Parva 1 Chapter 16: śrāddha kalpa vidhi - beatification of manes

"How vivasvat, the son of āditya, the sungod, got the godhood of śrāddha-deva, the lord of beautification of manes? How best we can beatify manes? What is the origin of manes and why they are reckoned as manes? All these things I would like to listen in detail... śrāddha is not actually a funeral, or a funerary rite. Funeral or its rites fall under the category of antyeṣṭi - antima iṣṭi - end-time rituals. And śāddha is a never ending process. That which is done with shraddha is śrāddha; anything done deferentially is śrāddha, doing which, you will keep somebody supremely happy. So, beatification, beatifying, from L. beatus "supremely happy, blessed" + ficus "making, producing" would be the nearest word. The sense of ecclesiastical beatification i.e. "to pronounce as being in heavenly bliss..." as a "first step toward canonization..." etc, is for some supreme-souls. But, to ordinary people, keeping their manes happy is the main concern. svar gasthāḥ pitaro ye ca devānām api devatāḥ | iti veda-vidaḥ prāhuḥ etat icchāmi veditum || 1-16-3 ye ca teṣāṁ gaṇāḥ proktā yat ca teṣāṁ balaṁ param | yathā ca kṛtam asmābhiḥ śrāddhaṁ prīṇāti vai pitṝn ||1-16-4 prītāḥ ca pitaro ye sma śreyasā yojayanti hi | evaṁ veditum icchāmi pitṝṇāṁ sargam uttamam ||1-16-5 Vedic scholars say that the manes ascended to heaven are the presiding dieties of gods themselves.... but how? What actually are the consistories of manes and their capabilities? What actually is to be done to beatify them with which they will be highly pleased? And if they are pleased, what fruits they will accord to us? I would like to listen to all these things related to the epochal legend of manes..." thus janamejaya asked vaiśampāyana. vaiśampāyana uvāca - vaiśampāyana replied: hanta! te kathayiṣyāmi pitṝṇāṁ sargam uttamam | yathā ca kṛtam asmābhiḥ śrāddhaṁ prīṇāti vai pitṝn | prītāścha pitaro ye sma śreyasā yojayanti hi ||1-16-6 "Oh, my... I will tell you about the consistories of manes, how we have to please them by beatification..., and what benefits they accord when they are pleased... mārkaṇḍeyena kathitaṁ bhīṣmāya paripṛcchate | Once sage mārkaṇḍeya detailed all these topics to quizzical bhīṣma... apṛcchat dharmarājo hi śara-talpa-gataṁ purā | evam eva purā praśnaṁ yat māṁ tvaṁ paripṛcchasi ||1-16-7 puṣṭi-kāmena dharmajṣa kathaṁ puṣṭiḥ avāpyate | etat vai shrotum icchāmi kiṁ kurvāṇo na shochati || 1-16-9 When bhīṣma is laid on the bed of arrows, dharma-rāja put the very same questions to him... same questions you just now asked me... dharmaja asked bhīṣma, "oh, grandsire, doing what the well-wishing posterity can flourish, and can remain without disconcertment..." tat te anupūrvyā vakṣyāmi bhīṣmeṇa udāhṛtaṁ yathā | gītaṁ sanatkumāreṇa mārkaṇḍeyāya pṛcchate || 1-16-8 That I will narrate from the start all that bhīṣma has elucidated to dharmaja... originally sage sanatkumāra narrated these topics to sage mārkanḍeya; then mārkanḍeya related this to bhīṣma, and then bhīṣma reiterated the same to dharmaja... yudhiṣṭhira uvāca - yudhiṣṭhira aske bhīṣma: puṣṭi-kāmena dharmajṣa kathaṁ puṣṭiḥ avāpyate | etadvai shrotum icchāmi kiṁ kurvāṇo na shochati || 1-16-9 "Oh, righteous one, how the well-wishers of manes derive prosperity..., and doing what those well-wishers can remain unremorseful... I would like to know about them all..." bhīṣma uvāca - bhīṣma replied: śrāddhaiḥ prīṇāti hi pitṝn sarva kāma phalaiḥ tu yaḥ | tat paraḥ prayataḥ śrāddhī pretya ca iha ca modate ||1-16-10 pitaro dharma-kāmasya prajā-kāmasya ca prajām | puṣṭi-kāmasya puṣṭiṁ ca prayacchanti yudhiṣṭhira ||1-16-11 "Manes are beatified just by performing obsequious rites, oh, yudhiṣṭhira, and they accord all fruits of action to the performer to thrive well on this earth as well as in heaven... iha-para-loka-sukham... and they accord a righteous living to him who desires it... progeny to