Kisari Mohan Ganguli - The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

SECTION LXXXVIII

"Yudhishthira said, 'O thou of great puissance, tell me what that object is which, if dedicated to the Pitris, becomes inexhaustible! What Havi, again, (if offered) lasts for all time? What, indeed, is that which (if presented) becomes eternal?'"

"Bhishma said, 'Listen to me, O Yudhishthira, what those Havis are which persons conversant with the ritual of the Sraddha regard as suitable in view of the Sraddha and what the fruits are that attach to each. With sesame seeds and rice and barley and Masha and water and roots and fruits, if given at Sraddhas, the Pitris, O king, remain gratified for the period of a month.[398] Manu has said that if a Sraddha is performed with a copious measure of sesame, such Sraddha becomes inexhaustible. Of all kinds of food, sesame seeds are regarded as the best. With fishes offered at Sraddhas, the Pitris remain gratified for a period of two months. With mutton they remain gratified for three months and with the flesh of the hare for four. With the flesh of the goat, O king, they remain gratified for five months, with bacon for six months, and with the flesh of birds for seven. With venison obtained from those deer that are called Prishata, they remain gratified for eight months, and with that obtained from the Ruru for nine months, and with the meat of the Gavaya for ten months. With the meat of the buffalo their gratification lasts for eleven months. With beef presented at the Sraddha, their gratification, it is said, lasts for a full year. Payasa mixed with ghee is as much acceptable to the Pitris as beef. With the meat of the Vadhrinasa the gratification of the Pitris lasts for twelve years.[399] The flesh of the rhinoceros, offered to the Pitris on the anniversaries of the lunar days on which they died, becomes inexhaustible. The potherb called Kalasaka, the petals of the Kanchana flower, and meat of the goat also, thus offered, prove inexhaustible.[400] In this connection, O Yudhishthira, there are some verses, originally sung by the Pitris, that are sung (in the world). They were communicated to me in former days by Sanatkumara.--He that has taken birth in our race should give us Payasa mixed with ghee on the thirteenth day (of the dark fortnight), under the constellation Magha, during the Sun's southward course. One born in our race should, under the constellation Magha, as if in the observance of a vow, offer the meat of goat or the petals of the Kanchana flower. One should also offer us, with due rites, Payasa mixed with ghee, dedicating it on a spot covered by the shadow of an elephant.--Many sons should be coveted so that even one may go to Gaya (for performing the Sraddha of his ancestors), where stands the banian that is celebrated over all the worlds and that makes all offerings made under its branches inexhaustible.[401] Even a little of water, roots, fruits, meat, and rice, mixed with honey, if offered on the anniversary of the day of death becomes inexhaustible.'"

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, of 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.