Ancestor Worship

Chapter 5
Ancestor Worship in Early Śaiva Siddhānta
1. Introduction
Post-mortem ancestor worship (śrāddha) is an essential component of a
brahmanical householder’s ritual routine. As has been discussed above,
Śaivism sought to extend its reach among the population of householders,
adopting core features of the brahmanical ritual repertoire even if they cre-
ated doctrinally awkward positions. This aspect was most notably reflected
in the context of funerary rites. It is also seen in the Śaiva adapting of śrād-
dha rituals. Here, as in the case of Śaiva antyeṣṭi, Śaiva ritualists had to
accept and work around a fundamental premise that was doctrinally prob-
lematic, namely, that during śrāddha rituals the soul is in essence being
venerated as an entity which passes through various ancestral levels after
death, and not as an entity that has attained ultimate liberation.1
This chapter contains a survey of early sources on Śaiva rites and ex-
plores their rationale. Notable is that amongst the early Śaiva Siddhānta
scriptural sources, only the Kiraṇa (Kir) contains prescriptions for Śaiva
rites for post-mortem ancestor worship. All the others avoid the topic,
which is likely an indication that their respective tantric circles were not yet
as integrated into the brahmanical mainstream while householder initiates
consulted conventional śrāddha priests for their services if required.
Sources that do contain descriptions of śrāddha rites date from the tenth
century onwards and mainly belong to the genre of ritual manuals. This
means that by this time tantric priests had more systematically started to
encroach on this sphere of rituals. Another post-tenth-century source is the
eclectic Śaiva scripture Bṛhatkālottara (BK). However, as mentioned
above, here the śrāddha section, together with a chapter on funerary proce-
1
See pp. 33ff.
178 LIBERATING THE LIBERATED
dures, is based on non-Śaiva material adopted, in some parts almost verba-

tim, from the Vaiṣṇava Pāñcarātrika scripture Jayākhyasaṃhitā (JāyS).2
The paucity of early material on Śaiva śrāddha rituals and the BK’s
heavy dependence on a Vaiṣṇava scripture suggest that the cycle of śrād-
dha rites was a relatively late addition to the ritual repertoire and took more
time to be rationalized in Śaiva terms. It seems that there was long hesita-
tion to introduce or formally acknowledge the performance of Śaiva śrād-
dha rites, probably due to the undeniable connection to the brahmanical
original. This is noticeably different than the integration of cremation ritu-
als into the Śaiva ritual repertoire, which as we have seen is found already
in most of the pre-tenth-century scriptures. Nevertheless, our sources also
show that once a framework for Śaiva śrāddha rituals had been created, this
ritual cycle quickly became an integral component of the Śaiva tantric rep-
ertoire.3 The manner of their integration, however, was not uniform. There
were various ways in which the boundary between common brahmanical
and purely Śaiva practices was negotiated, reflecting the doctrinally prob-
lematic position of such rites in the tantric context.
2. Śrāddha in its original brahmanical context

The obligation to regularly perform rites of post-mortem ancestor worship
is one of the most important ritual duties of the brahmanical householder. It
is well known that their performance is classified as one of the three debts a
twice-born must pay during his lifetime. These are formalized as (1) sacri-
fice (for the gods), (2) learning (for the sages), and (3) śrāddha (for the
2
See Sanderson 2001, pp. 17 and 38–41 and p. 83. In his article, Sanderson points to
traces of specifically Vaiṣṇava formulations that were overlooked by the redactors of the BK
in the process of revising the passage to fit the Śaiva context.
3
The earliest known epigraphic attestation of a royal śivaśrāddha is in a South Indian
inscription of Rājarāja I (South Indian Inscriptions XII, No. 144 [A.R. No. 444 of 1918],
Tiruvenkadu, Shiyali Taluk, Tanjore District). It registers in detail the several gifts made to
the temple. In the third year of the reign of Rājarāja I, i.e. 987 CE, the queen of Uttama-
Chol, Sorabbaiyar Tribhuvanamadeviyar, presented a gold flower in lieu of a gift of land for
the śivaśrāddha of her husband. I am grateful to Alexis Sanderson for having pointed this
epigraph out to me.
ANCESTOR WORSHIP 179
ancestors).4 In essence, these śrāddha rituals are conceptualized as gratify-

ing the male ancestors together with the ancestral deities, the Viśvedevas,
through food offerings presented to so-called śrāddha Brahmins, who act
as the proxies of both.
There are many occasions throughout the year in which śrāddhas are to
be held. Accordingly, we find various groupings and variations in the
brahmanical literature.5 As concisely summarized by Vijñāneśvara in his
commentary on the Yājñavalkyasmṛti (YājS), śrāddha rituals are broadly
classified into those collectively referred to as pārvaṇaśrāddha (“śrāddha
rites relating to certain lunar days”) and those referred to as ekoddiṣṭaśrād-
dha (“śrāddha rites intended for a certain individual”). The first are per-
formed for the three paternal ascendants ‒ father (pitṛ), grandfather
(pitāmaha) and great-grandfather (prapitāmaha) ‒ on certain fixed days of
the lunar calendar (parvan). The second are performed on days determined
by the date a person died and are linked to him or her alone (eka). He fur-
ther explains that all śrāddhas are performed either (1) at a fixed time (nit-
ya), such as the daily food offerings to the ancestors which are part of the
daily obligatory routine or the śrāddhas to be performed on fixed days such
as the new moon days and on the three aṣṭaka days;6 (2) on incidental days
(naimittika), that is, śrāddhas that must be performed on non-calendrical
occasions such as the birth of a son; or (3) optionally (kāmya), for instance,
at astronomically prescribed times that are considered opportune for pursu-
ing a specific goal such as entry into heaven. Lastly, Vijñāneśvara cites the
fivefold division of śrāddhas that is found in the famous code of law by
Manu, the Mānavadharmaśāstra, namely: (1) the daily śrāddha; (2) the
pārvaṇaśrāddha; (3) the vṛddhiśrāddha (“the śrāddha for prosperity”),
performed in connection with auspicious events; (4) the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha;
4
This formulation of the three debts is commonly found in Dharmaśāstric literature.
Note that earlier texts define the debt to the ancestors also as the obligation to produce off-
spring, an obligation clearly linked to the maintenance of the patrilineage. For a detailed
discussion of the development of the concept of debts, see Sayers 2008, pp. 62–80.
5
See Kane 1953, pp. 380–383, for a short survey.
6
The aṣṭakas are defined as the eighth day of the dark half of three months in the year.
and (5) the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, a special śrāddha performed to incorporate a

recently deceased relative into the line of ancestors.7
Hence, the range of śrāddha types is quite broad, with each of them in-
cluding rites and formulations specific to the occasion. Here, however, the
discussion will be restricted to those that feature in the Śaiva context of
funerary practices, namely the pārvaṇaśrāddha, the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha and
the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, the last two being essentially variants of the first.
2.1. Overview of brahmanical śrāddha rituals according to the YājS

In order to provide a point of reference for the analysis of Śaiva rites of
post-mortem ancestor worship, a brief outline of the brahmanical śrāddha
rituals will be given based on their description in the YājS 1.225–270. This
brahmanical dharma treatise, composed sometime between the third and
fifth centuries, was an authoritative and influential source for brahmanical
socio-religious practices. For instance, its account of śrāddha rituals was
incorporated into the Agnipurāṇa (2.163.1cd–42ab) and into the Nārada-
mahāpurāṇa (51.101c–154b). It can therefore be considered to constitute a
representative account.
2.1.1. Pārvaṇaśrāddha
Occasions
The days on which pārvaṇaśrāddha are to be performed are enjoined in the
YājS as: (a) the amāvāsyā, the night of the new moon; (b) the aṣṭakas, the
eighth day of the dark fortnight of the months Pauṣa, Māgha and Phālguṇa
according to the pūrṇimānta calendar, or Mārgaśīrṣa, Pauṣa and Māgha
7
Cf. part of the Mitākṣarā ad YājS 1.217–218: tac ca dvividhaṃ pārvaṇam ekoddiṣṭam
iti. tatra tripuruṣoddeśena yat kriyate tat pārvaṇam, ekapuruṣoddeśena kriyamāṇam
ekoddiṣṭam. punaś ca trividhaṃ nityaṃ naimittikaṃ kāmyaṃ ceti. tatra nityaṃ niyata-
nimittopādhau coditam aharahar amāvāsyāṣṭakādiṣu. aniyataṃ niyatopādhau coditaṃ
naimittikaṃ yathā putrajanmādiṣu. phalakāmanopādhau vihitaṃ kāmyaṃ yathā
svargādikāmanāyāṃ kṛttikādinakṣatreṣu. punaś ca pañcavidham aharahaḥśrāddhaṃ
pārvaṇaṃ vṛddhiśrāddham ekoddiṣṭaṃ sapiṇḍīkaraṇam ceti.
A kind of śrāddha that is omitted from Vijñāneśvara’s commentary is the śrāddha per-
formed at certain sacred sites, such as Gayā. These receive separate treatments in the
Purāṇas.
according to the amānta reckoning;8 (c) certain days during the dark half of
the lunar month (kṛṣṇapakṣa); (d) the winter and summer solstices; (e) the
two equinoxes; (f) the sun’s entry into a new sign of the zodiac
(sūryasaṃkrama); (g) the vyatīpātayoga, that is, when the sun and the
moon are equidistant from the solstice and on opposite sides of it; (h) days
on which certain conjunctions occur, such as the gajacchāyā, when the
moon is in the asterism Maghā and the sun in asterism hasta during the
thirteenth lunar day (tithi) of the dark half of the month; (h) and days on
which there is a solar or lunar eclipse.9 This list as presented in the YājS is
exhaustive, but over the course of time and according to different local
traditions, it is unlikely that all of these days were observed. For example,
according to this list, śrāddha would have to be performed at some point
during the dark fortnight of every month, a prescription found in early
sources such as the Śāṅkhāyanagṛhyasūtra.10 In contrast, however, later
sources indicate that the pārvaṇaśrāddha is to be performed – as is still
commonly done – only during a particular fortnight, namely the so-called
pitṛpakṣa (“the fortnight of the ancestors”) in the month of Āśvina (accord-
ing to the pūrṇimānta reckoning) or of Bhādrapada (according to the amān-
ta reckoning). It is this later practice that we find reflected in the Śaiva
sources.
Procedure
Invitation: On the day before the śrāddha is to take place, the person spon-
soring the rite, referred to as the yajamāna, should formally invite pious
and learned śrāddha Brahmins who are free of any defect11 to take part in
8
There are two calendrical systems in the Indian tradition: the pūrṇimānta system, in
which a lunar month begins with the day after the full moon (pūrṇima), and the amānta
system, in which a lunar month starts on the day of the new moon.
9
YājS 1.217–218: amāvāsyāṣṭakā vṛddhiḥ kṛṣṇapakṣo ’yanadvayam | dravyaṃ
brāhmaṇasaṃpattir viṣuvat sūryasaṃkramaḥ || vyatīpāto gajacchāyā grahaṇaṃ can-
drasūryayoḥ | śrāddhaṃ prati ruciś caiva śrāddhakālāḥ prakīrtitāḥ. The passage also in-
cludes the incidental and optional times for śrāddha, such as auspicious occasions like the
birth of a son, if one simply has the means for performing a śrāddha, when a Brahmin ar-
rives, or if one has the desire to perform a śrāddha.
10
Cf. Sayers 2008, p. 149.
11
The choice of appropriate invitees is crucial to accomplishing the rite. The YājS first
describes suitable candidates in 1.219–221, followed by a list in verses 1.222–224 of defects
the ceremony at his house.12 For a regular pārvaṇaśrāddha he should ideal-

