Shraddha (श्राद्धम्)

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

It is said that, the sages, the forefathers, the gods, the Bhutas, and guests ask the householders (for offerings and gifts); hence he who knows (the law), must give to them (what is due to each). (Manu 3.80)

ऋषयः पितरो देवा भूतान्यतिथयस्तथा । आशासते कुटुम्बिभ्यस्तेभ्यः कार्यं विजानता । । ३.८० । ।

r̥ṣayaḥ pitaro devā bhūtānyatithayastathā । āśāsate kuṭumbibhyastebhyaḥ kāryaṁ vijānatā । । 3.80 । ।

According to Manusmrti, the forefathers are to be worshiped by funeral offerings (Shraddha) - पितॄञ् श्राद्धैश्च | pitr̥̄ñ śrāddhaiśca | It says,

कुर्यादहरहः श्राद्धं अन्नाद्येनोदकेन वा । पयोमूलफलैर्वापि पितृभ्यः प्रीतिं आवहन् । । ३.८२ । ।

एकं अप्याशयेद्विप्रं पित्रर्थे पाञ्चयज्ञिके । न चैवात्राशयेत्किं चिद्वैश्वदेवं प्रति द्विजम् । । ३.८३ । ।

kuryādaharahaḥ śrāddhaṁ annādyenodakena vā । payomūlaphalairvāpi pitr̥bhyaḥ prītiṁ āvahan । । 3.82 । ।

ekaṁ apyāśayedvipraṁ pitrarthe pāñcayajñike । na caivātrāśayetkiṁ cidvaiśvadevaṁ prati dvijam । । 3.83 । ।

Meaning: Let him daily perform a funeral sacrifice with food, or with water, or also with milk, roots, and fruits, and (thus) please the forefathers. (Manu 3.82) Let him feed even one Brahmana in honour of the forefathers at (the Shraddha), which belongs to the five great sacrifices; but let him not feed on that (occasion) any Brahmana on account of the Vaisvadeva offering. (Manu 3.83)

Topic 8a: Prasita − the sraddha rites (offerings to the manes)

After performing the Pitriyagna, a Brahmana who keeps a sacred fire shall offer, month by month, on the new-moon day, the funeral sacrifice (Sraddha, called) Pindanvaharyaka. [v.3.122.]

The wise call the monthly funeral offering to the manes Anvaharya (to be offered after the cakes), and that must be carefully performed with the approved (sorts of) flesh (mentioned below). [v.3.123.]

8a.1 Feeding the brahmanas

I will fully declare what and how many (Brahmanas) must be fed on that (occasion), who must be avoided, and on what kinds of food (they shall dine). [v.3.124.]

~One must feed two (Brahmanas) at the offering to the gods, and three at the offering to the manes, or one only on either occasion; even a very wealthy man shall not be anxious (to entertain) a large company. [v.3.125.]

~A large company destroys these five (advantages) the respectful treatment (of the invited, the propriety of) place and time, purity and (the selection of) virtuous Brahmana (guests); he therefore shall not seek (to entertain) a large company. [v.3.126.]

Famed is this rite for the dead, called (the sacrifice sacred to the manes (and performed) on the new-moon day; if a man is diligent in (performing) that, (the reward of) the rite for the dead, which is performed according to Smarta rules, reaches him constantly. [v.3.127.]

~Oblations to the gods and manes must be presented by the givers to a Srotriya alone; what is given to such a most worthy Brahmana yields great reward. [v.3.128.]

Let him feed even one learned man at (the sacrifice) to the gods, and one at (the sacrifice) to the manes; (thus) he will gain a rich reward, not (if he entertains) many who are unacquainted with the Veda. [v.3.129.]

Let him make inquiries even regarding the remote (ancestors of) a Brahmana who has studied an entire (recension of the) Veda; (if descended from a virtuous race) such a man is a worthy recipient of gifts (consisting) of food offered to the gods or to the manes, he is declared (to procure as great rewards as) a guest (atithi). [v.3.130.]

~Though a million of men, unacquainted with the Rikas, were to dine at a (funeral sacrifice), yet a single man, learned in the Veda, who is satisfied (with his entertainment), is worth them all as far as the (production of) spiritual merit (is concerned). [v.3.131.]

~Food sacred to the manes or to the gods must be given to a man distinguished by sacred knowledge; for hands, smeared with blood, cannot be cleansed with blood. [v.3.132.]

As many mouthfuls as an ignorant man swallows at a sacrifice to the gods or to the manes, so many red-hot spikes, spears, and iron balls must (the giver of the repast) swallow after death. [v.3.133.]

Some Brahmanas are devoted to (the pursuit of) knowledge, and others to (the performance of) austerities; some to austerities and to the recitation of the Veda, and others to (the performance of) sacred rites. [v.3.134.]

Oblations to the manes ought to be carefully presented to those devoted to knowledge, but offerings to the gods, in accordance with the reason (of the sacred law), to (men of) all the four (above-mentioned classes). [v.3.135.]

If there is a father ignorant of the sacred texts whose son has learned one whole recension of the Veda and the Angas, and a son ignorant of the sacred texts whose father knows an entire recension of the Veda and the Angas, [v.3.136.]

Know that he whose father knows the Veda, is the more venerable one (of the two); yet the other one is worthy of honour, because respect is due to the Veda (which he has learned). [v.3.137.]

Let him not entertain a personal friend at a funeral sacrifice; he may gain his affection by (other) valuable gifts; let him feed at a Sraddha a Brahmana whom he considers neither as a foe nor as a friend. [v.3.138.]

He who performs funeral sacrifices and offerings to the gods chiefly for the sake of (gaining) friends, reaps after death no reward for Sraddhas and sacrifices. [v.3.139.]

That meanest among twice-born men who in his folly contracts friendships through a funeral sacrifice, loses heaven, because he performed a Sraddha for the sake of friendship. [v.3.140.]

A gift (of food) by twice-born men, consumed with (friends and relatives), is said to be offered to the Pisakas; it remains in this (world) alone like a blind cow in one stable. [v.3.141.]

As a husbandman reaps no harvest when he has sown the seed in barren soil, even so the giver of sacrificial food gains no reward if he presented it to a man unacquainted with the Rikas. [v.3.142.]

But a present made in accordance with the rules to a learned man, makes the giver and the recipient partakers of rewards both in this (life) and after death. [v.3.143.]

(If no learned Brahmana be at hand), he may rather honour a (virtuous) friend than an enemy, though the latter may be qualified (by learning and so forth); for sacrificial food, eaten by a foe, bears no reward after death. [v.3.144.]

Let him (take) pains (to) feed at a Sraddha an adherent of the Rig-veda who has studied one entire (recension of that) Veda, or a follower of the Yagur-veda who has finished one Sakha, or a singer of Samans who (likewise) has completed (the study of an entire recension). [v.3.145.]

If one of these three dines, duly honoured, at a funeral sacrifice, the ancestors of him (who gives the feast), as far as the seventh person, will be satisfied for a very long time. [v.3.146.]

This is the chief rule (to be followed) in offering sacrifices to the gods and manes; know that the virtuous always observe the following subsidiary rule. [v.3.147.]

One may also entertain (on such occasions) one's maternal grandfather, a maternal uncle, a sister's son, a father-in-law, one's teacher, a daughter's son, a daughter's husband, a cognate kinsman, one's own officiating priest or a man for whom one offers sacrifices. [v.3.148.]

For a rite sacred to the gods, he who knows the law will not make (too close) inquiries regarding an (invited) Brahmana; but when one performs a ceremony in honour of the manes, one must carefully examine (the qualities and parentage of the guest). [v.3.149.]