"'Yudhishthira said, "O thou of great puissance, tell me what that object
is which, if dedicated to the Pitris, becomes inexhaustible! What Havi,
again, (if offered) lasts for all time? What, indeed, is that which (if
presented) becomes eternal?"
"'Bhishma said, "Listen to me, O Yudhishthira, what those Havis are which
persons conversant with the ritual of the Sraddha regard as suitable in
view of the Sraddha and what the fruits are that attach to each. With
sesame seeds and rice and barley and Masha and water and roots and
fruits, if given at Sraddhas, the Pitris, O king, remain gratified for
the period of a month.[398] Manu has said that if a Sraddha is performed
with a copious measure of sesame, such Sraddha becomes inexhaustible. Of
all kinds of food, sesame seeds are regarded as the best. With fishes
offered at Sraddhas, the Pitris remain gratified for a period of two
months. With mutton they remain gratified for three months and with the
flesh of the hare for four. With the flesh of the goat, O king, they
remain gratified for five months, with bacon for six months, and with the
flesh of birds for seven. With venison obtained from those deer that are
called Prishata, they remain gratified for eight months, and with that
obtained from the Ruru for nine months, and with the meat of the Gavaya
for ten months. With the meat of the buffalo their gratification lasts
for eleven months. With beef presented at the Sraddha, their
gratification, it is said, lasts for a full year. Payasa mixed with ghee
is as much acceptable to the Pitris as beef. With the meat of the
Vadhrinasa the gratification of the Pitris lasts for twelve years.[399]
The flesh of the rhinoceros, offered to the Pitris on the anniversaries
of the lunar days on which they died, becomes inexhaustible. The potherb
called Kalasaka, the petals of the Kanchana flower, and meat of the goat
also, thus offered, prove inexhaustible.[400] In this connection, O
Yudhishthira, there are some verses, originally sung by the Pitris, that
are sung (in the world). They were communicated to me in former days by
Sanatkumara.--'He that has taken birth in our race should give us Payasa
mixed with ghee on the thirteenth day (of the dark fortnight), under the
constellation Magha, during the Sun's southward course. One born in our
race should, under the constellation Magha, as if in the observance of a
vow, offer the meat of goat or the petals of the Kanchana flower. One
should also offer us, with due rites, Payasa mixed with ghee, dedicating
it on a spot covered by the shadow of an elephant.'--Many sons should be
coveted so that even one may go to Gaya (for performing the Sraddha of
his ancestors), where stands the banian that is celebrated over all the
worlds and that makes all offerings made under its branches
inexhaustible.[401] Even a little of water, roots, fruits, meat, and
rice, mixed with honey, if offered on the anniversary of the day of death
becomes inexhaustible."'"