childless... all-round success to the unavailing few... yudhiṣṭhira uvāca - yudhiṣṭhira again asked: vartante pitaraḥ svarge keṣāṁchit narake punaḥ | prāṇināṁ niyataṁ vāpi karma-jaṁ phalam ucyate ||1-16-12 śrāddhāni caiva kurvanti phala-kāmāḥ sada narāḥ | abhisandhāya pitaraṁ pituḥ ca pitaraṁ tathā || 1-16-13 pituḥ pitā-mahaṁ caiva triṣu piṇḍeṣu nityaśaḥ | tāni śrāddhāni dattāni kathaṁ gacchanti vai pitṝn || 1-16-14 "We hear that some manes are heaven-oriented while some others dwell in hell... for mortals the fruits accrued are owing to their karmic cycle, or owing to their own actions... aren't they! Then, by which reason manes have been categorised as hell-bound and heaven-bound manes, and if they are different, who are the beneficiaries of our offertories? We offer triple offertories in a single instance aiming at three generations, namely fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers... isn't it? Then, how each offertory reaches each individual defied soul of manes? kathaṁ ca saktāḥ te dātuṁ narakasthāḥ phalaṁ punaḥ | ke vā te pitaro'nye sma kān yajāmaḥ vayaṁ punaḥ ||1-16-15 When they themselves have fallen into hell, how the hell-bond manes are capable of according benefits to mortals, which mortals' fate of reaching hell or haven is yet undecided... if this category of hell-bound manes do not yield any benefit to mortals, who are the other manes to whom we can make offertories... ultimately, whom we have to adore... devā api pitṝn svarge yajanti iti ca naḥ shrutam | etat icchāmi ahaṁ śrotuṁ vistareṇa mahādyute ||1-16-16 sa bhavān kathayatva etāṁ kathām amita buddhimān | yathā dattaṁ pitṝṇāṁ vai tāraṇāya iha kalpate || 1-16-17 We hear that even gods welcome manes in thseir assemblages, oh, grandsire, all these topics I would like to hear in detail from you, hence please tell me all about it... what is to be done to the manes, according to the kalpa-s, corpuses of bodhayana, parāśara et al, in order to negotiate a clean pathway to the obstacle, called this life... bhīṣma uvāca - bhīṣma asked: atra te kīrtayiṣyāmi yathā shrutam ariṁdama | ye ca te pitaro anye sma yān yajāmo vayaṁ punaḥ | pitrā mama purā gītaṁ loka antara gatena vai ||1-16-18 "What all I have heard I will relate to you... who are the other mans, whom we should propitiate... I have heard these topics from my father, king shantanu, who by that time departed to other worlds... śrāddha-kāle mama pituḥ mayā piṇḍaḥ samudyataḥ | taṁ pitā mama hastena bhittvā bhūmim ayācata ||1-16-19 hasta ābharaṇa pūrṇena keyūra ābharaṇena ca | raktāṅguli talena atha yahā dṝṣṭaḥ purā mayā ||1-16-20 At one time when I was undertaking beatification ritual and when I was about to offer piṇḍa, a food offertory, then cleaving the earth my father's hand surfaced asking me to handover the food oratory in that hand... there is nothing to doubt that hand because it belonged to my father wearing the very same bracelets, bicep-lets, and a ring with blood red stone which I used to see on his arm when he is alive... na eṣa kalpe vidhiḥ dṛṣṭa iti saṅchintya ca api aham | kuśeṣu eva tapaḥ piṇḍaṁ dattavān avicārayan ||1-16-21 Construing this as odd and going against corpuses of beatification, I laid the food offertory on kusha-grass in usual way, without a second thought... Why use kusha, or also called as darbha, grass blades in rituals... Because these grass blades are the only objects on earth that touched amrita. When garuḍa brought amrita from indra' abode for the sake of his mother, he placed that vessel on a mat of kusha grass, in order not to humiliate amrita by placing it on ground. In a scuffle for that vessel, some drops of amrita spilled on kusha grass beneath the vessel, thus whole genre of kusha is sanctified with amrita. No other earthly object has come into contact with amrita. Hence they alone are sacred. king shantanu said to bhīṣma: tataḥ pitā me suprīto vācā madhurayā tadā | uvāca bharataśreṣṭha prīyamāṇo