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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 |
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