Shraddha (श्राद्धम्)

Shraddha (Samskrit : श्राद्धम्) is the monthly funeral offering to the forefathers also called as Anvaharya (अन्वाहार्यम्).

पितॄणां मासिकं श्राद्धं अन्वाहार्यं विदुर्बुधाः ॥ ३.१२३ ॥ pitr̥̄ṇāṁ māsikaṁ śrāddhaṁ anvāhāryaṁ vidurbudhāḥ ॥ 3.123 ॥

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 ॥

And the forefathers are to be worshiped by funeral offerings (Shraddha) - पितॄञ् श्राद्धैश्च | pitr̥̄ñ śrāddhaiśca | (Manu 3.81)

श्राद्धनियमाः ॥ Rules governing Shraddha

Manusmrti talks in detail about who and how many must be fed on the occasion of a Shraddha, who must be avoided, and what kind of food should be served. (Manu Smrt 3.124)

तत्र ये भोजनीयाः स्युर्ये च वर्ज्या द्विजोत्तमाः । यावन्तश्चैव यैश्चान्नैस्तान्प्रवक्ष्याम्यशेषतः ॥ ३.१२४ ॥

tatra ye bhojanīyāḥ syurye ca varjyā dvijottamāḥ । yāvantaścaiva yaiścānnaistānpravakṣyāmyaśeṣataḥ ॥ 3.124 ॥

श्राद्धकर्ता ॥ Who should perform Shraddha ?

• After performing the Pitruyajna, a Brahmana who keeps a sacred fire shall offer, month by month, on the new-moon day, the funeral sacrifice (Shraddha, called) Pindanvaharyaka. (Manu 3.122)

पितृयज्ञं तु निर्वर्त्य विप्रश्चन्द्रक्षयेऽग्निमान् । पिण्डान्वाहार्यकं श्राद्धं कुर्यान्मासानुमासिकम् ॥ ३.१२२ ॥

pitr̥yajñaṁ tu nirvartya vipraścandrakṣaye'gnimān । piṇḍānvāhāryakaṁ śrāddhaṁ kuryānmāsānumāsikam ॥ 3.122 ॥

श्राद्धदेयानि ॥ The offerings of Shraddha

• One should, 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)

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

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

श्राद्धभोजनम् ॥ Shraddha Bhojana

• It is said that one must feed two (Brahmanas) at the offering to the gods, and three at the offering to the forefathers, or one only on either occasion; even a very wealthy man shall not be anxious (to entertain) a large company. (Manu 3.125) Because 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. (Manu 3.126)

द्वौ दैवे पितृकार्ये त्रीनेकैकं उभयत्र वा । भोजयेत्सुसमृद्धोऽपि न प्रसज्जेत विस्तरे ॥ ३.१२५ ॥

सत्क्रियां देशकालौ च शौचं ब्राह्मणसंपदः । पञ्चैतान्विस्तरो हन्ति तस्मान्नेहेत विस्तरम् ॥ ३.१२६ ॥

dvau daive pitr̥kārye trīnekaikaṁ ubhayatra vā । bhojayetsusamr̥ddho'pi na prasajjeta vistare ॥ 3.125 ॥

satkriyāṁ deśakālau ca śaucaṁ brāhmaṇasaṁpadaḥ । pañcaitānvistaro hanti tasmānneheta vistaram ॥ 3.126 ॥

• One should feed atleast one Brahmana in honour of the forefathers at (the Shraddha), which belongs to the five great sacrifices; but should not feed on that (occasion) any Brahmana on account of the Vaisvadeva offering. (Manu 3.83)

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

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

श्राद्धभोजनाधिकारी ॥ Shraddha Bhojana Adhikari

• Food sacred to the forefathers or to the gods must be given to a man distinguished by sacred knowledge; for hands, smeared with blood, cannot be cleansed with blood. (Manu 3.132). Infact, it is said that, as many mouthfuls as an ignorant man swallows at a sacrifice to the gods or to the forefathers, so many red-hot spikes, spears, and iron balls must (the giver of the repast) swallow after death. (Manu 3.133)