ly invite five Brahmins, of whom two represent the Viśvedevas and three,
the three deceased ancestors, namely the pitṛ (father), pitāmaha (grand-
father) and prapitāmaha (great-grandfather). If five suitable candidates are
not available, the śrāddha may alternatively be performed with two Brah-
mins or one.13
Arrival of the Brahmins: On the afternoon of the next day, the Brah-
mins are to arrive at the yajamāna’s house, where they are ceremonially
greeted with the expression svāgatam (“Welcome!”) and with offerings of
water to purify themselves by sipping it (ācamana), as well as water to
wash their feet. The officiant should then invite the Brahmins to sit down
on a purified area inclined to the south that is covered with purificatory
substances, positioning the two representing the Viśvedevas toward the east
and the three representing the three ancestors toward the north.14
Invocation of the Viśvedevas: Again, the yajamāna should offer them
water to purify their hands, and then formally ask their permission to start
the rite of summoning the Viśvedevas.15 He then invokes these Viśvedevas
into the invitees. Once this has been accomplished, he is to sprinkle barley
around them. He should then pour water into a chalice with a blade of kuśa
grass in it, add barley grains, and offer the Brahmins, on behalf of the
Viśvedevas they now represent, water (arghya) from the chalice into their
that must be avoided, including physical deformation, inappropriate birth, or the lack of
propriety and good conduct.
12
YājS 1.225: nimantrayeta pūrvedyur brāhmaṇān ātmavāñ śuciḥ | taiś cāpi saṃyatair
bhāvyaṃ manovākkāyakarmabhiḥ.
13
YājS 1.228: dvau daive prāk trayaḥ pitrye udag ekaikam eva vā | mātāmahānām apy
evaṃ tantraṃ vā vaiśvadevikam. According to Vijñāneśvara’s commentary on this verse, in
the absence of five suitable invitees, the yajamāna is to invite one Brahmin for the
Viśvedevas and another for the ancestors: pakṣāntaram āha ekaikam eva vā. vaiśvadeve
pitrye ca ekam ekam upaveśayet. Later in the commentary it reads: tantraśabdaḥ samudāya-
vācakaḥ iti. yadā tu dvāv eva brāhmaṇau labdhau tadā tu vaiśvadeve pātraṃ prakalpya
ubhayatraikaikaṃ brāhmaṇaṃ niyuñjyāt.
14
YājS 1.226: aparāhṇe samabhyarcya svāgatenāgatāṃs tu tān | pavitrapāṇir ācāntān
āsaneṣūpaveśayet. See also YājS 1.227c–228b: paristṛte śucau deśe dakṣiṇāpravaṇe tathā ||
dvau daive prāk trayaḥ pitrye udag ekaikam eva vā.
15
YājS 1.229: pāṇiprakṣālanaṃ dattvā viṣṭarārthaṃ kuśān api | āvāhayed anujñāto
viśve devāsa ity ṛcā.
hands, together with offerings of scented powders, garlands, incense and

lamps, and clothes.16
Invocation of the ancestors: Now the yajamāna is to turn to the three
Brahmins representing the ancestors, for which the officiant is to change
the position of his sacred thread from the auspicious direction (over the left
shoulder) to the inauspicious (over the right shoulder). He should first cir-
cumambulate the three Brahmins, offer them blades of kuśa grass folded in
two, summon the ancestors, and with the permission of the latter recite a
prayer.17 He should then sprinkle sesame seeds around the Brahmins and
perform the ceremonial greetings of the invoked ancestors in the same way
as was done for the Viśvedevas, with the difference that sesame seeds are
to be used instead of barley grains.18 Additionally, the drops of salutary
water that run down from the Brahmin’s hands are to be collected in a chal-
ice, which is then placed upside-down. After this, the yajamāna declares
the Brahmins to be the locus for the ancestors with the words, “You are the
place of the ancestors.”19
Agnaukaraṇa: Next the sacrificial fire ritual, called agnaukaraṇa, is to
be performed. Cooked rice soaked in clarified butter is to be offered into
the fire with the permission of the Brahmins.20
Pṛthivīpātra: The leftovers of this offering are to be put into a vessel
(pātra) of silver or some other material and empowered by reciting the
mantra starting with the words pṛthivīpātram over them.21 The yajamāna
16
YājS 1.230–232b: yavair anvavakīryātha bhājane sapavitrake | śan no devyā payaḥ
kṣiptvā yavosīti yavāṃs tathā || yā divyā iti mantreṇa hasteṣv arghyaṃ vinikṣipet | dattvoda-
kaṃ gandhamālyaṃ dhūpadānaṃ sadīpakam || tathācchādanānaṃ ca karaśaucārtham
ambu ca.
17
YājS 1.232c–233: apasavyaṃ tataḥ kṛtvā pitṝṇām apradakṣiṇam | dviguṇāṃs tu kuśān
dattvā hy uśantas tvety ṛcā pitṝn | āvāhya tadanujñāto japed āyantu nas tataḥ.
18
YājS 1.234: apahatā iti tilān vikīrya ca samantataḥ | yavārthās tu tilaiḥ kāryāḥ
kuryād arghyādi pūrvavat.
19
YājS 1.235: dattvārghyaṃ saṃsravāṃs teṣāṃ pātre kṛtvā vidhānataḥ | pitṛbhyaḥ
sthānam asīti nyubjaṃ pātraṃ karoty adhaḥ.
20
It is further specified that this rite should be performed in the manner of the pitṛyajña,
the śrauta rite of offering piṇḍas to the ancestors. Cf. Sayers 2008, pp. 92ff.; Kane 1953,
p. 201; see also Caland 1893.
21
Kane (1953, p. 444) has identified the full mantra from the Āpastambamantrapāṭha.
should then take the hands of each Brahmin and have them stir the food
with their thumb, while he recites the mantra viṣṇur vicakrame.22
Offering the food to the Brahmins: The yajamāna is then to recite the
group of three mantras, the gāyatrī along with the mantra oṃ bhū bhuvaḥ
svāhā pronounced beforehand (savyāhṛtikām), and the triplet madhu vātā.23
He then is to invite the Brahmins to consume the suitable food as they
please, which they are to eat silently until they are satiated. Then he is to
recite purifying mantras and the same verses as before the meal. He then is
to pick up the food with the words, “May you be satiated”, and with their
permission take the rest of the food and scatter it around on the floor. Then
the Brahmins are each given some water for rinsing their mouths. After
this, the yajamāna is to gather all the leftovers and mix them with sesame
seeds while facing south.24
Offering of piṇḍas: Next, he should place the rice balls (piṇḍas) for the
ancestors close to the area of the leftovers; the manner of offering them is
to be done in the same way as during the Vedic sacrificial procedure for
ancestors, the śrauta pitṛyajña.25
Dismissing the ancestors: At the end he is to give the Brahmins the
ācamana and address them with svasti (“May it be well!”), and present
them “unfailing water”26 and their ritual fee (dakṣiṇā). He should then for-
mally request the Brahmins to pronounce the words astu svadhā (“May
there be svadhā”), which they then do. After this the officiant is to sprinkle
22
YājS 1.236–238: agnau kariṣyann ādāya pṛcchaty annaṃ ghṛtaplutam | kuruṣvety abhya-
nujñāto hutvāgnau pitṛyajñavat || hutaśeṣaṃ pradadyāt tu bhājaneṣu samāhitaḥ | yathālābhopa-
panneṣu raupyeṣu ca viśeṣataḥ || dattvānnaṃ pṛthivīpātram iti pātrābhimantraṇam | kṛtvedaṃ
viṣṇur ity anne dvijāṅguṣṭhaṃ niveśayet.
The mantra to be recited while the food is being stirred by the Brahmins is Ṛgveda
1.22.17 (see also Kane 1953, p. 444).
23
See Kane 1953, p. 444, who gives the verse references Ṛgveda 1.90.6–8, Vājasaneya-
saṃhitā 13.27‒29 and Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa 4.2.9.3 for the mantra starting with the phrase
madhu vātā.
24
YājS 1.239–242b: savyāhṛtikāṃ gāyatrīṃ madhu vātā iti tryṛcam | japtvā yathāsu-
khaṃ vācyaṃ bhuñjīraṃs te ’pi vāgyatāḥ || annam iṣṭaṃ haviṣyaṃ ca dadyād akrodhano
’tvaraḥ | ā tṛptes tu pavitrāṇi japtvā pūrvajapaṃ tathā || annam ādāya tṛptāḥ stha śeṣaṃ
caivānumānya ca | tad annaṃ vikired bhūmau dadyāc cāpaḥ sakṛt sakṛt || sarvam annam
upādāya satilaṃ dakṣiṇāmukhaḥ.
25
On the topic of piṇḍa offerings, see also Buss 2006.
26
In this procedure, the yajamāna offers them some water and formally requests the
Brahmins to declare it unfailing, which they then proceed to do.
the floor saying, “May the Viśvedevas be pleased.” Then the Brahmins are
to pronounce auspicious prayers for the family of the yajamāna, who
should bow and dismiss each of the ancestors starting with the father.
Dismissing the Brahmins: The yajamāna now turns the vessel in which
he collected the guest water (arghya) for the ancestors right side up and
ceremonially dismisses the Brahmins, following them to the boundary of
his land where he should circumambulate them a last time.
Concluding procedures: When the yajamāna returns home he is to eat
the remains of the food that was served for the ancestors.27 The piṇḍa balls
should be disposed of by feeding them to a cow, a ram or a Brahmin, or by
offering them to the fire or water.28 Both the yajamāna and the Brahmins
are to remain celibate that night.29
2.1.2. Ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha and sapiṇḍīkaraṇa
The ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha and sapiṇḍīkaraṇa are special kinds of śrāddha pro-

cedures that take place in the period after a death. They are thus special
variations on the above, with their beneficiary being the recently deceased
person’s soul rather than the ancestral deities. In terms of procedure, they
are considered variations of the regular pārvaṇaśrāddha and their account
is thus reduced to listing the points in which they differ from the default.
During the period between the day of cremation and the performance of
these particular śrāddha offerings to the deceased person’s soul, the chief
mourner is to offer libations of water and food to appease the deceased.30
27
YājS 1.243b–249b: dadyād ācamanaṃ tataḥ | svastivācyaṃ tataḥ kuryād akṣayyoda-
kam eva ca || dattvā tu dakṣiṇāṃ śaktyā svadhākāram udāharet | vācyatām ity anujñātaḥ
prakṛtebhyaḥ svadhocyatām || brūyur astu svadhety ukte bhūmau siñcet tato jalam |
viśvedevāś ca prīyantāṃ vipraiś coktam idaṃ japet || dātāro no ’bhivardhantāṃ vedāḥ
santatir eva ca | śraddhā ca no mā vyagamad bahu deyaṃ ca no ’stu || *ity uktvoktvā (em.
Sanderson; ityoktoktvā Ed.) priyā vācaḥ praṇipatya visarjayet | vāje vāja iti prītaḥ
pitṛpūrvaṃ visarjanam || yasmiṃs te saṃsravāḥ pūrvam arghyapātre niveśitāḥ | pitṛpātraṃ
tad uttānaṃ kṛtvā viprān visarjayet || pradakṣiṇam anuvrajya bhuñjīta pitṛsevitam.
28
YājS 1.257: piṇḍās tu gojaviprebhyo dadyād agnau jale ’pi vā | prakṣipet satsu vi-
preṣu dvijocchiṣṭaṃ na mārjayet.
29
YājS 1.249cd: brahmacārī bhavet tāṃ tu rajanīṃ brāhmaṇaiḥ saha.
30
For an account of the offerings during the ten days following a death, see Kane 1953,
p. 262, and Mueller 1992, pp. 135–136.
The ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha (also called the monthly śrāddha, i.e.

