Chapter 15 - The Test for a Brāhmaṇa deserving for Śrāddha invitation

The sages said:—

1-2. “O Sūta, the Śrāddha-kalpa conducive to richness, has been recounted by you. The Śrāddha-kalpas that had been glorified by the sages have been heard by us. Its extensive details have been particularly recounted. Tell us, O intelligent one the real opinion of that sage.”

Sūta replied—

3. “I shall recount, O Brāhmaṇas, what the opinion of that sage was, regarding Śrāddha. Even as I recount it in detail listen to it, O fortunate one.

4. Śrāddha has been detailed by me before. The injunctions and rules of procedure in Śrāddha rite have also been mentioned. I shall (now) explain the tests for selecting the deserving Brāhmaṇas which has remained to be mentioned.

5. Brāhmaṇas should not be investigated upon and examined on all occasions. But in the rites regarding the Devas and the Pitṛs the method of testing them is invariably laid down as sacred and excellent.

6. The person in whom defects are found is excluded from the rites. One shall scrupulously avoid that person whose faults one knows, due to the fact of staying together.

7. A learned man should not investigate (too deeply) into a totally unknown Brāhmaṇa stranger in regard to the Śrāddha rite. For, many Siddhas wander over this Earth in the guise of Brāhmaṇas.^[1]

8. Hence, when a guest approaches one, one should welcome him with palms joined in reverence. One should worship and honour him with articles of worship, water for washing feet as well as oil bath and meal.

9. Devas and lords of Yogic cult and practice assuming different guises always move about over the vast Earth extending up to the Seas on all sides. While doing so they make the common people maintain virtue and piety.

10. Hence, a man of perfect self-control should honour the guest and feed him with various side dishes. I shall mention them as well as the fruit thereof.

11. If he honours the guest by offering milk, he attains the benefit of Agniṣṭoma sacrifice, if he honours the guest with milk pudding, he attains the benefit of Uktha; if he honours the guest with ghee, he attains the benefit of ṣoḍaśi Satra and if he honours the guest with honey he attains the benefit of Atirātra.^[2]

12. If a man feeds Brāhmaṇas and gives them every thing they desire, that rite alone bestows on him all wealth. The host of all those Brāhmaṇas always enjoys the benefit of all sacrifices.

13. The Devas reject and discard the person like an accursed destitute—the person who insults and dishonours the guest who approaches him at the time of Śrāddha rite or in a rite pertaining to the Devas.

14. For the sake of blessing the worlds, the invisible Devas and the Pitṛs enter the Brāhmaṇas and partake of the meal.

15. The guest who is not worshipped or honoured blazes and burns. If he is honoured, he shall bestow every thing one desires. Hence, one should always honour a guest by spending everything that one possesses.

16. To good people, whether he is a forest-hermit, or a householder, the guest is on a par with Vālakhilya^[3] always. A Sannyāsin should also be known as such.

17. A guest is called Abhyāgata^[4] because he has moved according to his own desire. An Atithi shall be without fire A guest is called Atithi because he has no particular day for his visit. This is said to be the etymological derivation of the word.

18. The following persons cannot be received as Atithi (guests). A person who does not keep up views and observances of rites, a man of mixed caste, a person without learning, a person who does not possess specialised knowledge, a person who is tied to his children (?),^[5] a person who does not believe in the Devas^[6] and a sinner.

19. A guest who has already wandered a lot, who is thirsty, who is tired, and who is very hungry should be received hospitably and given food etc. by one who desires the benefit of a Yajña.

20. To a hungry person the words “there is nothing” should never be uttered, O Brāhmaṇas. Every thing should be given to him after honouring him duly. He is a man worthy of being honoured always.

21. In Śrāddha rites one should always feed the fallowing types of persons:—A person who is not tormented or inconsistent, who has no wound, who practises Yoga, who has slender means of subsistence but who is not a regular beggar and an. intelligent person habituated to solitude.

22. The wicked person who says “I will not give him” will never free himself from the sin even if he takes hundred births.

