16.
1. Ancestral Offerings
1. In ancient times gods and men used to live together in this world.
Then the gods went to heaven by performing rites, while men were left behind.
Those among them who perform rites in the same manner get to dwell in that world together with the gods and Brahman.
For this purpose Manu proclaimed this rite bearing the name ‘Ancestral Offering’; 2. he did that also for the prosperity of the people:
3. In this rite the ancestors are the deity to whom the offering is made, while the Brahmins stand in the place of the offertorial fire.
2. Time
4. It is to be offered every month.
5. An afternoon in the fortnight of the waning moon is preferable, 6. as also the last days of the fortnight of the waning moon.
7. No matter what day of the fortnight of the waning moon it is offered, it gives delight to the ancestors. The specific reward earned by the performer, however, depends on the time that he offers it:
8. If he offers it
on the 1st day, his children will turn out to be mostly girls;
9. on the 2nd day, his children will not turn out to be thieves;
10. on the 3rd day, his children will be eminent in Vedic knowledge;
11. on the 4th day, he will become rich in small animals;
12. on the 5th day, his children will turn out to be boys, and he will have a lot of offspring and not die childless;
13. on the 6th day, he will be adept at travelling and gambling;
14. on the 7th day, he will be successful in agriculture;
15. on the 8th day, he will become prosperous;
16. on the 9th day, he will acquire one-hoofed animals;
17. on the 10th day, he will be successful in business;
18. on the 11th day, he will acquire iron, tin, and lead;
19. on the 12th day, he will become rich in cattle;
20. on the 13th day, he will have many sons and friends, and his children will be beautiful but die young;
21. on the 14th day, he will be successful in battle;
22. and on the 15th day, he will become prosperous.
3. Types of Food
23. The materials used in this rite are sesame and beans, rice and barley, water, roots, and fruits.
24. When the food is made greasy, however, the gratification it gives the ancestors is more ample and lasts longer, 25. as also when one gives righteously (dharma) acquired wealth to a worthy person.
26. With cow’s meat their gratification lasts for a year, 27. and even longer than that with buffalo meat. 28. This rule makes clear that the meat of domestic and wild animals is fit to be offered.
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1. With the meat of a rhinoceros offered on a rhinoceros skin, their gratification lasts an unlimited time, 2. as also with the flesh of the Śatabali fish 3. and the Vārdhrāṇasa crane.
4. Quality of Invitees
4. Pure and with a composed mind and firm resolve, he should feed Brahmins well versed in the Vedas, Brahmins who are not related to him by blood or lineage, or by a relationship established by sacrifice or pupillage.
5. But if outsiders lack the required qualities, he should feed a man who possesses them, be it his own full brother: 6. This rule clarifies the issue also with respect to pupils.
7. Now, they also quote:
8. Feeding-one-another is the name of alms- food given to ghouls.
It reaches neither ancestors nor gods.
Bereft of merit, it wanders in this very world,
like a cow, her calf dead, wandering among the corrals.
9. The meaning is: gifts of food that are eaten by one another, going from one house to the other, perish in this very world.
10. Among those possessing equal qualities, an older person is better, as also a poor person who desires to attend.
5. Procedure
11. On the day before the rite he issues the invitations to the Brahmins, 12. and the next day he issues a second invitation. 13. The third invitation consists of summoning them.
14. Some assert that everything at an ancestral offering is repeated three times: 15. everything is repeated a second and a third time exactly as it was done the first time.
16. After all the offerings have been made, he should cut off portions from all and eat a tiny lump of the remainder in the prescribed manner. 17. It is the custom of northerners, however, to pour water taken from the water pot into the hands of the seated Brahmins.
18. He addresses them:
‘Let me take out some food. Let me offer it in the fire.’
19. ‘Take it out as you wish. Offer it in the fire as you wish.’
After he has been given leave in this manner, he should take it out and offer it in the fire.
20. Letting dogs or degraded people look at an ancestral offering is condemned:
21. A leper, a bald man, an adulterer, and a son of a Brahmin soldier or of a Śūdra by a Brahmin woman - these, when they eat at an ancestral offering, defile those alongside whom they eat.
22. A man who knows the three ‘Honey’ verses,
- a man who knows the Trisuparṇa,
- an expert in the three Nachikēta fire altars,
- an expert in the four types of sacrifices,
- a man who maintains the five sacred fires,
- a man who sings the Jyeṣṭhā Sāmans,
- a man who recites the Veda, a son of a Vedic savant, and a Vedic scholar –
- these, when they eat at an ancestral offering, purify those alongside whom they eat.