māsānumāsikaśrāddha), as the term indicates, is performed for a single
person (ekoddiṣṭa), namely the recently deceased who has not yet taken up
his or her position in the ancestral line but is still a ghost (preta). Within
this category there are two sets of rites. The first are the navaśrāddhas,
which are to be performed during the first eleven days after the death.31
Even though they are not mentioned in the YājS, Vijñāneśvara includes
them in his commentary and teaches that in terms of procedure, they are a
variety of the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha with the special prohibition that the re-
maining food should not be consumed at the end of the rite.32 According to
his account, these navaśrāddhas are to be performed on the first, third,
fifth, seventh, ninth and eleventh day after a death,33 with the last of these
widely accepted as the day the period of impurity caused by death ends for
the chief mourner.34
After this, a set of more elaborate ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas is to be under-
taken. According to the YājS, the procedure is the same as that of the
pārvaṇaśrāddha, with the difference that the ritual actions are confined to
serving only the recently deceased, represented by a single Brahmin, and
not the three ancestral generations. Hence, the Viśvedevas are not wor-
shipped, the substances for welcoming a guest, such as arghya water, are
presented only once, and the invocation of the ancestors and the perfor-
mance of the agnaukaraṇa are omitted. The mantras are moreover adjusted
to the context of the recently deceased. Thus when offering him water, one
is to say “May you come” (upatiṣṭhatām) instead of “Let it be inexhausti-
31
See Kane 1953, pp. 262–263.
32
Mitākṣarā on YājS 1.252: navaśrāddheṣu yac chiṣṭaṃ gṛhe paryuṣitaṃ ca yat | dam-
patyor bhuktaśiṣṭaṃ ca na bhuñjīta kadā cana.
33
Mitākṣarā on YājS 1.252: prathame ’hni tṛtīye ’hni pañcame saptame tathā | na-
vamaikādaśe caiva etan navaśrāddham ucyate.
34
The Gāruḍapurāṇa teaches further where these rites are to be performed. The first is
to be held at the place the person died, the second at the place where the funeral procession
stopped for a rest, and from the third onwards at the cremation site where the bones were
collected during the asthisaṃcayana. See Gāruḍapurāṇa 2.5.67–70: navaśrāddhasya te
kālaṃ vakṣyāmi śṛṇu kāsyapa | maraṇāhni mṛtisthāne śrāddhaṃ pakṣin prakalpayet ||
dvitīyañ ca tato mārge viśrāmo yatra kāritaḥ | tataḥ sañcayanasthāne tṛtīyaṃ śrāddham
ucyate || pañcame saptame tadvad aṣṭame navame tathā | daśamaikādaśe caiva nava
śrāddhāni vai khaga || śrāddhāni nava caitāni tṛtīyā ṣoḍaśī smṛtā | ekoddiṣṭavidhānena
kāryāṇi manujais tathā. See also Kane 1953, p. 263.
ble” (akṣayyam astu),35 and the verbal endings are changed from the plural
to the singular in the formulas used to address the one Brahmin represent-
ing the deceased person.
After the series of ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas, the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa is held, in
which the deceased, who is still a ghost (preta), is incorporated into the
ancestral line. According to the YājS, the basic procedure is again that of
the pārvaṇaśrāddha, with an additional rite in which four vessels are pre-
pared with water mixed with sesame seeds and perfume. Three of these
vessels represent each of the ancestors. The fourth represents the newly
deceased; from this vessel water is poured into each of those of the ances-
tors, signifying the deceased person’s incorporation into the ancestral line.36
However, there are two significant features not mentioned in this text that
are standard in many other accounts. First, in addition to the two Brahmins
representing the Viśvedevas and the three representing the ancestors, an-
other Brahmin is invited to represent the deceased. Secondly, there is an-
other, later more common rite marking the incorporation of the deceased
into the ancestral line, in which four rice balls (piṇḍas) are first offered to
the three ancestors and the recently deceased, and then the piṇḍa for the
recently deceased is divided into three parts, each of which is then com-
bined with one of the piṇḍas for the ancestors.37
The timing of the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas and the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa are interre-
lated, since the latter can be performed only after the series of navaśrād-
dhas and the sixteen ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas have been completed. In the brah-
manical literature there is a great deal of divergence as to when these
should be held.38 The standard view expressed in the sources is that they are
to be held throughout the year after death, according to the YājS, every
35
YājS 1.252–252: ekoddiṣṭaṃ daivahīnam ekārghyaikapavitrakam | āvāhanāgnau-
karaṇarahitaṃ hy apasavyavat || upatiṣṭhatām akṣayyasthāne vipravisarjane | abhiramya-
tām iti vaded brūyus te ’bhiratāḥ sma ha ||.
36
YājS 1.253–254b: gandhodakatilair yuktaṃ kuryāt pātracatuṣṭayam | arghyārthaṃ
pitṛpātreṣu pretapātraṃ prasiñcayet || ye samānād iti dvābhyāṃ śeṣaṃ pūrvavad ācaret.
37
See, for example, Kane 1953, pp. 521–523; Sayers 2008, pp. 152–154; and Buss
2006. Even though this rite is part of many standard accounts of the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, both the
Agnipurāṇa (2.163.26–27) and the Nāradamahāpurāṇa (51.136b–138c) incorporate this
passage of the YājS and therefore also omit this rite. See Michaels 2005 for a comprehen-
sive account, including video footage, of a present-day version performed in Nepal.
38
See Kane 1953, pp. 517–519 for a summary of the brahmanical view on this matter.
month on the anniversary of the death.39 However, the most common view
is that found in Vijñāneśvara’s commentary, which rules that sixteen
ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas are to be performed: on the twelfth day after the death,
after three fortnights, after six months, once every month, and on the first
anniversary of the death. 40 Alternatively, to be able to perform the
sapiṇḍīkaraṇa before a year has elapsed, it is also possible to compress the
performance of the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas into a shorter period.41 The literature
gives different days for the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, but most commonly – if the
series of ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas are compressed in time – it is to be performed
during the first month after the death. Vijñāneśvara, for example, quotes the
Āśvalāyanagṛhyasūtra, where it is ruled that the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa can be per-
formed either a year following the death or after twelve days. If the latter
case is chosen, the entire series of ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas is to be performed on
the eleventh day following the death. However, the YājS points out that if
the day of the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa takes place earlier than the end of the year, the
daily or monthly offerings of food and water to the deceased person none-
theless must be carried out for the whole year.42 The issue is thus very
complex, and this is just a brief example of the various regulations. For our
aim of comparing these procedures to the Śaiva śrāddha rituals, however, it
is important to note that even within the brahmanical sphere there was no
39
Cf. YājS 1.256ab: mṛte ’hani tu kartavyaṃ pratimāsaṃ tu vatsaram.
40
See Mitākṣarā on YājS 1.255: śoḍaśa śrāddhāni ca. dvādaśāhe tripakṣe ca ṣaṇmāse
māsi cābdike | śrāddhāni ṣoḍaśaitāni saṃsmṛtāni manīṣibhiḥ.
41
Mitākṣarā on YājS 1.255: yadā prāk saṃvatsarāt sapiṇḍīkaraṇaṃ tadā ṣoḍaśa
śrāddhāni kṛtvā sapiṇḍīkaraṇaṃ kāryam. Later in the commentary, Vijñāneśvara mentions
that according to some, compressing the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas is done in times of need: yadā tv
āpatkalpatvena prāk sapiṇḍīkaraṇāt pretaśrāddhāni karoti tad ekoddiṣṭavidhānena kuryāt.
Neither the YājS nor Vijñāneśvara specify how these ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas are to be ar-
ranged in this case. The Kashmirian Dvādaśāhavidhiḥ (Srinagar ORL MS 1677
Pārthivapūjā, etc.), in which the sixteen ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas are compressed into twelve days
from the eleventh day after the death, which marks the end of impurity, through to the twen-
ty-second, by performing one of the monthly ekoddiṣṭas every day, and adding the
ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha of the third fortnight on the second day, that of the fifth fortnight
ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha on the third day, that of the day before the end of the sixth month on the
sixth day, and that of the day before the end of the year on the twelfth.
42
YājS 1.255: arvāk sapiṇḍīkaraṇaṃ yasya saṃvatsarād bhavet | tasyāpy annaṃ soda-
kumbhaṃ dadyāt saṃvatsaraṃ dvije. Mītākṣara ad loc.: saṃvatsarād arvāk sapiṇḍīkaraṇaṃ
yasya kṛtaṃ tasya taduddeśena pratidivasaṃ pratimāsaṃ vā yāvat saṃvatsaraṃ śak-
tyanusāreṇānnam udakumbhasahitaṃ brāhmaṇāya dadyāt.
consensus and practices varied widely. As will be shown, the Śaiva

sources, with the exception of Aghoraśiva’s KKD, do not include detailed
prescriptions for these categories of śrāddha rituals. Perhaps this is precise-
ly because local practices varied so greatly, making it difficult to include
them in texts intended to provide broadly applicable normative frame-
works. These practices were therefore likely operating on a more local level.
2.1.3. Śrāddha for female ancestors
Although the śrāddha for female ancestors is not prescribed explicitly or in

detail, the YājS does mention at two points that the procedures are the same
for women: once in the account of the pārvaṇaśrāddha43 and then at the
end of that for sapiṇḍīkaraṇa.44 In his commentary on the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa,
Vijñāneśvara also mentions that in the case of a woman, a mātṛśrāddha
must be performed.45 A significant difference to the śrāddha rituals for men
is that in the case of deceased female family members, these are not wor-
shipped according to the matriline but in association with their husband.
Thus, with the exception of the mother, these are not the maternal ances-
tors, but the mother, the paternal grandfather’s wife, and the paternal great-
grandfather’s wife.
3. Rationalizing śrāddha in Śaiva tantric terms46

In keeping with the principle that the soul of an initiate attains liberation at
death, the worship of deceased ancestors in the Śaiva version is re-
interpreted as the worship of the deceased in their increasingly potent Śiva
manifestations,47 the rites thus effectively becoming an act of Śiva worship.
Hence, in what becomes the default version of the rite, the father becomes
Īśa, the grandfather Sadāśiva, and the great-grandfather Śānta. Also the
43
YājS 1.242c–243a: ucchiṣṭasannidhau piṇḍān dadyād vai pitṛyajñavat || mātāmahānām
apy evaṃ.
44
YājS 1.253–254cd: etat sapiṇḍīkaraṇam ekoddiṣṭaṃ striyā api.
45
Mitākṣarā ad YājS 1.254: striyāpi mātur api kartavyam. evaṃ vadatā pārvaṇe
mātṛśrāddhaṃ pṛthak kartavyam ity uktaṃ bhavati.
46
Parts of this section have been adapted from Mirnig 2013, pp. 285–288.
47
Sanderson 1995, pp. 34–36.
Viśvedevas are given Śaiva identities, namely Kālāgnirudra and Ananta,

who are the governors, respectively, of the lowest and highest levels of the
impure universe.48 Accordingly, all of the mantras employed during the
ritual to invoke or address the śrāddha deities are modified.49
Some Śaiva sources define the function of the series of post-mortem rit-
uals as assisting the deceased to ascend through increasingly elevated spir-
itual levels to liberation, therewith completing the process that was started
by the initiation ritual. Based on this logic, we find statements in such texts
declaring that Śaiva śrāddha has the same benefit as initiation and bestows
union with Śiva. For instance, the Kir reads:
Of such procedure is the supreme śivaśrāddha that bestows union with

Śiva.50
And further:
He should perform the śrāddha because the initiation ritual (dīkṣā) ends
with it. [Thus] the śivaśrāddha that consists of the five brahmamantras
has been taught in brief.51
The Saiddhāntika manual JR expresses a similar sentiment:
This śrāddha, since it is a form of initiation, bestows liberation in the

manner stated.52
As discussed above,53 the claim that śrāddha rituals are somehow necessary
to achieve the initiate’s liberation is highly problematic from a doctrinal
48
See, e.g., Brunner-Lachaux 1979, p. 626.
49
The mantras for addressing the ancestors are defined in the SP and KKD as consisting
of the oṃ syllable, the name of the ancestral deity in the dative form, and namaḥ at the end.
Trilocana clarifies this by adding the heart mantra and the object offered to the ancestor in
the accusative, as for example oṃ hāṃ īśāya pitre idam āsanaṃ namaḥ. See Brunner-
Lachaux, p. 647, [17b].
50
Kir 61.34ab. For the text and annotated translation of the passage, see the appendices.
51
Kir 61.41. For the text and annotated translation of the passage, see the appendices.
52
JR ŚP 105ab. For the text and annotated translation of the passage, see the appendices.
53
See pp. 33ff.
point of view. Even if one accepts the already problematic view that Śaiva
cremation has merely an expiatory function, ensuring that the soul is not
held back by transgressions performed since its nirvāṇadīkṣā, any further
rites for guiding the soul through various divine manifestations should no
longer be necessary. Theoretically, their performance should be virtually
superfluous. In view of this, the tenth century Kashmirian non-
Saiddhāntika Śaiva commentator Abhinavagupta was not hesitant in stating
that the Śaiva śrāddha is potentially useless. While he includes an entire
chapter of Śaiva śrāddha rituals in his Tantrāloka (TĀ), he nevertheless
explicitly states that śrāddha serves no purpose for the truly enlightened,
linking this to the case of a jñānin, that is, an initiate of the highest kind
who has attained liberation through gnosis:
He (i.e. Abhinavagupta) states: But for a jñānin, no [rite] whatsoever is