23-24. (Partially defective text) A man who joyfully feeds Brāhmaṇas in a single row becomes free from sin whether the guests have been employed (i.e. invited) or not employed. Through that single row (of the fed Brāhmaṇas) he removes the sin (?) (If it is otherwise) he incurs sin immediately and all his good deeds such as Iṣṭāpūrta, perish.

A recluse must be at the head of all the Brāhmaṇas^[7].

25. The excellent Brāhmaṇa who studies the five sacred books viz. the Vedas and the Itihāsas should be seated after a person who is well-versed in Yoga, by the intelligent host.

26. A person who has studied three Vedas comes after him: a person of two Vedas be seated next; after that comes the man who has studied one Veda andUpādhyāya (ordinary priest) thereafter.

27. I shall mention those persons who are considered sanctifying (the row of diners) in this connection. Understand. Those who are mentioned before have been mentioned in the proper order (of their importance).

28. The following five persons should be understood as Paṅktipāvanas^[8] (those who sanctify the row of diners) viz. One who knows the six ancillary subjects or Aṅgas of Vedas, a person who meditates, a person who practises Yoga, Sarvatantra (one who has mastered all the systems of Philosophy) and Yāyāvara (a vagrant mendicant or saint).

29-32. He who is conversant with the Śrāddhakalpa sanctifies by his joining (the row of diners). One who has mastered at least one out of the fourteen Vidyās (Lores), those who duly fulfil their duties—all these sanctify the row. Undoubtedly the Sauparṇas^[9], those who maintain five sacred fires, those who sing Sāman hymns, the Brāhmaṇa who duly undertakes the pilgrimage by walking for twelve years, Triṇācīketas,^[10] Traividya (a person who knows and has kindled three Naciketā fires and mastered three Vidyās), the Brāhmaṇa who learns works of piety, the Brāhmaṇa who has mastered the great scriptural text written by Bṛhaspati—all these are cited as sanctifiers of the rows.

33. If a Brāhmaṇa who had been invited for a Śrāddha feast indulges in sexual intercourse with a woman, the Pitṛs lie down in that semen virile for the whole of that month (?)

34. Charitable gifts should be given to a person strictly engrossed in meditation or one who is sympathetic and one who is intelligent. One should feed a recluse or a Vālakhilya in the Śrāddha rite.

35. If the Śrāddha is performed for a forest-hermit, he becomes satisfied by the worship alone. If a person feeds a householder, the Viśvedevas are honoured thereby.

36. Sages are honoured through worshipping a forest-hermit, Indra is honoured through the Vālakhilyas. If the worship of Sannyāsins is performed, Brahmā is directly worshipped thereby.

37-38. That stage of life which is a mixture of all is called the fifth Āśrama. It is not sanctifying. The four Āśramas should be honoured in the Śrāddha rite as well as the rite pertaining to the Devas.

39. No charitable gift should be given to those who are outside the limits of the four Āśramas. A person beyond the pale of the four Āśramas may remain with only air for his diet and perform a penance, but, since he does not belong to any Āśrama, one should not invite him there (i.e. in a Śrāddha).

40.^[11] There are certain persons possessing obnoxiously severe penance; others profess to know much and argue in various ways, still others censure the Brāhmaṇas—But all these are defilers of the row (of diners).

41. The Aupavastas (certain people over-obsessed with fasting), the Sāṃkhyas, the atheists, those who find fault with the Vedas, those people who censure meditation—all these are defilers of the row (of diners).

42. Those who purposelessly shave off their heads, those who aimlessly keep their hairs matted and all those who maintain themselves by carrying sacred waters, are defilers of the row. One shall avoid all those persons who are merciless, who break the rules of good conduct and who eat anything and everything.

43. One should not feed the following persons with oblations meant for gods or Pitṛs: viz. Kārukas (a Śaiva sect) and others not abiding by rules of good conduct, those who are excommunicated from the ordinary society as well as the Vedic one, the professional singers and those who sell the Vedas as means of subsistence.

44. He who has social and other contacts with these, attains black complexion (taint). He who takes food along with a Śūdra is a defiler of the row.

45. Ploughing, tilling, killing of animals, agriculture, marketing, breeding of cattle and serving the enemy or any one except the preceptor—all these activities are forbidden to Brāhmaṇas.