ज्ञानोत्कृष्टाय देयानि कव्यानि च हवींषि च । न हि हस्तावसृग्दिग्धौ रुधिरेणैव शुध्यतः ॥ ३.१३२ ॥

यावतो ग्रसते ग्रासान्हव्यकव्येष्वमन्त्रवित् । तावतो ग्रसते प्रेतो दीप्तशूलर्ष्ट्ययोगुडान् ॥ ३.१३३ ॥

jñānotkr̥ṣṭāya deyāni kavyāni ca havīṁṣi ca । na hi hastāvasr̥gdigdhau rudhireṇaiva śudhyataḥ ॥ 3.132 ॥

yāvato grasate grāsānhavyakavyeṣvamantravit । tāvato grasate preto dīptaśūlarṣṭyayoguḍān ॥ 3.133 ॥

• It is said that, 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). (Manu 3.131). Therefore, one is advised to (take) pains (to) feed at a Shraddha an adherent of the Rig-veda who has studied one entire (recension of that) Veda, or a follower of the Yajur-veda who has finished one Sakha, or a singer of Samans who (likewise) has completed (the study of an entire recension). (Manu Smrt 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. (3.146)

सहस्रं हि सहस्राणां अनृचां यत्र भुञ्जते । एकस्तान्मन्त्रवित्प्रीतः सर्वानर्हति धर्मतः ॥ ३.१३१ ॥

यत्नेन भोजयेच्छ्राद्धे बह्वृचं वेदपारगम् । शाखान्तगं अथाध्वर्युं छन्दोगं तु समाप्तिकम् ॥ ३.१४५ ॥

एषां अन्यतमो यस्य भुञ्जीत श्राद्धं अर्चितः । पितॄणां तस्य तृप्तिः स्याच्छाश्वती साप्तपौरुषी ॥ ३.१४६ ॥

sahasraṁ hi sahasrāṇāṁ anr̥cāṁ yatra bhuñjate । ekastānmantravitprītaḥ sarvānarhati dharmataḥ ॥ 3.131 ॥

yatnena bhojayecchrāddhe bahvr̥caṁ vedapāragam । śākhāntagaṁ athādhvaryuṁ chandogaṁ tu samāptikam ॥ 3.145 ॥

eṣāṁ anyatamo yasya bhuñjīta śrāddhaṁ arcitaḥ । pitr̥̄ṇāṁ tasya tr̥ptiḥ syācchāśvatī sāptapauruṣī ॥ 3.146 ॥

• 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. (Manu 3.134). Oblations to the forefathers 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). (Manu 3.135). Therefore, one is advised to 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 forefathers, he is declared (to procure as great rewards as) a guest (atithi). (Manu 3.130)

ज्ञाननिष्ठा द्विजाः के चित्तपोनिष्ठास्तथापरे । तपःस्वाध्यायनिष्ठाश्च कर्मनिष्ठास्तथापरे ॥ ३.१३४ ॥

ज्ञाननिष्ठेषु कव्यानि प्रतिष्ठाप्यानि यत्नतः । हव्यानि तु यथान्यायं सर्वेष्वेव चतुर्ष्वपि ॥ ३.१३५ ॥

दूरादेव परीक्षेत ब्राह्मणं वेदपारगम् । तीर्थं तद्धव्यकव्यानां प्रदाने सोऽतिथिः स्मृतः ॥ ३.१३० ॥

jñānaniṣṭhā dvijāḥ ke cittaponiṣṭhāstathāpare । tapaḥsvādhyāyaniṣṭhāśca karmaniṣṭhāstathāpare ॥ 3.134 ॥

jñānaniṣṭheṣu kavyāni pratiṣṭhāpyāni yatnataḥ । havyāni tu yathānyāyaṁ sarveṣveva caturṣvapi ॥ 3.135 ॥

dūrādeva parīkṣeta brāhmaṇaṁ vedapāragam । tīrthaṁ taddhavyakavyānāṁ pradāne so'tithiḥ smr̥taḥ ॥ 3.130 ॥