to be employed. [That is to say,] at no point is a ritual procedure such as
cremation and śrāddha useful for someone for whom the darkness [that
is ignorance] has been destroyed by the sun that is the [mystical]
knowledge of the truth.54
While the Saiddhāntika authors are not as explicit in acknowledging the

potential futility of Śaiva śrāddha rituals, we do find an echo of the same
hesitation in some doctrinal justifications. Shifting the focus away from the
importance of performing śrāddha rites for the deceased so that he may
attain liberation, some passages simply formulate the obligation to perform
Śaiva śrāddha in terms of the brahmanical principle, namely, that the ritual-
ist is fulfilling his debt to the ancestors. With this reasoning in mind, the
Kir states the following:
Therefore, O Garuḍa, one should perform this rite [of post-mortem an-
cestor worship] even when [the corpse] cannot be found. For how can
anyone become free of debt as long as [the śrāddha] is not performed?55
54
TĀ 25.10.
55
Kir 61.39. For the text and annoated translation of the passage, see the appendices.
In its opening verses to the section on śrāddha, the JR propagates a similar

sentiment, adapting the brahmanical principle of the threefold debt for its
own purposes:
Next, I shall teach the śrāddha ritual, which removes the debt to the
teachers and so forth. And [the following] has been taught: The initiate
should pay [his] debt to the deities by fully performing rites of worship,
oblations and the like; to the sages, too, [he pays his debt by] being of
unwavering conduct at all times; and to [his] gurus and the like he
should [pay the debt] by performing the rite of śrāddha.56
A notable difference from the brahmanical formulation of the triple debt, as

we have seen above, is that in the JR, instead of only the ancestors (pitṛ),
the śrāddha is offered to “gurus and the like” (gurvādi). This is quite a
significant twist, since even though the term guru can also be used to refer
to ancestors, none of the classical passages on the brahmanical triple debt
use the term in this way; they explicitly refer to the pitṛ. This suggests that
the intention of Jñānaśiva’s expression is to extend the group of beneficiar-
ies of Śaiva śrāddha from the paternal ancestors to include Śaiva gurus as
well, an injunction particularly significant with respect to tantric teaching
lineages, possibly linked to monastic institutions.
In contrast to the earlier statements of the Kir and JR, this last injunc-
tion, echoing the brahmanical formulations, treats the role of Śaiva śrāddha
merely as one more component of post-initiatory discipline rather than a
soteriologically powerful and meaningful rite. The passage thus demon-
strates how śrāddha rituals had been essentially absorbed and rationalized
in terms of Śaiva obligatory practice. As such, the importance of their per-
formance is reduced in this passage to the notion that their omission consti-
tutes a transgression of an initiate’s discipline,57 rather than having a posi-
tive meaning for the soteriological path.
56
JR ŚP 1–2. For the text and annotated translation of the passage, see the appendices.
57
On this, see also Sanderson 1995.
4. Śaiva śrāddha: On the ritual procedure

The tantric Śaiva theoretical and doctrinal adaptations of śrāddha rites were
weak and had no major impact on the ritual procedure. Thus, the basic tim-
ing and structure of Śaiva śrāddha rituals remain that of the brahmanical
model described above, with the main difference that all Vedic mantras are
replaced by Śaiva ones and the invitees for the śrāddha meal are Śaiva
ācāryas and sādhakas rather than ordinary Vaidika Brahmins.58 This rigid
preservation of the brahmanical ritual structure even includes ritual gestures
that enact notions incongruous with Śaiva tantric ritual logic. For example,
the brahmanical worship of the Viśvedevas is done in a ritual manner that
reflects an auspicious occasion, that is, with the sacred thread on the left
shoulder and by offering barley grains,59 whereas the worship of the ances-
tors is done in a manner that reflects an inauspicious occasion, namely by
putting the sacred thread over the right shoulder and offering not barley
grains but sesame seeds, considered to have apotropaic powers. 60 This
symbolic distinction makes little sense in the Śaiva context. Here the ances-
tors are represented by their Śiva manifestations in the pure universe, and
the Vaidika Viśvedevas are replaced with Rudra and Ananta, the guardians
of the cosmic levels in the impure universe. Rudra and Ananta are thus
inferior to the ancestral deities. Nevertheless, the instructions for worship-
ping these two groups follow the brahmanical model, which treats ances-
tors with ritual symbolism associated with inauspicious occasions and the
Viśvedevas, with that associated with auspicious ones.
58
In the Kir and the KKD, the śrāddha Brahmins are replaced by ācāryas for the ances-
tors and sādhakas for the Viśvedevas, who are now named Rudra and Ananta; see Kir 61.5–
6 (see appendices). See also KKD T 370, p. 239: tatra pitrārthaṃ deśikān viśvedevārthaṃ
sādhakau […] gṛhṇīyāt. The SP specifies that ascetics are to take the roles of Īśa, Sadāśiva
and Śānta; SP 11.3–4b: liṅgino brāhmaṇādyāś ca śrāddhīyāḥ śivadīkṣitāḥ | īśaḥ sadāśivaḥ
śāntaḥ śivaśrāddhe tapasvinaḥ || rudraś cānantanāmā ca viśvedevau sthitau dvayoḥ. In the
absence of suitable candidates, the śrāddha can be performed alternatively with two initiates
or one, in whom the respective deities are installed on the head, shoulders and arms, just as
in the brahmanical model. SP 11.6c–8b (in Brunner-Lachaux 1977): pañcābhāve tu sarvatra
yujyate puruṣadvayam || śiraḥskandhavibhāgena trayam ekatra kalpayet | bāhumūlavibhedena
viśvedevau dvitīyake || ekatra bāhuyugmena saha vā pañca kalpayet.
59
Cf. YājS 1.229–232b.
60
Cf. YājS 1.232c–234.
For detailed accounts of the Śaiva śrāddha rituals, the Kir and JR are
representative, since structurally their procedures correspond to the brah-
manical model described above, with only minor variations.61 These do not,
however, necessarily reflect modifications specific to the Śaiva setting;
they are similar in kind to variations also found in brahmanical sources,
such as differences in the number and shapes of maṇḍalas to be drawn for
receiving the śrāddha priests.62 The only notable Śaiva-specific addition is
found in the JR. Here, a worship of the liṅga, the cult object in which Śiva
is commonly venerated, is integrated into the ritual sequence, taking place
after the invitees have been seated and before the rice balls (piṇḍa) have
been offered to the ancestors.
An important category of brahmanical śrāddha rituals that is largely
missing in the early Śaiva authoritative accounts is that of prescriptions for
61
Other clear variations, such as differences in the order of ritual actions, will be dis-
cussed at the relevant places in the annotated translations.
62
This concerns the procedure for welcoming the śrāddha priests, an occasion for which
maṇḍalas are drawn in the eastern part of the ritual area where the invitees are ceremonially
welcomed and presented with a mixture of earth and water to wash their feet, and water to
perform the ācamana. We find the following variations: Kir 61.14c–15b enjoins that two
maṇḍalas, one round and one square, be drawn for this reception in the south and north,
respectively. In the first round maṇḍala, a mixture of water and earth for washing the feet is
offered; in the second square maṇḍala, ācamana water is presented to the invitees. In con-
trast, in the early Śaiva Siddhānta manuals four maṇḍalas are enjoined at this point; two
square maṇḍalas for Ananta and Rudra – the Śaiva equivalent of the Viśvedevas – and two
round maṇḍalas for the divine Śiva manifestations representing the initiated ancestors. This
step of drawing maṇḍalas to receive the śrāddha priests is omitted in the brahmanical YājS
and Vijñāneśvara’s commentary, but appears in other authoritative brahmanical sources,
such as the Nāradīyapurāṇa. Here it is enjoined that maṇḍalas be drawn for receiving the
guests, with their shape depending on the yajamāna’s caste: if the yajamāna is a Brahmin, a
square maṇḍala is drawn; if he is a Kṣatriya, a triangular maṇḍala; if he is a Vaiśya, a circu-
lar maṇḍala; and if he is a Śūdra, no maṇḍala is drawn, but the ground is prepared by sprin-
kling it with consecrated water. Nāradīyapurāṇa 1.28.32c–33: śrāddhārthaṃ samanujñātaḥ
kārayen maṇḍaladvayam || caturaśraṃ brāhmaṇasya trikoṇaṃ kṣatriyasya vai | vaiśyasya
vartulaṃ jñeyaṃ śūdrasyābhyukṣaṇaṃ bhavet. See also Kane 1953, pp. 456–457.
Another example of a ritual feature that varies is the standard brahmanical procedure of
the invitees stirring food with their left thumb in the counter-clockwise direction (i.e. the
direction signalling an inauspicious occasion). This is entirely absent in the Kir, JR and BK
quoted therein. It is, however, found in the SP (11.26 nyubjaṃ savyaṃ tadaṅguṣṭham
amṛtāyānnasaṃgatam | vāmaṃ mṛtyujitaṃ vāpi parito bhrāmayet paṭhan) and the KKD
(Brunner-Lachaux 1977, p. 655, [24b]: teṣāṃ savyam aṅguṣṭhaṃ svahastena saṃgṛhya,
nyubjam annasaṅgataṃ kṛtvā, mṛtyuñjayaṃ vāmadevaṃ vā paṭhan paribhrāmya…). A
difference here, however, is that the Vedic mantra viṣṇur vicakrame recited over the food
has been replaced by the tantric Śaiva mantras mṛtyuñjaya or vāmadeva.
female family members (mātṛśrāddha). Amongst the Saiddhāntika sources

examined, worship of female ancestors is only indicated in the KKD. Here,
they seem to be worshipped either in conjunction with paternal ancestors or
receive their own śrāddha, which follows the same procedure as that for the
male ancestors except that the invitees are not fed.63 However, the spiritual
positions in which they are addressed and worshipped have not been ration-
alized in Śaiva terms, but remain those of the traditional order.64 Deceased
women are connected to the family of their husband, with the order of wor-
ship thus expressed through the paternal line, namely the mother (mātṛ), the
wife of the grandfather (pitāmahī), and the wife of the great-grandfather
(prapitāmahī).
4.1. The period between death and the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa

The period between the end of the funeral rite and the performance of the
first pārvaṇaśrāddha is not consistently treated in the early Saiddhāntika
sources. The SP enjoins the performance of the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas, but
merely by explaining the occasions on which they are to be performed,
without providing any description of the ritual procedure itself. The Kir
provides a few more details, teaching that the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha follows the
same procedure as the pārvaṇaśrāddha, with the difference that the invoca-
tions of the Śiva manifestations and Rudra and Ananta are omitted. It fur-
ther mentions the navaśrāddhas, but only states that they are part of the
series of ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha rites, again without any further details of proce-
dure.65 The offerings of piṇḍas and water during the ten days after death
(daśakriyā) are not mentioned in either source. Only the KKD and the BK
quoted in the JR enjoin procedures for this period before the first
63
KKD (T 370, p. 244; T 403, p. 174): mātṛśrāddhaviṣaye bhojanavarjyam anyat sar-
vaṃ *pūrvoktena (T 370; pūrvānte T 403) kuryāt.
64
This is not the case for the śrāddha rituals preserved in the manuals in use until recent
times by Śaiva priests in Kashmir. There, the female ancestors, the mātṛs, are incorporated
as the three highest of the eight Śāktis surrounding Manonmanī, namely, Balavikaraṇī,
Balapramathanī and Bhūtadamanī at the highest level of the throne of Śiva. Nevertheless,
while they have thus been given an independent spiritual identity, they are situated at a
cosmic level below that of Īśvara, Sadāśiva and Śiva. See Sanderson 1995, p. 35.
65
Kir 61.37: ekoddiṣṭaṃ yad atroktaṃ kāryam āvāhanaṃ vinā | navaśrāddhādikaśrād-
dhaṃ proktam etat samāsataḥ.
pārvaṇaśrāddha. Moreover, in the case of the KKD it is not certain if these