maya anagha ||1-16-22 Then my father is gladdned and spoke to me in a soft tone while I obsequiously served him... tvayā dāyādavān asmi kṛta arthaḥ amutra ca iha ca | sat-putreṇa tvayā putra dharmajṣena vipaśchitā ||1-16-23 mayā tu tava jijṣāsā prayukta eṣā dṛḍha-vrata | vyavasthānaṁ tu dharmeṣu kartuṁ lokasya ca anagha ||1-16-24 "With you I have achieved the true definition of fatherhood... in you true sonship and righteousness are rooted firmly... I tested you by stretching my hand for offertory, oh, assertor, just to elicit your assertiveness... but, you stood firm in the system, which you would like to establish in the world, because you are scriptural... yathā caturthaṁ dharmasya rakṣitā labhate phalam | pāpasya hi tathā mūḍhaḥ phalaṁ prāpnoti arakṣitā ||1-16-25 Either the protector of merit or the perpetrator of sin will reap one-fourth of the result of their respective actions... pramāṇaṁ yat hi kurute dharma ācāreṣu pārthivaḥ | prajāḥ tat anuvartante pramāṇa ācaritaṁ sadā ||1-16-26 Whatever a king does in pursuit of dharma, people bent on dharma will automatically follow it, taking the action of that king as their role model... tvayā ca bharataśreṣṭha veda-dharmāḥ ca śāśvatāḥ | kṛtāḥ pramāṇaṁ pṝtiḥ ca mama nirvartita atulā |1-16-27 tasmāt tava ahaṁ suprītaḥ prītyā ca varam uttamam | dadāmi taṁ pratīccha tvaṁ triṣu lokeṣu durlabham ||1-16-28 I am glad that you have become the foremost torch-bearer of the everlasting principles of Vedas; therefore, I wish to accord a boon to you, which in all the three worlds is nonpareil... take it... na te prabhavitā mṛtuḥ yāvat jīvitum icchasi | tvattaḥ abhyanujṣāṁ samprāpaya mṛtyuḥ prabhavitā tava || 1-16-29 As long as you wish to live the Death does not have its influence on you... it lays its icy hand on you only if you consent to it.... kiṁ vā te prārthitaṁ bhūyo dadāmi varam uttamam | tat brūhi bharataśreṣṭha yat te manasi vartate ||1-16-30 Besides this, I am ready to accord whatever boon you seek from me... as such, tell me what your heart would wish for..." So said king shantanu to bhīṣma. iti uktavantaṁ tam aham abhivādya kṛtāṣjaliḥ | abruvaṁ kṛta-kṛtyaḥ ahaṁ prasanne tvayi sattama ||1-16-31 yadi tvat anugrahaṁ bhūyaḥ tvattaḥ arhāmi mahādyute | prashnam icchāmi vai kiṣchit avyāhṛtaṁ bhavatā svayam ||1-16-32 "When I am said like this I obediently spoke to him with folded-palms, 'I feel fulfilled as you are pleased with my manner... If you are kind enough please provide some information for these queries of mine... whether or not I seek answers explicitly or implicitly..." So said bhīṣma to king shantanu. saḥ mām uvāca dharmātmā brūhi bhīṣma yadicchasi | cettāsmi samśayaṁ sarvaṁ yat māṁ pṛcchasi bhārata || 1-16-33 "Oh, yes, I will clear all your doubts, bhīṣma... you may ask whatever you wish to ask me..." So said king shantanu to bhīṣma. bhīṣma continued: apṛccaṁ tam ahaṁ tātaṁ tatra antarhitam eva ca | gataṁ sukṛtināṁ lokaṁ kautūhala samanvitaḥ ||1-16-34 "Then I curiously asked my father who long back left for merited worlds, yet available there in an invisible form..." Thus bhīṣma continued narration to dharmaja. bhīṣma uvāca - bhīṣma asked his father shantanu: śrūyante pitaro devā devānām api devatāḥ | devāḥ ca pitaro'nye ca kān yajāmo vayaṁ punaḥ ||1-16-35 kathaṁ ca dattam asmābhiḥ śrāddhaṁ prīṇātyatho pitṝn | loka-antara gataṇ tāta kim nu śrāddhasya vā phalam || 1-16-36 "We hear that manes are reckoned as gods even by gods proper... then what is the difference between gods and manes... which gods do we worship and which manes do we propitiate... how the manes existing in next-world are beatified with offertories we accord here... all said and done, oh, sire, what is the result of our beatifying the manes... kān yajanti sma lokā vai sa deva nara dānavāḥ | sa yakṣa uraga gandharvāḥ sa kinnara mahā-uragāḥ || 1-16-37 Gods, humans, demons, yakṣa-s, uragā-s gandharvā-s, kinnarā-s, including mahā-uragā-s and suchlike