46-48. One should avoid all those persons who have false heretical views and who are ill-behaved. The following too should be avoided in the Śrāddha rite:—the person who puts in a false plaint, a person who censures others, the talebearer, the hypocrite or haughty, persons guilty of minor sins, those who arc particularly guilty of sins, those who employ others to study Vedas on their behalf, those who are greedy and deluded, those who seek (their own) benefit and those who sell the Vedas. There is no provision for substitutes in the study of the Vedas; he who employs any such substitute is a sinner.

49-50. The speaker (i.e. the teacher to such a substitute) shall fall off from the benefit of the Vedas and the donor from the benefit of charitable gifts (in the above case of substitution). A person hired to teach the Vedas and a person who is taught by such a person (hired one)—do not deserve being invited to a Śrāddha rite. A Brāhmaṇa who maintains himself by buying and selling (also does not deserve invitation to a Śrāddha rite). Buying and selling for the sake of subsistence are despicable.

51-56. This is the profession of a Vaiśya but a sinful activity in the case of Brāhmaṇa. He who studies Vedas by means of hiring charges (charging tuition fees) and he who makes a living through the Vedas—these two do not deserve Śrāddha invitation. The son-in-law also does not deserve Śrāddha invitation. The person who approaches his wife in vaṃ (?), the person who sacrifices in vain (?), these two do not deserve Śrāddha invitation. One shall not feed in Śrāddha a Brāhmaṇa who is a usurer, those persons whose wives love others, those persons who love other persons’ wives and those who are too much fond of wealth and sex.

Those who are opposed to the specific duties of the different castes and stages in life, those who are against all holy rites, a thief and a person who performs Yajña on behalf of all and sundry—all those are defilers of the row.

If a Brāhmaṇa eats like a pig, or if the Brāhmaṇa eats off (from) his palm or if he takes food hearing rebukes (?) the Pitṛs do not partake of that food.

The leavings of food from a Śrāddha should not be given to women or Sūdras.

57. If any one out of delusion gives it away like that, the food does not reach the Pitṛs. Hence, foodstuffs and other remnants of a Śrāddha site should not be given away.

58. Whatever remains except curds and ghee should be given to the son and not to others. The remnants should be given—particularly the cooked rice and other food-stuffs.

59-62. In the end they may be satisfied with flowers, roots and fruits and depart.

The Pitṛs partake of the food as long as they are cooked (?), as long as the heat is retained and as long as the Brāhmaṇas take their food silently. (In a Śrāddha) the following rites should be performed in such a manner that they do not pass on to the Asuras;—the act of giving away, the acceptance of monetary gift, the Homa, the feeding, the oblation and the offer of Pādya (water for washing the feet) along with the thumb (?). These are the ways of giving all types of charitable gifts—the performer should sit dawn (keeping the hands) in between the knees. Similarly, while performing the Ācamana rite also one should sit thus.

One should avoid persons with tonsured head, persons with matted hair and persons with ochre robes in the Śrāddha. rite.

63. Those who always abide by good conduct, those who have perfect knowledge, those who meditate, the devotees of the lord and noble-souled one shall sanctify even by mere sight.

64. Offers of gifts should be made to those who have tufts, who have attachment to the essential ingredients and who have the three staffs:

The entire region of the three worlds is always pervaded by masters of the Yogic cult.^[12]

65-66. Hence, they see every thing that is in the universe. They keep the manifest and the unmanifest under their control. They understand that which is greater than every thing else. The truth and falsehood have been perceived by those noble souls. They have seen the Sat and the As at. All types of means of acquiring knowledge and absolution have been evolved by those noble souls.

67-68. Hence, he who is always devoted to them attains excellent benefit.

He who knows the Ṛk Mantras knows all the Vedas; he who knows the Yajus Mantras understands the Yajña; he who knows the Sāman Mantras knows the Brahman, he who knows Mānasa (the mind) knows everything.