instructions were part of the original work, as will be discussed below.66
The instructions are thus confusing and vague and it seems impossible to
reconstruct the underlying practice. In fact, this vagueness of formulation
and the absence of more material on rites to be performed in the period
immediately after a death suggest that this sphere of funerary procedure
was not fully integrated into the Śaiva ritual repertoire. Any rites in this
period were probably conducted simply according to local practices and
intertwined with existing socio-religious structures and belief systems.
What is more, the only sources that do give any detailed instructions for
this period, the KKD and the BK as quoted in the JR (see 4.1.1.), show no
sign that a Śaiva structure was applied to these practices. Thus, unlike the
ancestors, the recently deceased was not given a specific Śiva identity. The
only known exception is found in later Kashmirian sources, where a recent-
ly deceased person is addressed as Rudra, this expressing that he has yet to
rise to the level of Śivahood within the pure universe above Māyā.67
4.1.1. Śrāddha rites in the Jñānaratnāvalī: an account from the BK
In the JR, rituals to be performed during the intermediary period between

death and the incorporation of the recently deceased into the divine ances-
tral line are found in a passage quoted from the BK.68 As discussed above,
this in turn was adopted from the Vaiṣṇava JāyS.69 The injunctions cover
the rites for the first ten days after death as well as the series of
ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas, but do not mention the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa. A short over-
view will be presented here; the entire text and an annotated translation are
available in the appendices.
66
See p. 198.
67
See Sanderson 1995, p. 35.
68
See NGMPP B24/57, ff. 224r2–227v5.
69
See p. 83.
4.1.1.1. Rites during the first ten days after death
According to the JR, during the first ten days after a death, daily offerings
of rice pudding are cooked and offered either in the house of the deceased
or at the waterside in the presence of an invited ācārya.70 The yajamāna
receives the invitee and performs worship of Śiva, followed by a simplified
worship of Śiva in the fire, using only the heart mantra without its being
installed. A piṇḍa is then offered to the recently deceased, with a formula
constructed with a different mantra each day that incorporates the deceased
person’s name and ends with svadhā. For the first five days the officiant is
to use the five aṅgamantras starting with the heart mantra (hṛdayamantra)
and ending with the netramantra,71 and for the last five days, the five face
mantras starting with sadyojāta.72 After offering the piṇḍa, the officiant is
to pour some food mixed with sour milk, milk and clarified butter into the
Brahmins’ hands or a vessel made out of silver or gold. After sprinkling the
piṇḍa and dismissing the recently deceased, he is then to pour a full obla-
tion73 and hand a jar filled with water and sesame seeds together with
clothes and gold to the officiant. At the end he is to dispose of the piṇḍa
into water or fire, and finish with the concluding rites at the site. After this
he should return home for a communal meal with other initiates, at the con-
clusion of which he is to pronounce the aghoramantra, scatter white mus-
tard seeds and prepare his bed.
4.1.1.2. Ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha
On the eleventh day, the first of the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas takes place.74 It is

the first of a series of such śrāddhas to be performed at intervals of a month
70
JR ŚP 42c–63. For the text and translation of the passage, see the appendices.
71
Since there are actually six aṅgamantras, the injunction to recite those starting with
the hṛdaya and ending with the netra implies that the weapon mantra, which would follow
next, is not included.
72
JR ŚP 63. For the text and translation of the passage, see the appendices. The five
aṅgamantras are the hṛdaya, śiras, śikhā, kavaca, and netra; the five face mantras are
sadyojāta, vāmadeva, aghora, tatpuruṣa, and īśāna. See Brunner 1963, p. 331, Appendix VI
and s.v. aṅga and aṅgamantra in TAK 1.
73
See p. 145, fn. 72.
74
JR ŚP 64–79. For the text and translation of the passage, see the appendices.
or two weeks during the first year after a death.75 As in common brahmani-
cal practice, this kind of śrāddha is distinguished from the pārvaṇaśrāddha
by the fact that only one person is invited for the ceremony to represent the
recently deceased. The invocation of the ancestral deities is consequently
omitted.
The ācārya is invited in. Seated facing north, he conducts the piṇḍa of-
fering followed by an oblation into the fire. The yajamāna is then to offer
the ācārya some food, and with the leftovers together with the arghya wa-
ter, make a bali offering to appease the spirits (bhūta) near the ritual site.
At the end he offers the guru some water, sprinkles the ground and pays the
guru his ritual fee (dakṣiṇā). The guru then performs a worship of Śiva.
The rite is concluded with a full oblation76 poured into the fire while recit-
ing the śivamantra.
4.1.2. Śrāddha in the Kriyākramadyotikā
The KKD of Aghoraśiva is the only early Saiddhāntika source to contain a

detailed treatment of the period leading up to the pārvaṇaśrāddha. A rite
called the pāṣāṇasthāpanavidhi (“the rite for the installation of a stone
[representing the recently deceased]”) is to be performed on each of the ten
days after a death. On the tenth day, an offering called rudrabali is to be
performed. After this, the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas are to be performed up to the
day of the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa. Each of these procedures receives its own section
except for the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, whose instructions are included in those for
the pārvaṇaśrāddha.
Before describing the KKD’s prescriptions, however, a word of caution
is needed: the text is not entirely certain in this section. The transcripts T
75
The text in JR ŚP 65–66 literally says that the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha is to be performed on
a monthly basis (pratimāsika). However, in light of standard practice, it is unlikely that
Jñānaśiva meant this to imply that they were to be performed only once a month, but rather
fifteen or sixteen times during the first year. Further, as we have seen, another term com-
monly used to refer to these ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas is māsānumāsikaśrāddha, which may have
led to the expression pratimāsika in the current passage. In this case, however, the reading is
awkward, so its interpretation remains uncertain. A similarly vague instruction is also found
later in the passage, in JR ŚP 79a, where it is enjoined that the ekoddiṣṭas are to be per-
formed every month through the thirteenth.
76
See p. 145, fn. 72.
370 and T 403 contain slightly different chapter divisions and insertions at
this point. It is therefore possible that some passages may not be part of the
original work, but have been added by later redactors. For instance, we find
quotations from the Kāmikāgama in this section. These are clearly later
insertions, since the Kāmikāgama belongs to the second wave of Saiddhān-
tika scriptural texts that emerged only after Aghoraśiva’s lifetime.77 Fur-
ther, a colophon marking the end of the funeral rites is found in these tran-
scripts twice: at the end of the account of the nirvāṇāntyeṣṭi as well as at
the end of the account of the pārvaṇaśrāddha. This introduces uncertainty
as to where the end of the section on funerary rites was originally con-
ceived. With these hesitations in mind, we can nonetheless note that Ag-
horaśiva included some rituals in his manual that appear to have been
unique to the southern ritual context, similar to the cūrṇotsava discussed
above. 78 Analogous to this case, it is therefore conceivable that the
pāṣāṇasthāpanavidhi and rudrabali procedures, which we only find in the
KKD, are in fact original. Further, the detailed and explicit instructions at
this point leading up to the regular śrāddha rites would fit Aghoraśiva’s
general approach of providing elaborate instructions amounting to a com-
prehensive practical guide that could be used independently. In general, it
appears that the KKD propagates a Śaiva system that was independent from
the brahmanical and covers all rituals in detail. Therefore to include an
outline of the procedures set out in these passages seems useful, despite the
uncertainties regarding the text.
4.1.2.1. Pāṣāṇasthāpanavidhi79
The pāṣāṇasthāpanavidhi, “the rite for the installation of a stone [repre-