• It is said that, 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 forefathers, one must carefully examine (the qualities and parentage of the guest). (3.149) However, incase, 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, (Manu 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). (Manu 3.137)

न ब्राह्मणं परीक्षेत दैवे कर्मणि धर्मवित् । पित्र्ये कर्मणि तु प्राप्ते परीक्षेत प्रयत्नतः ॥ ३.१४९ ॥

अश्रोत्रियः पिता यस्य पुत्रः स्याद्वेदपारगः । अश्रोत्रियो वा पुत्रः स्यात्पिता स्याद्वेदपारगः ॥ ३.१३६ ॥

ज्यायांसं अनयोर्विद्याद्यस्य स्याच्छ्रोत्रियः पिता । मन्त्रसंपूजनार्थं तु सत्कारं इतरोऽर्हति ॥ ३.१३७ ॥

na brāhmaṇaṁ parīkṣeta daive karmaṇi dharmavit । pitrye karmaṇi tu prāpte parīkṣeta prayatnataḥ ॥ 3.149 ॥

aśrotriyaḥ pitā yasya putraḥ syādvedapāragaḥ । aśrotriyo vā putraḥ syātpitā syādvedapāragaḥ ॥ 3.136 ॥

jyāyāṁsaṁ anayorvidyādyasya syācchrotriyaḥ pitā । mantrasaṁpūjanārthaṁ tu satkāraṁ itaro'rhati ॥ 3.137 ॥

• One should not entertain a personal friend at a funeral sacrifice; he may gain his affection by (other) valuable gifts; let him feed at a Shraddha a Brahmana whom he considers neither as a foe nor as a friend. (Manu 3.138) For, he who performs funeral sacrifices and offerings to the gods chiefly for the sake of (gaining) friends, reaps after death no reward for Shraddhas and sacrifices. (Manu 3.139). Infact, that meanest among twice-born men who in his folly contracts friendships through a funeral sacrifice, loses heaven, because he performed a Shraddha for the sake of friendship. (Manu 3.140). And the gift (of food) by twice-born men, consumed with (friends and relatives), is said to be offered to the Pishachas; it remains in this (world) alone like a blind cow in one stable. (Manu 3.141)

न श्राद्धे भोजयेन्मित्रं धनैः कार्योऽस्य संग्रहः । नारिं न मित्रं यं विद्यात्तं श्राद्धे भोजयेद्द्विजम् ॥ ३.१३८ ॥

यस्य मित्रप्रधानानि श्राद्धानि च हवींषि च । तस्य प्रेत्य फलं नास्ति श्राद्धेषु च हविःषु च ॥ ३.१३९ ॥

यः संगतानि कुरुते मोहाच्छ्राद्धेन मानवः । स स्वर्गाच्च्यवते लोकाच्छ्राद्धमित्रो द्विजाधमः ॥ ३.१४० ॥

संभोजानि साभिहिता पैशाची दक्षिणा द्विजैः । इहैवास्ते तु सा लोके गौरन्धेवैकवेश्मनि ॥ ३.१४१ ॥

na śrāddhe bhojayenmitraṁ dhanaiḥ kāryo'sya saṁgrahaḥ । nāriṁ na mitraṁ yaṁ vidyāttaṁ śrāddhe bhojayeddvijam ॥ 3.138 ॥

yasya mitrapradhānāni śrāddhāni ca havīṁṣi ca । tasya pretya phalaṁ nāsti śrāddheṣu ca haviḥṣu ca ॥ 3.139 ॥

yaḥ saṁgatāni kurute mohācchrāddhena mānavaḥ । sa svargāccyavate lokācchrāddhamitro dvijādhamaḥ ॥ 3.140 ॥

saṁbhojāni sābhihitā paiśācī dakṣiṇā dvijaiḥ । ihaivāste tu sā loke gaurandhevaikaveśmani ॥ 3.141 ॥

