Chapter 90

“Yudhishthira said, ‘It behoves thee, O foremost one of Kuru’s race, totell me unto what kind of Brahmanas, O grandsire, should the offers madeat Sraddhas be given away.’

“Bhishma said, The Kshatriya who is conversant with the ordinances aboutgift should never examine Brahmanas (when making gifts unto them). In allacts, however, that relate to the worship of the deities and the Pitris,an examination has been said to be proper. The deities are worshipped onearth by men only when they are filled with devotion that comes from thedeities themselves. Hence, one should, approaching them, make gifts untoall Brahmanas (without any examination of their merits), regarding suchgifts as are made to the deities themselves. In Sraddhas, however, Omonarch, the man of intelligence should examine the Brahmanas (to beemployed for assisting the doers of the Sraddha in getting through theritual and making gifts unto them of the offerings made to the Pitris).Such examination should concern itself with their birth and conduct andage and appearance and learning and nobility (or otherwise) of parentage.Amongst the Brahmanas there are some that pollute the line and some thatsanctify it. Listen to me, O king, as I tell thee who those Brahmanas arethat should be excluded from the line.[404] He that is full of guile, orhe that is guilty of foeticide, or he that is ill of consumption, or hethat keeps animals, of is destitute of Vedic study, or is a commonservant of a village, or lives upon the interest of loans, or he that isa 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 thatsells Soma, or he that is a professor of palmistry, or he that is in theemploy of the king, or he that is seller of oil, or he that is a cheatand false swearer, or he that has a quarrel with his father, or he thattolerates a paramour of his wife in his house, or he that has beencursed, 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 anadulterer, or he that is a preceptor of Sudras, or he that has betakenhimself to the profession of arms, or he that wanders with dogs (forhunting), or he that has been bit by a dog, or he that has wedded beforehis 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 theconjunctions of stars and planets and asterisms[406], are regarded as fitto be excluded from the line. Persons conversant with the Vedas say thatthe offerings made at Sraddhas, if eaten by such Brahmanas, go to fillthe stomachs of Rakshasas (instead of filling those of the Pitris), O,Yudhishthira. That person who having eaten at a Sraddha does not abstainthat day from study of the Vedas or who has sexual congress that day witha Sudra woman, must know that his Pitris, in consequence of such acts ofhis, have to lie for a month on his dung. The offerings made at Sraddhasif presented to a Brahmana who sells Soma, become converted into humanordure; if presented to a Brahmana who is engaged in the practice ofMedicine, they become converted into pus and blood; if presented to onewho lives by setting up a deity, they fail to produce any fruit; ifpresented to one who lives upon the interest of loans they lead toinfamy; if presented to one who is engaged in trade, they becomeproductive of no fruits either here or hereafter. If presented to aBrahmana who is born of a widowed mother (by a second husband), theybecome as fruitless as libations poured on ashes[407]. They who presentthe Havya and Kavya (offered at Sraddhas) unto such Brahmanas as aredivested of the duties ordained for them and of those rules of goodconduct that persons of their order should observe, find such presentsproductive of no merits hereafter. That man of little intelligence whomakes gifts of such articles unto such men knowing their dispositions,obliges, by such conduct, his Pitris to eat human ordure in the nextworld. Thou shouldst know that these wretches among Brahmanas deserve tobe excluded from the line. Those Brahmanas also of little energy who areengaged in instructing Sudras are of the same class. A Brahmana that isblind stains sixty individual of the line; one that is destitute ofvirile power a hundred; while one that is afflicted with white leprosystains as many as he looks upon, O king. Whatever offerings made atSraddhas are eaten by one with his head wrapped round with a cloth,whatever is eaten by one with face southwards, and whatever is eaten withshoes or sandals on all goes to gratify the Asuras. Whatever, again, isgiven with malice, and whatever is given without reverence, have beenordained by Brahmana himself as the portion of the prince of Asuras(viz., Vali). Dogs, and such Brahmanas as are polluters of lines, shouldnot be allowed to cast their eyes upon the offerings made at Sraddhas.For this reason, Sraddhas should be performed in a spot that is properlyhedged around or concealed from the view. That spot should also be strewnwith sesame seeds. That Sraddha which is performed without sesame seeds,or that which is done by a person in anger, has its Havi robbed byRakshasas and Pisachas. Commensurate with the number of Brahmanas seen byone that deserves to be excluded from the line, is the loss of merit hecauses of the foolish performer of the Sraddha who invites him to thefeast.