senting the recently deceased]”, is a rite that is enjoined for the ten days
after a death.80 The beginning of the text states that the ritual procedure is
to be performed immediately after the libations to the ancestors (tarpaṇa),
but does not indicate whether this tarpaṇa refers only to the rite of gratifi-
77
For the place of works such as the Kāmikāgama in Śaiva literature, see, e.g., Sander-
son 2014, p. 89.
78
See p. 119.
79
KKD T 370, pp. 232–234 and T 403, pp. 160–62.
80
KKD T 370, p. 233: …maraṇāhāt prabhṛti daśāhaparyantam evaṃ vidhāya…
cation at the funeral site on the day of cremation, or whether it signifies the
collection of rites involving the daily offerings of water and food to the
deceased over the entire ten days after the death (the daśakriyā). Hence, it
is not clear from the instructions whether the pāṣāṇasthāpanavidhi is to be
performed in place of the brahmanical daśakriyā or as an addition to it.81
On the first day, immediately after the tarpaṇa, the officiant is to build a
small construction called a pitṛgṛha (house for the ancestors) either in-
doors, in a courtyard, or in the open air. In this pitṛgṛha he installs a throne
for worship and next to it, digs a hole in the ground of the same size,
whereupon he is to smear both with cow dung.82 Next, he is to make a bun-
dle of either seven blades of darbha grass or five blades of kuśa grass, and
on it installs the oṃ syllable as a throne. On this he invokes the body of the
deceased with his initiatory name followed by the exclamation svāhā, and
then invokes the soul using the ātmamantra83 with the name of his clan
(gotra) followed by namaḥ. He then greets the deceased person’s soul with
81
Of the available post-12th-century South Indian sources, only the Dīkṣādarśa (T 153,
pp. 589–594) contains this procedure, which it attributes to the Kāmikāgama. However, the
account is much shorter and most of the passage is either corrupt or missing and is thus not
of much help for reconstructing this procedure. It appears that the redactor himself was
unsure about the original contents. Further, it is unclear what the Dīkṣādarśa’s redactor
understood the pāṣāṇasthāpana to be, since the surviving text does not mention a stone, and
the section contains much more information than just the rite described in the KKD. In the
same chapter, the Dīkṣādarśa also quotes the Kāmikāgama concerning rulings about the
days of impurity for the various castes, and the timing of the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas and the
navaśrāddhas.
82
KKD (T 370, pp. 231–232; T 403, p. 160): *atha (T 403; om. T 370) prathamadivasa-
tarpaṇānantaram eva gṛhe vā catvare vā bahir vā pitṛgṛhaṃ vidhāya, *tasmin (T 403;
tasmāt T 370) mekhalātrayayuktaṃ pīṭham *uttarābhimukhaṃ vidhivad (T 370; om. T 403)
vidhāya, pīṭhasaṃnidhau tanmānena gartaṃ *nikhanya (T 403; nighanya T 370), tad ubha-
yaṃ gomayenopalipya…
According to T 370, the officiant is to place seven grains into a jar and invoke into it
Rudra, Īśvara or Sadāśiva, presiding over the various pādas according to the level of initia-
tion the deceased person has received and thus his spiritual level: pīṭhamadhye
…*saptadhānyoparikumbhaṃ saṃsthāpya tasmin dīkṣānurūpaṃ tattatpadādhiṣṭhāyakān
rudreśvarasadāśivāṃś cāvāhya…
83
According to Tantrikābhidhānakośa Vol. I (p. 185), the ātmamantra is a synonym for
the ātmabīja (= haṃ); the ātmamantra is hence oṃ haṃ ātmane namaḥ. If the same applies
here, one might speculate that the mantra in this context is to be recited in the form of oṃ
haṃ ātmane amukagotrāya namaḥ.
offerings of water for washing its feet, water for the ritual sipping (āca-
mana) and guest water, together with clothes, flowers, incense and lamps.84
From this point, the two transcripts provide different procedures. In
T 370, the officiant is to dig a pit, install a jar in it and then place stones
there. He then invokes the soul of the deceased onto the stones, sprinkles
the pit with water and makes offerings such as scented powder. Then a
woman who has taken a bath and is free of impurity should cook some rice
with water or the guest water in a new pot. The officiant should then sweet-
en this with molasses and present this offering together with betel nuts.
There are different options for when the offerings are to be presented,
namely, during the morning, at dawn, or both.85 In T 403, the order is re-
versed. First the food offerings are prepared and then a pit, into which,
instead of several stones, a single brick (iṣṭakā) is placed. The brick is
where the deceased person’s soul is invoked.86
84
KKD (T 370, p. 233; T 403, p. 160): …paścāt (T 370; om. T 403) *saptadarbhair (T
370; saptadarbhena) vā pañcabhiḥ kuśair vā prādeśamānena nirmitaṃ (T 403; nirmita T
370) kūrcaṃ saṃsthāpya, tadupari *praṇavenāsanaṃ (T 370; praṇavāsane T 403) saṃkal-
pya, tasmin mṛtasya dīkṣānāmnā *svāhāntena (T 403; svāhoktena T 370) mūrtiṃ
samāvāhya, *tathaiva (T 403; om. T 370) tadgotranāmayuktenātmamantreṇa na-
montenātmānaṃ sampūjya, pādyācamanārghyāṇi dattvā, *vastrapuṣpair (T 403; vastra-
puṣpa T 370) alaṃkṛtya, dhūpadīpau dattvā…
85
The times for the different offerings are not clear from the text. While they should be
made in the morning and at dawn, the food and piṇḍa are either to be offered in the morning
and at dawn, or twice in the morning. In either case, they are to be offered with a formula
containing the heart mantra, the initiation name, and svāhā at the end.
86
KKD (T 370, p. 233; T 403, pp. 160–161): …{<-T 370a/T 403b->} *tato garte
śarāvaṃ saṃsthāpya (T 370; pīṭhaṃ vinā garte śarāvaṃ saṃsthāpya T 403), *tanmadhye
śilāḥ saṃsthāpya, tāsu *mṛtasyātmānam (conj.; mṛtāmātmānam T 370, T 403) āvāhya (T
370; tasmin *iṣṭakāṃ [em.; iṣṭakaṃ codd.] saṃsthāpya tasmin mṛtam ātmānam āvāhya T
403) *ābhiṣicya gandhādibhiḥ saṃpūjya (T 370; āvāhya sampūjya piṇḍatrayaṃ dattvā T
403) {<-T 370a/T 403b->}, {<-T 370b/T 403a->} *paścāt (T 370; om. T 403) *taṇḍulam
udakena (em. Sanderson; taṇḍulā ukena T 370; taṇḍulādikena T 403) vā tadarghena vā
*prītyarthaṃ (T 370; tatprītyarthan T 403) navapātre *āśaucarahitayā (conj.;
āśaucārahitayā T 370; agnau ca rahitāyā T 403) snātayā pākaṃ *kārayitvā (T 403;
karayitvā T 370), gulaghṛtatilayuktaṃ kṛtvā, †*sopadaṃśaṃ (T 403; sopadeśaṃ T 370)
saṃnivedya (T 370; nivedya T 403)† tāṃbūlaṃ dattvā evaṃ *prātaḥsāyāhṇayor (conj.;
sāyāhṇayor T 370; prates sarayāṇabhayo T 403) nivedya piṇḍaṃ dattvā athavā, pūrvāhṇe
vāpi kāladvayaṃ pratikuryāt. hṛdbījayuktena tasya *dīkṣānāmayuktena svāhāntena (T 370;
dīkṣnāmnā svāhāntaṃ T 403) sarvaṃ nivedya athavā *prātar arghyaṃ (T 403; prātarghyan
T 370) dattvā, aparāhṇe *nivedya piṇḍaṃ dattvā (T 370; naivedyaṃ dattvā athavā T 403)
{<-T 370b/T 403a->}…
The two transcripts then converge again. On the tenth day, after having of-
fered the libations in the manner stated, the officiant, wearing the sacred thread
over the right shoulder and holding a blade of kuśa grass, should go to a body
of water, lay down darbha grass and install the mantras on his hands in the
reverse order.87 After this, the text becomes unclear and seems to be corrupt.
From the available passage we can infer that the officiant is to offer libations to
the deceased, whereby the deceased is addressed in the three divine ancestral
manifestations that he will successively take on in the future.88
At the end of this, the officiant performs the sakalīkaraṇa and returns
home, where he is to worship Śiva and offer another piṇḍa and some obla-
tions, and then dismiss the deity. Then the officiant is to dispose of every-
thing by taking the throne and stone together with the bundle of grass and
the flowers on a bier, cover it with pieces of cloth and with incense, lamps
and music, and take it to a pure site at a body of water. Then, facing north,
he is to throw the stone, the piṇḍas and the throne over his shoulder into the
water.89 Finally, he should take a purifying bath and return home, where he
performs some more concluding rites such as Śiva worship.90
87
KKD (T 370, p. 233; T 403, p. 161–162): … daśāhe ’pi pūrvavat saṃtarpya *jalatīre
(T 370; jale T 403) darbhān *āstīrya (T 403; āstārya T 370) apasavyopavītī *pavitrapāṇir
(T 403; pavitrapāṇī T 370) viparītakrameṇa karanyāsaṃ kṛtvā…
88
The passage provides an incomplete list of mantras with which offerings to the de-
ceased are to be made. While the available transcripts of the text preserve only the option for
a deceased samayin, a list is given of Śiva manifestations that mixes up the terminology to
be applied in the cases of a samayin and of a full initiate. It prescribes, in ascending order,
the deceased person’s future manifestations as Skanda, Caṇḍa and, instead of Gaṇeśvara,
Śānta, who is the highest manifestation of Śiva and is only used at the great-grandfather
level for the full initiate. KKD (T 370, pp. 233–234; T 403 p. 161): …samayinaś cet oṃ hāṃ
śuddhātman skando bhava *svadhā (T 403; svāha T 370) *oṃ śuddhātman caṇḍo bhava
svadhā (T 403; om. T 370) oṃ hāṃ śuddhātman śānto bhava *svadhā (T 403; svāha T 370)
*†tulaṃ† kuśodakaṃ svadhā, oṃ vāsodakaṃ svadhā, oṃ tilodakaṃ svadhā (T 403; om. T
370) iti saṃtarpya…
89
KKD (T 370, p. 234, and T 403, pp. 161–162): kūrcapuṣpasamāyuktaṃ pāṣāṇaṃ ca
tathaiva ca || pīṭhaṃ *cā sahasoddhṛtya (T 370; cāhasoddhṛya T 403) *yānam (T 370;
dhāmnā T 403) āropya śobhanam | vastrair ācchādya bahuśo dhūpadīpasamanvitam ||
sarvātodyasamāyuktaṃ sarvaśobha*samanvitam (T 370; -samantritam T 403) | utthāpya
*tena yānena (T 403; tena toyena T 370) puṇyatīrthe vinikṣipet || *udaṅmukhas (T 403;
udaṅmukhan T 370) tatas tasmin *śiṣyas (T 403; śiṣyan T 370) tattīrthamadhyame |
*pāṣāṇaṃ (T 403; pāṣāṇa T 370) piṇḍapīṭhe ca paścādbhāge vinikṣipet.
90
While there are some concluding instructions for when the officiant returns home
from the water site, it is not clear from the witnesses available to me what these entail. First,
some kind of worship of yogins takes place, followed by asking the deity for forgiveness.
4.1.2.2. Rudrabali
The rudrabali is a rite prescribed for the tenth day after a death. It consti-
tutes a bali offering to the eleven Rudras. It is not apparent from the text
what the function and application of this rite are, and I have as yet not en-
countered any procedure in the brahmanical literature or in the pre-twelfth-
century Saiddhāntika sources that correspond to it. Further, the two tran-
scripts contain differing instructions at the beginning and end of this sec-
tion that imply different functions for the rite. This suggests that there may
have been confusion about this rite even amongst the redactors. Transcript
T 370 treats the rudrabali as if it were an additional rite after the
pāṣāṇasthāpanavidhi. Transcript T 403, on the other hand, appears to treat
this rite as a procedure performed in cases of inauspicious death (dur-
maraṇa).91 The rudrabali would thus correspond to the sections on rites for
inauspicious deaths found in the JR as well as, in an earlier section, in the
KKD itself. However, these rites are embedded within the cremation pro-
cedure itself; they are not to be performed on the tenth day after it.
The instructions for the rite are as follows: On the tenth day, the officiant
is to go to a pure site close to a body of water such as a river and prepare
himself for the rite, holding a blade of kuśa grass and carrying out the
prāṇāyāma. On top of a sthaṇḍila he should draw a lotus diagram with eight
petals, and place a jar (kumbha) in the middle of it into which he is to invoke
Rudra.92 Then he is to install eleven jars, placing them in the anti-clockwise
Next, T 370 seems to envisage a communal meal, T 403, some other kind of worship: KKD
(T 370, p. 234; T 403, p. 162): tataḥ snātvā gṛhaṃ gatvā sarveṣāṃ yoginām api | pūjāṃ
kṛtvā kṣamāpyātha *svayaṃ bhṛtyaiś ca bhojayet (conj.; svayaṃ bhūtyaiś ca bhojayet T 370;
svayamantivyavat pūjayet T 403).
91
This passage is highly corrupt and so I have been unable to reconstruct it satisfactori-
ly. After the list of the Rudras, in a series in the instrumental case, the text seems to list ways
of dying that the manual earlier described as unfortunate deaths. At the end of the account,
the passage seems to provide instructions concerning the timing of the rudrabali. KKD, T 403,
pp. 163–164: …oṃ hāṃ devo haro rudraḥ śaṃkaro nīlalohita īśāno vijayo bhīmo devadevo
bhavodbhavaḥ, kapālī ceti vijñeyā rudrā ekādaśās tathā sarpājagaravāyvagnibhiḥ śastra-
vṛkṣaviṣatoyahastinā. vatsare ṣaṭtrimāse pakṣayos taddinaṃ tu vidhaṃ rudrabaliḥ.
92
KKD (T 370, p. 234; T 403, p.162): *daśame ’hani (T 370; daśamevāhni T 403)
*nadyādipuṇyajalatīram (T 370; nadyādipuṇyatīrtheram T 403) āsādya prāṇāyāmaṃ
vidhāya *sapavitro (T 370; pavitro T 403) rudrabalinimittaṃ saṃkalpya *śuddhabhūtale (T
403; śuddhatale T 370) *sthaṇḍilopary (T 370; sthaṇḍilopari lakṣaṇam T 403) aṣṭadala-
padmam ālikhya tanmadhye kumbhaṃ saṃsthāpya tasmin, *oṃ hāṃ (T 403; om. T 370)
direction, starting in the northeast. Into each of these he is to invoke one of

the eleven Rudras in the following order: Mahādeva, Hara, Rudra, Śaṃkara,
Nīlalohita, Īśāna, Vijaya, Bhīma, Devadeva, Bhavodbhava and Kapālīśa.93
Next to this place, he is to lay out plantain leaves with their tips towards the
south and put two blades of darbha grass down, and then toss sesame seeds
over them. On this he is to offer a bali offering to each of the Rudras. It is to
be made of new rice mixed with crushed coconut, molasses and fruits of the
plantain tree. Then he is to worship in a single vessel (pātra) the fathers,
grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and great-great-grandfathers and each of
their wives, followed by the entire group of male and female ancestors. Then
he is to present a further bali offering and have the three invitees stir the food
counter-clockwise with their thumbs while holding a blade of grass. Next, he
is to take the grass and place the vessel to his left side facing upside-down.
After this he is to pick it up again, to take a small part of the food, smell it
and then wash his hands. Then he is to circumambulate the vessel and the
gurus, and pay obeisance to them. Having received the protection from the
gurus, he should dismiss the deities that had earlier been installed in ritual
jars (kumbhakalaśasthān devān).94At this point, the two transcripts again
prescribe different procedures and both of them are corrupt. Transcript T 370
rudrāsanāya namaḥ, oṃ hāṃ rudramūrtaye namaḥ, oṃ hāṃ rudrāya namaḥ. ity abhy-
arcya…
93
This list of eleven Rudras seems unique to the KKD. It differs quite substantially from
the lists of the eleven Rudras in other Śaiva and brahmanical sources I have examined. For
instance, note that Hara is the second Rudra in the list of transcript T 403, but that T 370
features Śivottama; while Hara is more commonly found in lists of eleven Rudras,
Śivottama is never found.
94
KKD (T 370, p. 235; T 403, p. 163): … tata *ekasmin (T 370; ekasminn eva T 403)
pātre, *oṃ pitṛbhyaḥ (T 370; śivapitṛbhya svadhā T 403) svadhā, oṃ pitāmahebhyaḥ
svadhā, oṃ prapitāmahebhyaḥ svadhā, *oṃ vṛddhaprapitāmahebhyaḥ svadhā (T 370; om.
T 403), oṃ mātṛbhyaḥ svadhā, oṃ pitāmahībhyaḥ svadhā, oṃ prapitāmahībhyaḥ svadhā,
oṃ *vṛddhaprapitāmahībhyaḥ (T 370; vṛddhapramātāmahibhyaḥ T 403) svadhā, oṃ
sarvebhyaḥ pitṛbhyaḥ svadhā, *oṃ sarvebhyo mātṛbhyaḥ svadhā (T 370; om. T 403). ity
evaṃ baliṃ *dattvā (T 370; dāpayitvā T 403), *tat pātraṃ tṛṇasahitenāṃguṣṭhenāpra-
dakṣiṇaṃ (T 370; tat pātraguṇitakuśasahitenāṃguṣṭhenāpradakṣiṇan T 403) triḥ
paribhrāmya *tasmin (T 370; om. T 403) *tṛṇaṃ (T 370; kuśau T 403) visṛjya tat pātraṃ
*svadakṣiṇapārśvam adhomukhaṃ (T 370; svadakṣiṇe pārśve ’dhomukhaṃ T 403) *vidhāya
(T 370; om. T 403) *vikṣipya (T 370; vinikṣipya T 403) tat pātram uddhṛtya *tad annam
ekaṃ (T 370; tadekaleśaṃ T 403) gṛhītvāghrāya pāṇiṃ prakṣālya kuṃbhagurvādīn pra-
dakṣiṇaṃ kṛtvā namaskṛtya guro rakṣāṃ labdhvā *kumbhakalaśasthān (em. Szanto;
kumbhakalasthān T 403; kumbhakalastha T 370) devān udvāsya…
seems to enjoin that the officiant should worship the stones, which have had
the deceased person invoked into them, offer another piṇḍa, and dismiss the
deities. Transcript T 403 appears to prescribe that the stones be worshipped a
second time, but then continues with a corrupt passage listing again the elev-
en Rudras and what might be instructions for performing the rudrabali in the
case of unfortunate deaths.
4.1.2.3. Ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha
At the beginning of its treatment of the pārvaṇaśrāddha, the KKD rules