श्राद्धभोजनानधिकारी ॥ Shraddha Bhojana Anadhikari

8a.2 Whom not to invite to a shraddha

Manu has declared that those Brahmanas who are thieves, outcasts, eunuchs, or atheists are unworthy (to partake) of oblations to the gods and forefathers. (3.150)

Let him not entertain at a Shraddha one who wears his hair in braids (a student), one who has not studied (the Veda), one afflicted with a skin-disease, a gambler, nor those who sacrifice for a multitude (of sacrificers).(3.151)

Physicians, temple-priests, sellers of meat, and those who subsist by shop-keeping must be avoided at sacrifices offered to the gods and to the forefathers. (3.152)

A paid servant of a village or of a king, man with deformed nails or black teeth, one who opposes his teacher, one who has forsaken the sacred fire, and a usurer;(3.153)

One suffering from consumption, one who subsists by tending cattle, a younger brother who marries or kindles the sacred fire before the elder, one who neglects the five great sacrifices, an enemy of the Brahmana race, an elder brother who marries or kindles the sacred fire after the younger, and one who belongs to a company or corporation (3.154)

An actor or singer, one who has broken the vow of studentship, one whose (only or first) wife is a Sudra female, the son of a remarried woman, a one-eyed man, and he in whose house a paramour of his wife (resides) (3.155)

He who teaches for a stipulated fee and he who is taught on that condition, he who instructs Sudra pupils and he whose teacher is a Sudra, he who speaks rudely, the son of an adulteress, and the son of a widow (3.156)

He who forsakes his mother, his father, or a teacher without a (sufficient) reason, he who has contracted an alliance with outcasts either through the Veda or through a marriage,(3.157)

An incendiary, a prisoner, he who eats the food given by the son of an adulteress, a seller of Soma, he who undertakes voyages by sea, a bard, an oil-man, a suborner to perjury,(3.158)

He who wrangles or goes to law with his father, the keeper of a gambling-house, a drunkard, he who is afflicted with a disease (in punishment of former) crimes, he who is accused of a mortal sin, a hypocrite, a seller of substances used for flavouring food (3.159)

A maker of bows and of arrows, he who lasciviously dallies with a brother's widow, the betrayer of a friend, one who subsists by gambling, he who learns (the Veda) from his son (3.160)

An epileptic man, who suffers from scrofulous swellings of the glands, one afflicted with white leprosy, an informer, a madman, a blind man, and he who cavils at the Veda must (all) be avoided.(3.161)

A trainer of elephants, oxen, horses, or camels, he who subsists by astrology, a bird-fancier, and he who teaches the use of arms, (3.162)

He who diverts water-courses, and he who delights in obstructing them, an architect, a messenger, and he who plants trees (for money) (3.163)

A breeder of sporting-dogs, a falconer, one who defiles maidens, he who delights in injuring living creatures, he who gains his subsistence from Shudras, and he who offers sacrifices to the Ganas,(3.164)

He who does not follow the rule of conduct, a (man destitute of energy like a) eunuch, one who constantly asks (for favours), he who lives by agriculture, a club-footed man, and he who is censured by virtuous men, (3.165)

A shepherd, a keeper of buffaloes, the husband of a remarried woman, and a carrier of dead bodies, (all these) must be carefully avoided.(3.166)

A Brahmana who knows (the sacred law) should shun at (sacrifices) both (to the gods and to the forefathers) these lowest of twice-born men, whose conduct is reprehensible, and who are unworthy (to sit) in the company (at a repast).(3.167)

As a fire of dry grass is (unable to consume the offerings and is quickly) extinguished, even so (is it with) an unlearned Brahmana; sacrificial food must not be given to him, since it (would be) offered in ashes.(3.168)

