, and they are devoted to the good of all creatures,—these should be invited to Sraddhas. Anything given to these becomes inexhaustible. These indeed, are sanctifiers of lines. There are others also, highly blessed, that should be regarded as sanctifiers of the line. They are Yatis and those that are conversant with the religion of Moksha, and they that are devoted to Yoga, and they that properly observe excellent vows and they that, with collected mind recite (sacred) histories unto foremost of Brahmanas. They that are conversant with Bhashyas, they also that are devoted to grammatical studies, they that study the Puranas and they that study the Dharmasastras and having studied them (i.e., the Puranas and Dharmasastras) act up to the standard laid down in them, he that has lived (for the stated period) in the abode of his preceptor, he that is truthful in speech, he that is a giver of thousands, they that are foremost in (their knowledge of) all the Vedas and the scriptural and philosophical aphorisms,—these sanctify the line as far they look at it. And because they sanctify all who sit in the line, therefore are they called sanctifiers of lines. Utterers of Brahma say that even a single person that happens to be the descendant of sires who were teachers of the Veda and that is himself a Vedic teacher, sanctifies full seven miles around him. If he that is not a Ritwik and that is not a Vedic teacher takes the foremost seat in a Sraddha, with even the permission of the other Ritwiks there present, he is said to take (by that act of his) the sins of all who may be sitting in the line. If, on the other hand, he happens to be conversant with the Vedas and freed from all those faults that are regarded as capable of polluting the line, he shall not, O king, be regarded as fallen (by taking the foremost seat in a Sraddha). Such a man would then be really a sanctifier of the line. For these reasons, O king, thou shouldst properly examine the Brahmanas before inviting them to Sraddhas. Thou shouldst invite only such among them as are devoted to the duties laid down for their order, and as are born in good families, and as are possessed of great learning. He who performs Sraddhas for feeding only his friends and whose Havi does not gratify the deities and the Pitris, fails to ascend to Heaven. He who collects his friends and relatives only on the occasion of the Sraddha he performs (without keeping an eye on properly honouring deserving persons by inviting and feeding them), fails to proceed (after death) by the path of the deities (which is a lighted one and free from all afflictions and impediments). The man who makes the Sraddha he performs an occasion for only gathering his friends, never succeeds in ascending to heaven. Verily, the man who converts the Sraddha into an occasion for treating his friends, becomes dissociated from heaven even like a bird dissociated from the perch when the chain tying it breaks.[408] Therefore, he that performs a Sraddha should not honour (on such occasions) his friends. He may make gifts of wealth unto them on other occasions by collecting them together. The Havi and the Kavi offered at Sraddhas should be served unto them that are neither friends nor foes but are only indifferent or neutral. As seed sown on a sterile soil does not sprout forth, or as one that has not sown does not get a share of the produce, even so that Sraddha the offerings in which are eaten by an unworthy person, yields no fruit either here or hereafter.[409] That Brahmana who is destitute of Vedic study is like a fire made by burning grass or straw; and becomes soon extinguished even like such a fire. The offerings made at Sraddhas should not be given to him even as libations should not be poured on the ashes of the sacrificial fire. When the offerings made at Sraddhas are exchanged by the performers with one another (instead of being given away unto worthy persons), they come to be regarded as Pisacha presents. Such offerings gratify neither the gods nor the Pitris. Instead of reaching the other world, they wander about even here like a cow that has lost her calf wandering about within the fold. As those libations of ghee that are poured upon the extinguished ashes of a sacrificial fire never reach either the gods or the Pitris, after the same manner a gift that is made to a dancer or a singer or a Dakshina presented to a lying or deceitful person, produces no merit. The Dakshina that is presented to a lying or deceitful person destroys both the giver and the receiver without benefiting them in any respect. Such a Dakshina is destructive and highly censurable. The Pitris of the person making it have to fall down from the path of the deities. The gods know them to be Brahmanas who always tread, O Yudhishthira, within the bounds set up by the Rishis who are conversant with all duties, and who have a firm faith in their efficacy. Those Brahmanas that are devoted to Vedic study, to knowledge, to penances, and to acts, O Bharata, should be known as Rishis. The offerings made at Sraddhas should be given unto those that are devoted to knowledge. Verily, they are to be regarded as men who never speak ill of the Brahmanas. Those men should never be fed on occasions of Sraddhas who speak ill of Brahmanas in course of conversation in the midst of assemblies. If Brahmanas, O king, be calumniated, they would destroy three generations of the calumniator.[410] This is the declaration, O king, of the Vaikhanasa Rishis. Brahmanas conversant with the Vedas should be examined from a distance. Whether one likes them or feels a dislike for them, one should give unto such Brahmanas the offerings made at Sraddhas. That man who feeds thousands upon thousands of false Brahmanas acquires merit that is attainable by feeding even one Brahmana if the latter happens to be possessed of a knowledge of the Vedas, O Bharata!"'"