that fifteen ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas are to be performed in the name of the re-
cently deceased. These are to be performed as follows: one each month (the
first on the eleventh day), one after three fortnights following the death, one
at the end of the first six months, and one at the end of the year.95 In addi-
tion, the chief mourner is to make offerings of food and water each day
during the same period.96 Alternatively, if the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa is to be per-
formed on the twelfth day after the death, these rites can be compressed
into a period of twelve days.97
As in the case of the brahmanical model, the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha is a
modification of the pārvaṇaśrāddha, differing in that it constructs its offer-
ings and gestures around the recently deceased instead of the three ances-
tors. Hence, (a) only one invitee is requested for its performance to repre-
sent the deceased;98 (b) two round maṇḍalas instead of four are drawn for
the ceremonial reception; 99 (c) one piṇḍa is offered; 100 (d) any formal
95
KKD (T 370, p. 238; T 403, p. 168): evaṃ pratimāsaṃ tripakṣe ṣāṇmāsānte vatsarānte
ca ekoddiṣṭāni pañcadaśa kartavyāni… This list of fifteen śrāddhas is a little surprising, since
in standard śrāddha accounts, sixteen ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas are prescribed.
96
KKD (T 370, p. 238; T 403, p. 168): maraṇāhāt samārabhya vatsarāntaṃ pratidinaṃ
*sodakakumbhāni bhojanāni (T 370; asenadakakuṃbhabhojanadīni T 403) dātavyāni,
vatsarānte sapiṇḍīkaraśrāddhaṃ kartavyam…
97
KKD (T 370, p. 238; T 403, p. 168): yad vā vatsarāntam ātmano *’vasthādyasaṃbhavād
(conj. Sanderson; sthāpanāyasaṃbhāvayan T 403; vasthādyāsaṃbhāvan T 370) dvādaśāhādiṣu
māsikaśrāddhasodakakumbhabhojanāni dattvā sapiṇḍīkaraṇaṃ kuryāt.
98
KKD (T 370, p. 235; T 403, p. 164): tatra pūrvedyur deśikaṃ *sādhakaṃ (T 403; sākaṃ
T 370) *putrakam (T 370; putram T 403) alābhe samayinaṃ *voktalakṣaṇaṃ (T 403; yathok-
talakṣaṇaṃ T 370)…
99
KKD (T 370, p. 235; T 403, p. 164): gṛhājire gomayopalipte dakṣiṇottaraṃ sthānaṃ
karāntaraṃ karamānaṃ *vṛttamaṇḍaladvayaṃ (T 370; vṛttamaṇḍala T 403) kṛtvā…
statements addressing the deceased are in the singular; (e) and the invoca-
tion and offerings are made to the deceased using his initiation name in the
mantra.
At the end of the first ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha on the eleventh day, the
yajamāna may offer twenty-four presents to the invitee for the deceased.101
4.1.2.4. Sapiṇḍīkaraṇa
The Sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, analogous to the brahmanical model, is performed

either a year or twelve days after the death. As already mentioned, Ag-
horaśiva does not treat this rite in a separate chapter, but includes instruc-
tions for the procedure in the account of the pārvaṇaśrāddha, the
sapiṇḍīkaraṇa being a variant thereof. The procedure differs in the follow-
ing ways. In addition to the ācāryas invited to represent the three deceased
ancestors and the two sādhakas representing the Viśvedevas, another in-
vitee from any of the initiatory classes, but preferably an ācārya, is invited
100
KKD (T 370 p. 237; T 403 p. 163): *bhūmiṣṭhasavyajānur dakṣiṇābhimukho (T 370;
bhūmiṣu savyañjanānuddakṣiṇābhimukho T 403) mūlayuktadīkṣānāmnā *svadhāntaṃ (T
403; om. T 370) piṇḍaṃ dattvā…
101
The list in the KKD of the twenty-four presents to be given to the invitee represent-
ing the deceased contains the following: (1) a purifier (pavitra), (2) a sacred thread, (3) a
water jar, (4) a rosary (akṣa- here for akṣasūtra), (5) sandals, (6) a staff, (7) a cloth worn to
conceal the private parts, (8) a seat, (9) a yoga band, (10) a parasol, (11) a turban, (12) an
upper garment, (13) pieces of cloth, (14) a golden ring, (15) a golden vessel, (16) clarified
butter, (17) sesame oil, (18) a cow, (19) land, (20) food, (21) a jacket, (22) a bed, (23) grain,
and (24) female and male slaves. KKD (T 370, pp. 237–238; T 403, p. 167): pavitraṃ yaj-
ñasūtraṃ ca kamaṇḍalv akṣapāduke | daṇḍa<ṃ> *kaupīnam āsanaṃ (conj.;
kaupīnabhasmāṅgaṃ T 370; kaupīnabhasmāga T 403) yogapaṭṭātapatrakam || uṣṇīṣam
uttarīyaṃ ca vastrahemāṅgulīyakam |*hemapātraṃ (T 370; hemapadmaṃ T 403) ghṛtaṃ
tailaṃ gau bhūmir bhojanāṃgakam || śayanīyaṃ *sarvadhānyāni (T 370; sarvadhānādi T
403) dāsīdāsopahārakā | caturviṃśati dānaṃ syād *ekoddiṣṭe (T 403; ekoddiṣṭeṣu T 370)
saṃmatam. The conjecture to emend to kaupīnam āsanaṃ is made on the basis of a passage
in the SP (1. 57–59b), which gives a list of offerings to be presented to Īśāna during the rite
of pavitrarohaṇa; this contains a similar list of utensils to be given to an ascetic:
daṇḍāksasūtrakaupīnabhikṣāpātrāṇi rūpiṇā | kajjalaṃ kuṅkumaṃ tailaṃ śalākāṃ keśa-
śodhanam || tāmbūlaṃ darpaṇaṃ dadyād uttare rocanām api | āsanaṃ pāduke pātraṃ
yogapaṭṭātapatrakam || aiśānyām īśamantreṇa dadyād īśānatuṣṭaye. This part of the text has
also been incorporated into the Agnipurāṇa; another parallel is found in the KKD.
The practice of offering gifts to Brahmins on behalf of the deceased mirrors brahmanical
practice. Cf. Kane 1953, pp. 534–535; and Müller 1992, p. 151.
in order to represent the recently deceased.102 This extra invitee is ceremo-

nially received following the procedure prescribed for the ancestors:103 he is
seated facing east104 and offered guest water prepared in the same manner
as for the ancestors after the invocation.105 The formulas used during the
rite are revised according to the context, as for example, the officiant for-
mally asks specific permission to perform the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa rite rather than
the ordinary śrāddha.106 The procedures for invoking the śrāddha deities
and worshipping them are the same. Additionally, the recently deceased
person is to be invoked and worshipped, again in the manner of worship for
the ancestors.107 The entire sequence – from declaring the vessel (pātra)
with the ancestors’ guest water the place of the ancestors, performing the
agnaukaraṇa, offering food to the Brahmins, and offering the piṇḍas to the
ancestors – are the same, except that a fourth piṇḍa for the recently de-
ceased is also offered.108 From this point, the same rite is prescribed as in
the brahmanical procedure, namely preparing four jars representing the
three ancestors and the recently deceased, each of which is venerated – the
ancestors with their mantras, and the recently deceased with the root mantra
and his initiation name. After this, the water from the jar representing the
deceased is poured into each of the other three jars, signalling the end of the
102
KKD (T 370, p. 239; T 403, p. 168): tatra pitrarthaṃ *deśikān (T 370; deśikāt T 403)
viśvadevārthaṃ sādhakau tadabhāve *dīkṣitān samayasthān (conj.; dīkṣitān samassthān T 370;
adīkṣitān samayasthān T 403) vā gṛhṇīyāt […] nimittāya *yaddeśikādiṣu (T 403; devaśikādiṣv
T 370) ekaṃ gṛhṇīyāt.
103
After the section prescribing the ceremonial reception of the ancestors, the KKD en-
joins the following (T 370, p. 240; T 403, p. 170): nimittam api tathaiva pādaṃ prakṣālyāca-
mya…
104
KKD (T 370, p. 240; T 403, p. 170): nimittam *atithyabhyāgatau (em.; atithyabhāgatau T
370; atithyatyagatau T 403) ca pūrvānanān *āsaneṣu (T 370; vāsaneṣu T 403)
vāmadevenopaveśya…
105
KKD (T 370, p. 240; T 403, p. 170): nimittārghyaṃ pitrarghyavat kṛtvā…
106
KKD (T 370, p. 240; T 403, p. 170): sapiṇḍīkaraṇaśrāddhaṃ kariṣya iti prārthya ku-
ruṣveti tair anumatas…
107
Hence, after worshipping the ancestors following their invocation, the KKD (T 370,
p. 241; T 403, p. 171) teaches that the recently deceased receives the same kind of worship:
evaṃ nimittam api saṃpūjya…
108
KKD (T 370, p. 242–243; T 403, p. 173): pitrarthaṃ* piṇḍatrayaṃ (T 370; traya T
403) *mātṛpakṣasyāpi (T 370; mātravarasyāpi T 403) trayaṃ nimittāyaikaṃ dattvā … That
the procedures for all the aforementioned rites are the same as those of the pārvaṇaśrāddha
is inferred from the absence of any other specifications.
deceased person’s status as a preta.109 As in the YājS, the rite of combining

the piṇḍa for the deceased with those of the ancestors is not found here.
5. Beyond the initiate community: The Kiraṇa’s rudra-