23. An ancestral offering should not be performed after night-fall, 24. and once it is started the performer should not eat until it is completed; 25. the only exception being when there is a lunar eclipse.
18.
6. Prohibitions
1. He should abstain from the following:
butter, butter-milk, oil-cake, honey, meat, 2. black grain, food given by Śūdras or by others whose food one is forbidden to eat, 3. food unfit for sacrifice, lying, anger, and whatever would provoke someone to anger.
From these twelve a man should abstain, if he desires a good memory, fame, intelligence, heaven, and prosperity.
4. Wrapping a cloth around himself from navel to knees, he should bathe at dawn, noon, and dusk; live on uncooked food; never seek a shady spot; and remain standing during the day and seated at night.
He should keep this vow for a year. This is said to be equal to the 48-year vow.
7. Daily Ancestral Offering
5. Next, the daily ancestral offering:
6. Men who are upright should cook the food at a clean spot outside the village.
7. New vessels are used for this purpose, 8. both the vessels in which the food is cooked and those out of which it is eaten. 9. And he should give them away to those who have partaken of the meal.
10. He should feed only individuals who possess the required qualities 11. and not give any leftover food to anyone who does not possess the same qualities.
12. He should do this for a year.
13. The last of these offerings should be made with the meat of a red goat.
14. He should have a screened altar constructed 15. and feed the Brahmins on its northern side. 16. They point out that in this way he sees both the Brahmins eating and his ancestors gathered at the altar.
17. Thereafter, he may either continue to do it or stop, 18. for the ancestors let him know that the ancestral offering has satisfied them.
8. Rite for Prosperity
19. A man who wants to be prosperous should, on the day of the constellation Tiṣya,
19.
1. get some white mustard seeds made into powder, rub it on his hands, feet, face, and ears, and eat it.
Then, if there is no strong wind, he should sit on a seat––the first preference is that it be the skin of a billy goat––and eat in silence facing the south.
2. They point out, however, that when a man eats facing in that direction his mother’s life is shortened.
3. The vessel for eating is made of copper, with its centre gilded with gold, 4. and no one else should eat from it. 5. He should make a lump small enough to be swallowed 6. without dropping any fragments on the ground.
7. Then, without keeping the bowl down 8. or after putting it down, 9. he should swallow the whole lump by pushing it into the mouth with his thumb, 10. not making any sound with his mouth 11. or shaking his hand.
12. After he has sipped water, he should keep his hands raised so long as they are dripping 13. and then hold them over the fire.
14. During the day, moreover, he should not eat anything besides roots and fruits 15. and avoid sacrificial milk-rice or food offered to gods or ancestors.
16. He should eat wearing his upper garment over his left shoulder and under his right arm.
9. Monthly Ancestral Offering
17. The obligatory ancestral offering, however, should be made only with greasy food.
18. The first alternative is to use ghee and meat, 19. but when these are unavailable sesame oil and vegetables may be used.
20. During the constellation Maghā, moreover, he should use a greater amount of ghee when feeding Brahmins according to the rules of ancestral offerings.
20.
1. At a monthly ancestral offering he should use one measure each of sesame seeds in whatever manner he is able.
2.He should feed only individuals who possess the required qualities, and not give any leftover food to anyone who does not possess the same qualities.
10. Rite for Prosperity
3. A man who wants to be prosperous should fast for at least one night during a fortnight of the waxing moon falling within the half-year when the sun moves north;
on a day of the constellation Tiṣya prepare a milk-rice oblation; make an offering of that in the fire to the Great King; feed a Brahmin with that milk-rice mixed with ghee; and get him to proclaim success with a formula signifying prosperity.
4. He should repeat this every day until the next Tiṣya day:
5. During the 2nd Tiṣya cycle he should feed 2 Brahmins, 6. and during the 3rd, 3 Brahmins. 7. By increasing the number in this manner for a whole year, 8. he will attain great prosperity.
9. The fast takes place only at the very beginning.
11. Miscellaneous Rules
10. He should refrain from eating foods
- whose essence has been extracted;
11. - standing on ashes or grain husks;
12. - washing the feet by rubbing one foot with the other;
- placing one foot on the other; 13. swinging the feet;
14. - placing one foot over the other knee;
15. - making noises by striking the nails against each other;
16. - cracking the finger joints without a good reason;
17. - and other acts that are forbidden.
18. He should be a man who applies himself to acquiring wealth in righteous (dharma) ways, 19. distributes it to worthy people, 20. gives not to unworthy people if they pose no threat to him, 21. conciliates people, 22. and enjoys pleasures that are not forbidden by the Law.
23. In this manner he wins both worlds.