SECTION XCI
"'Yudhishthira said, "By whom was the Sraddha first conceived and at what time? What also is its essence? During the time when the world was peopled by only the descendants of Bhrigu and Angiras, who was the muni that established the Sraddha? What acts should not be done at Sraddha? What are those Sraddhas in which fruits and roots are to be offered? What species also of paddy should be avoided in Sraddhas? Do thou tell me all this, O grandsire!"
"'Bhishma said, "Listen to me, O ruler of men, as I tell thee how the Sraddha was introduced, the time of such introduction, the essences of the rite, and the Muni who conceived it. From the Self-born Brahman sprang Atri, O thou of Kuru's race. In Atri's race was born a Muni of the name of Dattatreya. Dattatreya got a son of the name of Nimi possessed of wealth of asceticism. Nimi got a son named Srimat who was endued with great beauty of person. Upon the expiration of a full thousand years, Srimat, having undergone the severest austerities, succumbed to the influence of Time and departed from this world. His sire Nimi, having performed the Purificatory rites according to the ritual laid down in the ordinance, became filled with great grief, thinking continually of the loss of his son.[411] Thinking of that cause of sorrow the high-souled Nimi collected together various agreeable objects (of food and drink) on the fourteenth day of the moon. The next morning he rose from bed. Pained his heart was with grief, as he rose from sleep that day—he succeeded in withdrawing it from the one object upon which it had been working. His understanding succeeded in busying itself with other matters. With concentrated attention he then conceived the idea of a Sraddha. All those articles of his own food, consisting of fruits and roots, and all those kinds of staple grains that were agreeable to him, were carefully thought of by that sage possessed of wealth of penances. On the day of the New moon he invited a number of adorable Brahmanas (to his asylum). Possessed of great wisdom, Nimi caused them to be seated on seats (of Kusa grass) and honoured them by going around their persons. Approaching seven such Brahmanas whom he had brought to his abode together, the puissant Nimi gave unto them food consisting of Syamaka rice, unmixed with salt. Towards the feet of those Brahmanas engaged in eating the food that was served unto them a number of Kusa blades was spread out on the seats they occupied, with the top ends of the blades directed towards the south. With a pure body and mind and with concentrated attention, Nimi, having placed those blades of sacred grass in the way indicated, offered cakes of rice unto his dead son, uttering his name and family. Having done this, that foremost of Munis became filled with regret at the idea of having achieved an act that had not (to his knowledge) been laid down in any of the scriptures. Indeed, filled with regret he began to think of what he had done.[412] 'Never done before by the Munis, alas, what have I done! How shall I (for having done an act that has not been ordained) avoid being cursed by the Brahmanas (as an introducer of strange rites)?' He then thought of the original progenitor of his race. As soon as he was thought of, Atri endued with wealth of penances came there. Beholding him exceedingly afflicted with grief on account of the death of his son, the immortal Atri comforted him with agreeable counsels. He said unto him, 'O Muni, this rite that thou hast conceived, is a sacrifice in honour of the Pitris. Let no fear be thine, O thou that art possessed of the wealth of asceticism! The Grandsire Brahman himself, in days of old, laid it down! This rite that thou hast conceived has been ordained by the Self-born himself. Who else than the Self-born could ordain this ritual in Sraddhas? I shall presently tell thee, O son, the excellent ordinance laid down in respect of Sraddhas. Ordained by the Self-born himself, O son, do thou follow it. Listen to me first! Having first performed the Karana on the sacred fire with the aid of Mantras, O thou that art possessed of wealth of penances, one should always pour libations next unto the deity of fire, and Soma, and Varuna. Unto the Viswedevas also, who are always the companions of the Pitris, the Self-born then ordained a portion of the offerings. The Earth also, as the goddess that sustains the offerings made at Sraddhas, should then be praised under the names of Vaishnavi, Kasyapi, and the inexhaustible.