multitude is there... but, which god or gods they worship... atra me saṁśayaḥ tīvraḥ kautūhalam atīva ca | tat brūhi mama dharmajṣa sarvajṣo hi asi me mataḥ | etat śrutvā vacaḥ tasya bhīṣmasya uvāca vai pitā ||1-16-38 "In this matter my vacillation is wide and inquisitiveness high... kindly clarify me because I deem you alone as a trustworthy and knowledgeable entity in these matters..." On listening to the words of bhīṣma, his father shantanu started to clarify his son's doubts. śantanuḥ uvāca - shantanu replied: saṁkṣepeṇa eva te vakṣye yat māṁ pṛcchasi bhārata | pitaraḥ ca yatha udbhūtāḥ phalaṁ dattasya ca anagha ||1-16-39 pitṝṇāṁ kāraṇaṁ śrāddhe śṛṇu sarvaṁ samāhitaḥ | "I will explain all that in a nutshell as to how manes have come up, what fruits they yield, origination of manes... listen to it carefully... ādi devaḥ tu tāta pitaro divi devatāḥ||1-16-40 tān ajanti sma vai lokāḥ sa deva asura mānuṣāḥ | sa yakṣa uraga gandharvāḥ sa kinnara mahoragāḥ || 1-16-41 God a priori is the root cause and everybody like manes, heavenly gods, worlds with respective gods, humans, demons, yakśā, uraga, gandharva, kinnara, mahā-uragā-s have emanated from him... why this breed and that... everything is a posteriori to him... Thus, ādi devaḥ, the god a priori becomes the first and foremost of the manes. āpyāyitāḥ ca te śrāddhe punaḥ āpyāyayanti ca | jagat sa deva gandharvam iti brahma anu-śāsanam ||1-16-42 As such, all beings like gods, humans, gandharva-s et al will firstly appease that foremost god... and if he is assuaged, all the gods, manes and the rest feel assuaged... whatever is offered in the process of beatification in this world thus belongs and reaches the god a priori, say, via the intermediary manes and gods... in turn they accord benefits to the offerers in some kind or the other to keep up give-and-take syndrome... this is the cycle brahma has ordered... tān yajasva mahābhāga śrāddhaiḥ agryaiḥ atandritaḥ | te te śreyo vidhāsyanti sarva kāma phala-pradāḥ ||1-16-43 tvayā ca arādhyamānāḥ te nāma-gotra ādi kīrtanaiḥ | asmān āpyāyayiṣyanti svar gasthān api bhārata ||1-16—44 As such, you have to firstly worship manes unindolently with śrāddhā-s, whereby they accord all sundry benefits, because they are the accorders of fruits of actions... whether they are upward bound or downward, they receive your offerings... hence, you adore them extolling their names and ancestries - nāma gotrās... agryaiḥ= mukhya kalpa anuṣṭhitaiḥ = as said in primary scriptures; atandritaḥ= analasaiḥ - without alasatvam- not indolently. Prescription of scriptures is for upper castes. Then lower castes need not perform these rites? Not so. Lower castes perform them, even today, with more shraddha - dedication. Whenever these shraddha-s are cited they are viewed as the orthodoxy of brahamaṇa-s alone. But, lower castes are more particular about these rituals. They call it donating rice, or any edible grain, in the name of elders, seeking their blessings. And they perform this simply without raising hell and heaven. mārkaṇḍeyaḥ tu te śeṣam etat sarvaṁ pravakṣyati | eṣa vai pitṛ-bhaktaḥ ca vidita-ātmā ca bhārata || 1-16-45 upasthitaḥ ca śrāddhe adya mama eva anugrahāya vai | enaṁ pṛccha mahābhāgam iti uktvā antaradhīyata || 1-16-46 Here is sage mārkanḍeya arrived here to bless me by attending the beatification ceremony you are offering to me... this highly knowledgeable sage is renowned to be a son absolutely devoted to his father... oh, bhīṣma, rest of the topics he will narrate to you...you may put all your queries to him..." Saying so king shantanu vanished from there... --o)0(o-- iti śrīmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe harivaṁśaparvaṇi śrāddhakalpaprasaṅgo nāma ṣoḍaśo'dhyāyaḥ Thus, this is the sixteenth chapter of first canto called harivamsha-parva, in harivamśa-purāṇa, the sequel of mahābhārata, narrating the prominence of śrāddha-s, beatification of manes. --o)0(o--