श्राद्धफलम् ॥ The fruit of Shraddha

• Famed is this rite for the dead, called (the sacrifice sacred to the forefathers (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. (Manu 3.127)

प्रथिता प्रेतकृत्यैषा पित्र्यं नाम विधुक्षये । तस्मिन्युक्तस्यैति नित्यं प्रेतकृत्यैव लौकिकी ॥ ३.१२७ ॥

prathitā pretakr̥tyaiṣā pitryaṁ nāma vidhukṣaye । tasminyuktasyaiti nityaṁ pretakr̥tyaiva laukikī ॥ 3.127 ॥

• However, oblations to the gods and forefathers must be presented by the givers to a Shrotriya alone; what is given to such a most worthy Brahmana yields great reward. (Manu 3.128). Hence, it is said, let him feed even one learned man at (the sacrifice) to the gods, and one at (the sacrifice) to the forefathers; (thus) he will gain a rich reward, not (if he entertains) many who are unacquainted with the Veda. (Manu 3.129) Otherwise, 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. (Manu Smrt 3.142). However, 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. (Manu Smrt 3.143)

श्रोत्रियायैव देयानि हव्यकव्यानि दातृभिः । अर्हत्तमाय विप्राय तस्मै दत्तं महाफलम् ॥ ३.१२८ ॥

एकैकं अपि विद्वांसं दैवे पित्र्ये च भोजयेत् । पुष्कलं फलं आप्नोति नामन्त्रज्ञान्बहूनपि ॥ ३.१२९ ॥

यथेरिणे बीजं उप्त्वा न वप्ता लभते फलम् । तथानृचे हविर्दत्त्वा न दाता लभते फलम् ॥ ३.१४२ ॥

दातॄन्प्रतिग्रहीतॄंश्च कुरुते फलभागिनः । विदुषे दक्षिणां दत्त्वा विधिवत्प्रेत्य चेह च ॥ ३.१४३ ॥

śrotriyāyaiva deyāni havyakavyāni dātr̥bhiḥ । arhattamāya viprāya tasmai dattaṁ mahāphalam ॥ 3.128 ॥

ekaikaṁ api vidvāṁsaṁ daive pitrye ca bhojayet । puṣkalaṁ phalaṁ āpnoti nāmantrajñānbahūnapi ॥ 3.129 ॥

yatheriṇe bījaṁ uptvā na vaptā labhate phalam । tathānr̥ce havirdattvā na dātā labhate phalam ॥ 3.142 ॥

dātr̥̄npratigrahītr̥̄ṁśca kurute phalabhāginaḥ । viduṣe dakṣiṇāṁ dattvā vidhivatpretya ceha ca ॥ 3.143 ॥

• However, (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. (Manu Smrt 3.144)

कामं श्राद्धेऽर्चयेन्मित्रं नाभिरूपं अपि त्वरिम् । द्विषता हि हविर्भुक्तं भवति प्रेत्य निष्फलम् ॥ ३.१४४ ॥

kāmaṁ śrāddhe'rcayenmitraṁ nābhirūpaṁ api tvarim । dviṣatā hi havirbhuktaṁ bhavati pretya niṣphalam ॥ 3.144 ॥

श्राद्धानुकल्पाः ॥ Subsidiary rules

• 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. (Manu Smrt 3.148)

मातामहं मातुलं च स्वस्रीयं श्वशुरं गुरुम् । दौहित्रं विट्पतिं बन्धुं ऋत्विग्याज्यौ च भोजयेत् ॥ ३.१४८ ॥

mātāmahaṁ mātulaṁ ca svasrīyaṁ śvaśuraṁ gurum । dauhitraṁ viṭpatiṁ bandhuṁ r̥tvigyājyau ca bhojayet ॥ 3.148 ॥

8a.1 Feeding the brahmanas

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

एष वै प्रथमः कल्पः प्रदाने हव्यकव्ययोः । अनुकल्पस्त्वयं ज्ञेयः सदा सद्भिरनुष्ठितः ॥ ३.१४७ ॥