[413] When water is being fetched for the Sraddha, the deity Varuna of great puissance should be praised. After this, both Agni and Soma should be invoked with reverence and gratified (with libations), O sinless one. Those deities that are called by the name of Pitris were created by the Self-born. Others also, highly blessed, viz., the Ushnapsa, were created by him. For all these shares have been ordained of the offerings made at Sraddhas. By adoring all these deities at Sraddhas, the ancestors of the persons performing them become freed from all sins. The Pitris referred to above as those created by the Self-born number seven. The Viswedevas having Agni for their mouth (for it is through Agni that they feed), have been mentioned before. I shall now mention the names of those high-souled deities who deserve shares of the offerings made at Sraddhas. Those names are Vala, Dhriti, Vipapa, Punyakrit, Pavana, Parshni, Kshemak, Divysanu, Vivaswat, Viryavat, Hrimat, Kirtimat, Krita, Jitatman, Munivirya, Diptaroman, Bhayankara, Anukarman, Pratia, Pradatri, Ansumat, Sailabha, Parama Krodhi, Dhiroshni, Bhupati, Sraja, Vajrin, and Vari,—these are the eternal Viswedevas. There are others also whose names are Vidyutvarchas, Somavarchas, and Suryasri. Others also are numbered amongst them, viz., Somapa, Suryasavitra, Dattatman, Pundariyaka, Ushninabha, Nabhoda, Viswayu, Dipti, Chamuhara, Suresa, Vyomari, Sankara Bhava, Isa, Kartri, Kriti, Daksha, Bhuvana, Divya, Karmakrit, Ganita Panchavirya, Aditya, Rasmimat, Saptakrit, Somavachas, Viswakrit, Kavi, Anugoptri, Sugoptri, Naptri, and Iswara:—these highly blessed ones are numbered as the Viswedevas. They are eternal and conversant with all that occurs in Time. The species of paddy which should not be offered at Sraddhas are those called Kodrava, and Pulka. Assafoetida also, among articles used in cooking, should not be offered, as also onions and garlic, the produce of the Moringa pterygosperma, Bauhinia Variegata, the meat of animals slain with envenomed shafts, all varieties of Sucuribita Pepo, Sucuribita lagenaria, and black salt. The other articles that should not be offered at Sraddhas are the flesh of the domesticated hog, the meat of all animals not slaughtered at sacrifices, Nigella sativa, salt of the variety called Vid, the potherb that is called Sitapaki, all sprouts (like those of the bamboo), and also the Trapa bispinosa. All kinds of salt should be excluded from the offerings made at Sraddhas, and also the fruits of the Eugenia Jamblana. All articles, again, upon which any one has spat or upon which tears have fallen should not be offered at Sraddhas. Among offerings made to the Pitris or with the Havya and Kavya offered to the deities, the potherb called Sudarsana (Menispermum tomentosum, Rox) should not be included. Havi mixed with this is not acceptable to Pitris. From the place where the Sraddha is being performed, the Chandala and the Swapacha should be excluded, as also all who wear clothes steeped in yellow, and persons affected with leprosy, or one who has been excasted (for transgressions), or one who is guilty of Brahmanicide, or a Brahmana of mixed descent or one who is the relative of an excasted man. These all should be excluded by persons possessed of wisdom from the place where a Sraddha is being performed,' Having said these words in days of old unto the Rishi Nimi of his own race, the illustrious Atri possessed of wealth of penances then went back to the Grandsire's assembly in Heaven."'"