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Updated: May 14, 2025
Indeed, afflicted with the heaps of food that all persons began to give them, they repaired to the presence of Soma. Approaching Soma they said, 'Alas, great is our affliction in consequence of the food that is offered to us at Sraddhas.
""Agni said, 'Ye sires, when a Sraddha comes, we shall together eat the offerings made to us. If ye eat those offerings with me, ye shall then, without doubt, succeed in digesting them easily. Hearing these words of the deity of fire, the Pitris became easy of heart. It is for this reason also that in making offerings at Sraddhas a share is first offered to the deity of fire, O king.
The meaning is that the Brahmana who assists the performer of the Sraddha by reciting the Mantras should, upon completion, say unto the performer that the Sraddha is well-performed. As the custom is, these words are still uttered by every Brahmana officiating at Sraddhas. K. P. Singha wrongly renders the word somakshayah as equivalent to somarasah.
The Pinda that is offered to one's ancestors on earth that has been duly purchased becomes inexhaustible. Forests, and mountains, and rivers, and Tirthas are regarded as having no owners. No earth need be purchased here for performing Sraddhas. Even this has been said, O king, on the subject of the merits of making gifts of earth.
He gratified the gods by his sacrifices; the pitris, by Sraddhas; the poor, by his charities; all excellent Brahmanas, by fulfilling their desires; all persons entitled to the rites of hospitality, with food and drink; the Vaisyas, by protection; and the Sudras, by kindness. And the king repressed all criminals by proper punishments.
It is this: Women have no sacrifices ordained for them. There are no Sraddhas which they are called upon to perform. They are not required to observe any fasts. To serve their husbands with reverence and willing obedience is their only duty. Through the discharge of that duty they succeed in conquering heaven. In childhood, the sire protects her. The husband protects her in youth.
If they that are to be employed in Sraddhas happen to be dumb, blind, or deaf, care should be taken to employ them along with Brahmanas conversant with the Vedas. O Yudhishthira, listen now unto whom thou shouldst give.
I shall now mention the names of those high-souled deities who deserve shares of the offerings made at Sraddhas.
And, O great king, that son with whom the father and the mother are gratified, achieveth eternal fame and eternal virtue both here and thereafter. As regards women again, neither sacrifice nor sraddhas, nor fasts are of any efficacy. By serving their husbands only they can win heaven. O king, O Yudhishthira, remembering this alone, listen thou with attention to the duties of chaste women."
That Brahmana who having earned wealth in the morning becomes poor in the afternoon, or who poor in the morning becomes wealthy in the evening or who is destitute of malice, or is stained by a minor fault, deserves, O king, to be invited to Sraddhas.
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