‘I shall now, O chief of Bharata’s race, tell thee who are sanctifiers ofthe line. Do thou find them out by examination. All those Brahmanas thatare cleansed by knowledge, Vedic study, and vows and observances, andthey that are of good and righteous behaviour, should be known assanctifiers of everything. I shall now tell thee who deserve to sit inthe line. Thou shouldst know them to be such whom I shall indicatepresently. He that is conversant with the three Nachiketas, he that hasset up the five sacrificial fires, he that knows the five Suparnas, hethat is conversant with the six branches (called Angas) of the Veda, hethat is a descendant of sires who were engaged in teaching the Vedas andis himself engaged in teaching, he that is well-conversant with theChhandas, he that is acquainted with the Jeshtha Saman, he that isobedient to the sway of his parents, he that is conversant with the Vedasand whose ancestors have been so for ten generations, he that hascongress with only his wedded wives and this at their seasons, and he whohas been cleansed by knowledge, by the Veda, and by vows andobservances,–even such a Brahmana,–sanctifies the line. He who readsthe Atharva-siras, who is devoted to the observance of Brahmacharyapractices, and who is steady in observance of righteous vows, who istruthful and of righteous conduct, and who is duly observant of theduties laid down for his order, they also that have undergone fatigue andlabour for bathing in the waters of tirthas, that have undergone thefinal bath after performing sacrifices with proper Mantras that are freedfrom the sway of wrath, that are not restless, that are endued withforgiving dispositions, that are self-restrained masters of their senses,and they are devoted to the good of all creatures,–these should beinvited to Sraddhas. Anything given to these becomes inexhaustible. Theseindeed, are sanctifiers of lines. There are others also, highly blessed,that should be regarded as sanctifiers of the line. They are Yatis andthose that are conversant with the religion of Moksha, and they that aredevoted to Yoga, and they that properly observe excellent vows and theythat, with collected mind recite (sacred) histories unto foremost ofBrahmanas. They that are conversant with Bhashyas, they also that aredevoted to grammatical studies, they that study the Puranas and they thatstudy the Dharmasastras and having studied them (i.e., the Puranas andDharmasastras) act up to the standard laid down in them, he that haslived (for the stated period) in the abode of his preceptor, he that istruthful in speech, he that is a giver of thousands, they that areforemost in (their knowledge of) all the Vedas and the scriptural andphilosophical aphorisms,–these sanctify the line as far they look at it.And because they sanctify all who sit in the line, therefore are theycalled sanctifiers of lines. Utterers of Brahma say that even a singleperson that happens to be the descendant of sires who were teachers ofthe Veda and that is himself a Vedic teacher, sanctifies full seven milesaround him. If he that is not a Ritwik and that is not a Vedic teachertakes the foremost seat in a Sraddha, with even the permission of theother Ritwiks there present, he is said to take (by that act of his) thesins of all who may be sitting in the line. If, on the other hand, hehappens to be conversant with the Vedas and freed from all those faultsthat 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 aman would then be really a sanctifier of the line. For these reasons, Oking, thou shouldst properly examine the Brahmanas before inviting themto Sraddhas. Thou shouldst invite only such among them as are devoted tothe duties laid down for their order, and as are born in good families,and as are possessed of great learning. He who performs Sraddhas forfeeding only his friends and whose Havi does not gratify the deities andthe Pitris, fails to ascend to Heaven. He who collects his friends andrelatives only on the occasion of the Sraddha he performs (withoutkeeping an eye on properly honouring deserving persons by inviting andfeeding 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 gatheringhis friends, never succeeds in ascending to heaven. Verily, the man whoconverts the Sraddha into an occasion for treating his friends, becomesdissociated from heaven even like a bird dissociated from the perch whenthe chain tying it breaks.[408] Therefore, he that performs a Sraddhashould not honour (on such occasions) his friends. He may make gifts ofwealth unto them on other occasions by collecting them together. The Haviand the Kavi offered at Sraddhas should be served unto them that areneither friends nor foes but are only indifferent or neutral. As seedsown on a sterile soil does not sprout forth, or as one that has not sowndoes not get a share of the produce, even so that Sraddha the offeringsin which are eaten by an unworthy person, yields no fruit either here orhereafter.[409] That Brahmana who is destitute of Vedic study is like afire made by burning grass or straw; and becomes soon extinguished evenlike such a fire. The offerings made at Sraddhas should not be given tohim even as libations should not be poured on the ashes of thesacrificial fire. When the offerings made at Sraddhas are exchanged bythe performers with one another (instead of being given away unto worthypersons), they come to be regarded as Pisacha presents. Such offeringsgratify neither the gods nor the Pitris. Instead of reaching the otherworld, they wander about even here like a cow that has lost her calfwandering about within the fold. As those libations of ghee that arepoured upon the extinguished ashes of a sacrificial fire never reacheither the gods or the Pitris, after the same manner a gift that is madeto a dancer or a singer or a Dakshina presented to a lying or deceitfulperson, produces no merit. The Dakshina that is presented to a lying ordeceitful person destroys both the giver and the receiver withoutbenefiting them in any respect. Such a Dakshina is destructive and highlycensurable. The Pitris of the person making it have to fall down from thepath 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 conversantwith all duties, and who have a firm faith in their efficacy. ThoseBrahmanas that are devoted to Vedic study, to knowledge, to penances, andto acts, O Bharata, should be known as Rishis. The offerings made atSraddhas should be given unto those that are devoted to knowledge.Verily, they are to be regarded as men who never speak ill of theBrahmanas. Those men should never be fed on occasions of Sraddhas whospeak ill of Brahmanas in course of conversation in the midst ofassemblies. If Brahmanas, O king, be calumniated, they would destroythree generations of the calumniator.[410] This is the declaration, Oking, of the Vaikhanasa Rishis. Brahmanas conversant with the Vedasshould be examined from a distance. Whether one likes them or feels adislike for them, one should give unto such Brahmanas the offerings madeat Sraddhas. That man who feeds thousands upon thousands of falseBrahmanas acquires merit that is attainable by feeding even one Brahmanaif the latter happens to be possessed of a knowledge of the Vedas, OBharata!”