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Vishnu-smriti (Vishnu sutra / Vaishnava Dharmasâstra)
Funeral Oblations
XXI.1
1. Now then2, (on the day) after the impurity is over, let him bathe duly (during the recitation of Mantras), wash his hands and feet duly, and sip water duly, (and having invited some Brâhmanas), as many as possible, who must cleanse themselves in the same way and turn their faces towards the north, let him bestow presents of perfumes, garlands, clothes and other things (a lamp, frankincense, and the like) upon them, and hospitably entertain them.
2. At the Ekoddishta (or Srâddha for one recently deceased) let him alter the Mantras3 so as to refer to (the) one person (deceased).4
3. Close to the food left (by the Brâhmanas) let him offer a ball of rice, at the same time calling out his name and (that of) his race.5
4. The Brâhmanas having taken food and having been honoured with a gift, let him offer, as imperishable food, water to the Brâhmanas, after having called out the name and Gotra of the deceased; and let him dig three trenches, each four Angulas in breadth, their distance from one another and their depth also measuring (four Angulas), and their length amounting to one Vitasti (or twelve Angulas).6
5. Close by the trenches let him light three fires, and having added fuel to them, let him make three oblations (of boiled rice) in each (fire, saying),
6. 'Svadhâ and reverence to Soma, accompanied by the manes.
7. 'Svadhâ and reverence to Agni, who conveys the oblations addressed to the manes.
8. 'Svadhâ and reverence to Yama Angiras.'
9. Then let him offer balls of rice as (ordained) before (in Sûtra 3) on the three mounds of earth (adjacent to the three trenches).
10. After having filled the three trenches with rice, sour milk, clarified butter, honey, and meat, let him mutter (the Mantra), 'This is for you.'7
11. This ceremony he must repeat monthly, on the day of his death.8
12. At the close of the year let him give food to the Brâhmanas, after having fed the gods first, in honour of the deceased and of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.9
13. At (the Ekoddishta belonging to) this ceremony let him perform the burnt-offering, the invitation, and (the offering of) water for washing the feet.10
14. Then he must pour the water for washing the feet and the Arghya (water libation) destined for the deceased person into the three vessels containing the water for washing the feet, and the three other vessels containing the Arghya of his three ancestors. At the same time he must mutter (the two Mantras), 'May earth unite thee11,' and 'United your minds12.'
15. Near the leavings he must make (and put) four balls of rice.
16. Let him show out the Brâhmanas, after they have sipped water duly and have been presented by him with their sacrificial fee.
17. Then let him knead together the ball of the deceased person with the three balls (of the three ancestors), as (he has mixed up) his water for washing the feet and his Arghya (with theirs).
18. Let him do the same (with the balls placed) near the three trenches.
19. Or (see Sûtra 12) the Sapindîkarana must be performed on the thirteenth, after the monthly Srâddha has been performed on the twelfth13 day.
20. For Sûdras it should be performed on the twelfth day, without Mantras.
21. If there be an intercalary month in that year, he must add one day to the (regular days of the) monthly Srâddha.
22. The ceremony of investing women with the relationship of Sapinda has to be performed in the same manner. Later, he must perform a Srâddha every year, while he lives, (on the anniversary of the deceased relative's death)14.
23. He, for whom the ceremony of investing him with the, relationship of Sâpinda is performed after the lapse of a year, shall be honoured by the gift, (on each day) of that year, of food and a jar with water to a Brâhmana.
Footnotes
1. 1-11. Âsv. IV, 7; Par. III, 10, 48-53; Sânkh. IV, 2; M. III, 247; Y. III, 250, 251, 255.--12-23. Sânkh. IV, 3; V, 9; Y. I, 252-254. Regarding the parallel passages of the Kâthaka Grihya-sûtra, see the Introduction.
2. 'Having said, in the previous Chapter (XX, 30), that "the obsequies should be performed," he now goes on to describe that part of the obsequies which has not yet been expounded, viz. the "first Srâddha."' (Nand.)
3. The Mantras here referred to are those contained in the description of the Pârvana and other ordinary Srâddhas in Chapter LXXIII. Thus, the Mantra, 'This is your (share), ye manes' (LXXIII, 12, 13), has to be altered into, 'This is thy (share), father;' and so on. Devapâla, in his Commentary on the Kâthaka Grihya-sûtra, gives an accurate statement of all the modifications which the ordinary Mantras have to undergo at the Ekoddishta.
4. Nand. states that not only the Mantras, but the whole ritual should be modified. The nature of the latter modifications is stated by Yâgñavalkya loc. cit. and by Sânkhâyana loc. cit.
5. This must be done with the Mantra, 'This is for you.' (Nand.) Regarding this Mantra, see note on Sûtra 10.
6. The 'imperishable water,' akshayyodakam, derives its name from the Mantra, with which it is delivered, expressing the wish that the meal 'may give imperishable satisfaction' (akshayyam astu). This is the explanation which Nand. gives of the term akshayyodakam in his gloss on LXXIII, 27. In his comment on the present Sûtra he says that the 'imperishable water' must be presented with the (further?) Mantras, 'Let arrive' and 'Be satisfied.' See Y. I, 251 Sânkh. IV, 2, 6.
7. The whole Mantra runs as follows, 'This is for you, father, and for those after you.' But in the present case (at a 'first Srâddha') the name of the deceased has to be substituted for the word 'father.' (Nand.) Although Nand. quotes this Mantra from Âsvalâyana's Srauta-sûtra, it seems probable that the author of the Vishnu-sûtra took it from the Kâthaka (IX, 6 of the Berlin MS.)
8. The Sûtras following next refer to the Sapindîkarana or 'ceremony of investing a dead person with the rights of a Sapinda.'
9. 'He must invite six Brâhmanas altogether, four as representatives of the deceased person and of his three ancestors, two for the offering to be addressed to the Visvedevâs. The Brâhmana, who represents the deceased person, must be fed according to the rule of the Ekoddishta, and the three Brâhmanas, who represent the three ancestors, must be fed according to the rule of the Pârvana Srâddha, as laid down in Chapter LXXXIII.' (Nand.)
10. The import of this Sûtra is, that those three ceremonies must not be omitted in the present case, as is otherwise the case at an Ekoddishta. (Nand.)
11. The following is a translation of the whole of this Mantra, {footnote p. 85} which is quoted at full in the Kâthaka Grihya-sûtra, 'May Prithivî (the earth), Vâyu (air), Agni (fire), and Pragâpati (the lord of creatures) unite thee with thy ancestors, and way you ancestors unite with him.' Regarding the particular ancestors implied here, see below, LXXV.
12. Rig-veda X, 191, 4.
13. I.e. on that day on which the period of impurity expires. (Nand.)
14. The meaning is, that he must give him food and water, as prescribed in 23. (Nand.)
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