Chapter 87

“Yudhishthira said, ‘Thou hast discoursed to me, O thou of righteoussoul, on the duties of the four orders. Do thou, after the same manner, Qking, discourse to me now on all the ordinances respecting the Sraddha(of deceased ancestors).’

“Vaisampayana continued, ‘Thus addressed by Yudhishthira, the son ofSantanu set himself to declare unto him the following ritual, consistentwith the ordinance of the Sraddha.’

“Bhishma said, ‘Listen, O king, with close attention, to me as Idiscourse to you on the ritual of the Sraddha. That ritual is auspicious,worthy of praise, productive of fame and progeny, and is regarded as asacrifice, O scorcher of foes, in honour of the Pitris. Gods or Asuras orhuman beings, Gandharvas or Uragas or Rakshasas, Pisachas orKinnaras,–every one should always worship the Pitris. It is seen thatpeople worship the Pitris first, and gratify the deities next by offeringthem their adorations. Hence, one should always worship the Pitris withevery care.[396] It is said, O king, that the Sraddha performed in honourof the Pitris is performable afterwards. But this general rule isrestrained by a special one (which directs that the Sraddha in honour ofthe Pitris should be performed on the afternoon of the day of the Newmoon).[397] The (deceased) grandsires become gratified with the Sraddhathat may be performed on any day. I shall, however, tell thee now whatthe merits and demerits are of the respective lunar days (in view oftheir adaptability to the performance of the Sraddha). I shall discourseto thee, O sinless one, what fruits are attained on what days byperforming the Sraddha. Do thou listen to me with close attention. Byadoring the Pitris on the first day of the lighted fortnight, one obtainsin one’s abode beautiful spouses capable of producing many children allpossessed of desirable accomplishments. By performing the Sraddha on thesecond day of the lighted fortnight one gets many daughters. Byperforming it on the third day, one acquires many steeds. By performingit on the fourth day, one gets a large herd of smaller animals (such asgoats and sheep) in one’s house. They, O king, who perform the Sraddha onthe fifth day, get many sons. Those men who perform the Sraddha on thesixth day acquire great splendour. By performing it on the seventh day, Omonarch, one acquires great fame. By performing it on the eighth day onemakes great profits in trade. By performing it on the ninth day oneacquires many animals of uncloven hoofs. By performing it on the tenthday one acquires much wealth in kine. By performing it on the eleventhday one becomes the possessor of much wealth in clothes and utensils (ofbrass and other metals). Such a man also obtains many sons all of whombecome endued with Brahma splendour. By performing the Sraddha on thetwelfth day one always beholds, if one desires, diverse kinds ofbeautiful articles made of silver and gold. By performing the Sraddha onthe thirteenth day one attains to eminence over one’s kinsmen. Withoutdoubt, all the young men in the family of him who performs the Sraddha onthe fourteenth day meet with death. Such a man becomes entangled in war,By performing the Sraddha on the day of the new moon, one obtains thefruition of every wish. In the dark fortnight, all the days commencingwith the tenth (and ending with that of the new moon), leaving only thefourteenth day out, are laudable days for the performance of the Sraddha.Other days of that fortnight are not so. Then, again, as the darkfortnight is better than the lighted one, so the afternoon of the day isbetter than the forenoon in the matter of the Sraddha.'”