Notes on the qualifications of Brāhmaṇas:

The following verses describe the qualifications, learning, character etc. of Brāhmaṇas worthy of being invited for a Śrāddha, as the antecedents etc. of invitees for rites pertaining to Devas and Pitṛs must be scrupulously investigated (vv. 5-6 below). Heredity, personality, Vedic learning, character were some of the main considerations of such invitees. Cf. Mt.P. 16.8-10, NP.I.28. 6-10, KP.II.21 and Smṛ.C. (Smṛti Candrikā) III. (Śrāddha Kāṇḍa), pp. 389-394. The ancient Smṛtis insisted on purity of conduct, good character. Declares Manu (II.118) “A Brāhmaṇa who knows only the Gāyatrī Mantra, but is self-controlled is preferable to the Brāhmaṇa who knows three Vedas but lacks in. self-control, eats every-thing and sells any-thing (forbidden by Dharma)”.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

This verse contradicts the above verse on the specious ground that a totally stranger Brāhmaṇa may be a Siddha in disguise. Some late Purāṇas like the Bhaviṣya (quoted in Bālambhaṭṭī on Ācāra, p. 494) have slackened these tests.

[2]:

It is such cheap promises of getting the fruit of sacrifices like Agniṣṭoma, Atirātra etc. by offering ordinary things like milk or ghee to Brāhmaṇas ìn meals, that adversely affected the Vedic institution of sacrifice.

[3]:

The verse may be interpreted to include a forest-hermit, a Vālakhilya and a Sannyāsin as Atithis.

[4]:

This is obscure Vā.P.69.17 reads: abhyāgato yācakaḥ syād atithiḥ syādayācakaḥ. ‘A visitor is (like) a mendicant but Atithi may not be a beggar’.)

[5]:

Who is child-less.

[6]:

Who renders no service (Sevī in Vā.P.)

[7]:

This and the following verse state the priorities or precedence to be given to Brāhmaṇas according to their learning in the seating arrangement. It is note-worthy that a recluse or a Yogī gets the first place of honour vide Supra II.iii.9.70.

[8]:

The belief that certain persons of specially high character, merit, learning etc. purify excommunicated or such unedifying members of the society, by participating with them by sitting in their rows for dining or even by their beneficent look has been prevalent in India even before the time of Dharma Sūtras, vide Āpastamba Dh.S.II.7.17-22, Strangely enough, Gautama (15.28), Baudhāyana Dh.S.II.8.2, Manu III. 185-186, Yājñavalkya 1.219 use the same words about these sanctifiers of diners (Paṅkti-pāvanas). We get a long list of such sanctifiers in Mbh. Anuśāsana 90.25-31, Mt.P.16.7-23, KP.II.21.-1-14, Vā.P.79.56-59, 83.52-55. These lists are practically the same as those in VV. 28-32 hereof—

[9]:

Sauparṇas or Trisuparṇakaṣ are the knowers of Trisuparṇa viz the three Anuvākas beginning with Brahmametu mām etc. (Tait.Ār. X. 41-50.)

[10]:

Triṇāciketa is alternately explained as:

(i) A person who knows the Naciketa fire.
(ii) A person who has thrice kindled the Naciketa fire.
(iii) One who has studied the Anuvāka called Virajas (Tait. Br. III. 11.7-8) which describes the Nāciketa fire and the story of Naciketas.

[11]:

VV. 40-56 give a list of persons who are defilers of row of diners (Paṅkti-dūṣakas). These lists are common to Smṛtis and Purāṇas such as Manu III 151-166, Yājñ.Smṛ. I.222-224, Bṛhad Yama Smṛ. III.34-38, Mbh. Anuśāsana 90.6-11, Mt.P.16.14-17, BM.P. 220.127-135, NP. 1.30-41, KP 11.21.27-46 to mention a few. Apart from the textual similarity, the lists are interesting from the point of social history as they reflect what persons, vocations, ways of life were looked down upon by the elites of those times. Here sects who insist on long fasts (e.g. Jainas), Sāṅkhyas (these were originally atheists), non-Brahmanical mendicants like Bauddhas, Jainas, Śaiva sects like Kārukas, persons not following the vocations of their castes etc. are regarded as unworthy for being invited to Śrāddha or to receive gifts.

[12]:

People of those periods had a deep faith in the powers of Yogins.