śrāddha and laukikaśrāddha
On the topic of śrāddha rituals, the Kir offers us interesting insights into
how services of Śaiva religious specialists spread beyond the initiate com-
munity, already before the ninth century. After the prescriptions for śrād-
dha rites for Śaiva initiates, the śaivaśrāddha, the Kir provides ritual tem-
plates that could be used for persons who were part of the mainstream
community, specifically śrāddha rite injunctions for uninitiated lay devo-
tees of Śiva (rudrāṃśa),110 the rudraśrāddha, and for ordinary Vaidikas,
the laukikaśrāddha. Hence, it seems its redactors were not only attempting
to harmonize brahmanical and Śaiva practices, but were actively seeking
potential clients in the uninitiated community. This approach fits the gen-
eral character of the Kir, which we have seen to display signs of a commu-
nity of tantric priests reaching out to the larger parts of society.111
The ritual procedure in these additional versions is the same as that of a
regular śaivaśrāddha, albeit adjusted to suit the respective level of practice
of the lay devotee or the Vaidika, that is, the orthodox Brahmin household-
er. The differences are found in the choice of deities with whom the ances-
tors and Visvedevas are equated, as well as in the benefit to be procured by
performing the rite. In the rudraśrāddha for Śaiva lay devotees, for exam-
109
KKD (T 370, p. 243; T 403, p. 174): *tataś (T 370; tatra T 403) *cocchiṣṭam (T 370;
taccocchiṣṭaṃ T 403) *uddhṛtya (T 370; om. T 403) saṃmārjya *saṃprokṣya (T 370; om. T
403) *pādau (T 403; pābhyā T 370) prakṣālyācamya *sakalīkṛtya (T 370; sakalīkṛtvā T
403) *sāmānyārghyaṃ kṛtvā (T 403; om. T 370) *gomayopalipte (T 403; gomayopalipta T
370) maṇḍale pātracatuṣṭayaṃ *viśuddhaṃ (T 370; śuddhaṃ T 403) *vinyasya (T 370;
vinyaset T 403) *teṣāṃ (T 370; teṣu T 403) gandhodakṣīratiladarbhāgragandhapuṣpāṇi
*kṣipya (T 403; vikṣipya T 370) īśaṃ sadāśivaṃ śāntaṃ *caturthe (T 370; om. T 403)
*mūlamantrayuktadīkṣānāmnā yuktaṃ (conj.; mūlamantrayuktadīkṣānāṃ ayukta T 370; +
layuktadīkṣānāmnā yuktaṃ T 403) nimittaṃ cottarādidakṣiṇāntaṃ *saṃpūjyārghyadhūpādi
(T 370; saṃpūjyārghyadhūpadīpādi T 403) dattvā nimittapātrajalaṃ mūleneśādipātreṣu
yojayet. tatas tatpātrāṇi *visṛjyācāmet (T 370; visṛjyācamya T 403).
110
For the term rudrāṃśa denoting lay devotees of Śiva in this context, see Sanderson
2003/2004, pp. 354–355, fn. 16.
111
See pp.72–73.
ple, the ancestors are identified, in ascending order, with Gaṇeśa (the chief
of Śiva’s attendants), Skanda (the son of Śiva) and Rudra (a manifestation
of Śiva belonging to a lower level in the Śaiva tantric framework), collec-
tively a group of deities representing the key figures of popular lay Śaiva
mythology as one finds in the purāṇa genre. The Viśvedevas, in turn, are
replaced with Caṇḍa and Mahākāla, the two attendants of Śiva.112 The ben-
efit gained from performing the rudraśrāddha for the yajamāna who com-
missioned the rite is declared to be attaining union with Rudra,113 thus a
spiritual level corresponding to the level of lay Śaivism. In the case of the
laukikaśrāddha, during the ritual the ancestors are equated with Brahmā,
Viṣṇu and Rudra; the Viśvedevas, with Sūrya and Yama; 114 and the
yajamāna is declared to attain the world of Brahmā as a reward.115
5.1. The Kiraṇa’s model in the Somaśambhupaddhati and

the Kriyākramadyotikā
That a demand developed for Śaiva priests to perform śrāddha rites for the
uninitiated is indicated by the fact that the widely distributed manuals SP
and KKD both adopted the Kir’s flexible model of the three śrāddha lev-
els.116 The SP prescribes the śivaśrāddha for Śaiva initiates, the rudraśrād-
dha for rudrāṃśas, and the laukikaśrāddha for the ordinary Vaidika.117
112
Kir 61.7d–8. For the text and translation of the passage, see the appendices. Caṇḍa
and Mahākāla, besides being names of attendants of Śiva, are also two names for Śiva him-
self when he appears in his wrathful manifestation. However, given the current context, it is
more likely that the former is intended.
113
Kir 61.34b–35a. For the text and translation of the passage, see the appendices.
114
Kir 61.10. For the text and translation of the passage, see the appendices.
115
Kir 61.36. For the text and translation of the passage, see the appendices.
116
In the JR we may also have an indication that tantric priests could use the manual’s
instructions to perform post-mortem rites for a clientele beyond the initiate community. In
one half-verse (JR ŚP 42ab), this text appears to teach that the śrāddha rituals as outlined
can also be performed for those who wish to attain a different heaven or spiritual level; in
this case, the śrāddha rites are simply performed using the names of whichever deities the
client wishes. However, this interpretation must be considered with caution since the reading
and interpretation are not clear. Further, there is no other passage to this effect in the JR.
Nevertheless, given that we find such possibilities in both the SP and KKD, it would not be
surprising to find such an option also included in the JR, even if added by later redactors.
117
SP 11.3b–6b: īśaḥ sadāśivaḥ śāntaḥ śivaśrāddhe tapasvinaḥ || rudraś cānantanāmā
ca viśvedevau sthitau dvayoḥ | dīkṣitānām amī devā rudrāṃśānām atho ’nyathā || tatra
nandimahākālau viśvedevau gaṇau dvayoḥ | skandacaṇḍagaṇādhīśā viśvedevau yamāruṇau.
However, by the time of the SP’s composition, there seems to have been
some ambiguity about who these rudrāṃśas were, a complication also re-
flected in today’s scholarly interpretation of the term. It has been demon-
strated that at the time of the Kir’s composition, rudrāṃśa referred to Śaiva
lay devotees.118 Regarding the use of the term in the SP, however, various
scholars have interpreted it as meaning “a part (aṃśa) of Rudra” and thus
referring to lower level initiates, that is, samayins.119 Indeed, it is not sur-
prising if the meaning of a technical term, especially one designating classi-
fications within the community of adherents, changed over time based on
the structures envisaged by the respective authors. With the material we
have at hand, however, it is not possible to determine with any certainty
how this term was understood at the time of Somaśambhu, the author of the
SP.
A slightly clearer picture of the intended clients emerges in Aghoraśiva’s
manual KKD. Adapting the three-level śrāddha model, in addition to the
śivaśrāddha, he also teaches two more modes. They too follow the same
procedure, but modify the deities equated with the ancestors and Viśvedevas.
Here, the second level of śrāddha corresponds to the rudraśrāddha, but uses
a slightly different set of Śaiva-related purāṇic deities: used for the ancestral
deities are Skanda, Caṇḍa and Gaṇādhīśa (= Gaṇeśa) – none actually a mani-
festation of Śiva, but rather his son and attendants – and for the Viśvedevas,
Nandin and Mahākāla, further attendants of Śiva. However, unlike the Kir
and the SP, this level of śrāddha is explicitly linked to a deceased samayin.120
By extension it is perhaps also intended for recipients of a viśeṣāntyeṣṭi, those
who had received a slightly higher level of initiation during their lifetime but
not yet ultimate liberation. As in the case of the laukikaśrāddha above, the
third level of śrāddha in the KKD is explicitly linked to orthodox brahmani-
118
Sanderson 2003/2004, pp. 354–355, fn. 16.
119
Brunner-Lachaux 1977, p. 630, fn. 21. This interpretation is partly based on Nirmala-
maṇi’s commentary on the KKD.
120
KKD (T 370, p. 244; T 403, p. 174): *samayinaḥ (em.; samayinaṃ T 370; mamayina
T 403) *skandacaṇḍagaṇādhīśāḥ (em.; skandañ caṇḍa° T 403; kaṣṭaś caṇḍa° T 370)
*pitṛpitāmahaprapitāmahāḥ (T 370; om. T 403) pitaro nandimahākālau *viśvedevau (conj.;
viśvadevau codd.) laukike *brahmaviṣṇvīśā (em.; brahmaviṣṇvīśa T 370; brahmāviṣṇuvīśāḥ
T 403) *viśvedevau (conj.; viśvadevau codd.) yamavaruṇau…
cal practitioners, with Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Īśa as the ancestral deities, and
Yama and Varuṇa as the Viśvedevas.121
Śaiva lay devotees are not mentioned separately here. There appear to
be two possible explanations for this. First, it might be speculated that in
the society being described by Aghoraśiva, lay Śaivas were offered the
same type of post-mortem ancestor worship as orthodox Brahmins. Second-
ly, it is also plausible that lower-level initiates and lay devotees had simply
collapsed into a single group by this point in time. After all, performing a
full śivaśrāddha for a samayin and invoking superior forms of Śiva mani-
festations would have been problematic, and it is more likely that such a
practitioner was assigned to a lower register. While this problem is not
mentioned directly in the Kir or SP, in the KKD Aghoraśiva does not shy
away from addressing these points. In fact, rites for samayins were clearly
an important issue for him, perhaps suggesting that this lower-level initia-
tion was quite common amongst the population at the time and that the
boundaries between these and ordinary lay devotees had become blurred.
With this in mind, one might also consider whether a similar phenomenon
was in fact also the case for the Kir and the SP, since neither of them speci-
fies what kind of śrāddha a samayin is to receive. This omission is not sur-
prising in the context of the Kir, which does not make any such distinction in
its discussion of cremation either. But the SP is concerned about preserving a
distinction between putrakas, who are to receive a full initiatory cremation,
and samayins, who receive a simple cremation without initiation of the de-
ceased person’s soul.122 It would thus not be surprising if different modes of
śrāddha rituals were intended for these two groups. If so, also here the group
of samayins and Śaiva lay devotees has been collapsed into a single group
and spiritual level for the śrāddha rites. For lack of more conclusive evi-
dence, however, these considerations remain speculative.
121
Ibid.
122
See p. 97.
5.2. How to choose the appropriate śrāddha level? Some practical

considerations
The cycle of śrāddha rites involves several categories of people: the
yajamāna in charge of commissioning the śrāddha rites for his relative, the
recently deceased in need of being incorporated into the divine ancestral
line, as well as the ancestors of the recently deceased, who are collectively
addressed during the rites. In the context of a Śaiva initiatory community,
the initiatory status of these actual and symbolic participants may have
been quite different, indeed, if they were initiated at all. For instance, while
the recently deceased may have been a full initiate, the next of kin stepping
in as the chief mourner and taking on the role of the yajamāna during the
śrāddha rituals may have not been an initiate or may have received only the
samayadīkṣā. The same goes for the paternal ancestors of the deceased.
Yet, during the śrāddha rituals the form of their worship has been sub-
sumed into a single ritual system that implies all of the involved agents to
be either initiates, lay devotees or ordinary Vaidikas, depending on the
mode chosen.
So what is the determining factor in this choice of the appropriate level
of śrāddha ritual? As has been shown, in some sources, performing a Śaiva
śrāddha is framed as a meaningful ritual act with respect to a deceased
initiated ancestor, as it assists him to attain the supreme Śiva state. On the
other hand, there were also passages formulating the obligation to perform
a Śaiva śrāddha in reference to the yajamāna rather than the deceased,
making it explicit that their performance enables the living initiated practi-
tioner to free himself of his debt, a ritual obligation tied into his post-
initiatory duties. So was a śivaśrāddha for a deceased initiate commis-
sioned by the yajamāna regardless of the latter’s initiatory status? Or would
only an initiate be able to arrange such a ritual? And if the deceased were
not an initiate, would a Śaiva initiate have arranged a rudraśrāddha or
laukikaśrāddha for him?
Theoretically, the choice of the appropriate type of śrāddha worship can
thus be approached from two angles. The first is to choose it in reference to
the status of the recently deceased, if he is regarded as the main beneficiary
of the rite. In this case, it is, for instance, his status as a Śaiva initiate and
his respective spiritual level that is commemorated and worshipped during

a śivaśrāddha. The second possibility would be to consider the perfor-
mance of the śrāddha not as referring to the initiatory status of the de-
ceased, but as reflecting the sponsor’s spiritual status. It would thus simply
be part of his tantric post-initiatory ritual obligations.123 In other words, the
mode of śrāddha chosen would reflect the yajamāna’s initiatory status
rather than that of the deceased and would therefore also spiritually benefit
him, maybe analogous to the notion sometimes expressed in brahmanical
literature that the deities worshipped during the śrāddha rituals bless the
yajamāna because they are pleased.124 Accordingly, an initiate would per-
form a śivaśrāddha, thus attaining Śiva’s ultimate divine manifestation; a
samayin or lay devotee, a rudraśrāddha, thus attaining Rudra’s world; and
a Vaidika, in some cases including lay devotees, a laukikaśrāddha, thus
attaining Brahmā’s world. In this respect it is perhaps also significant to
remember that in one passage of the JR, performing the śivaśrāddha was
linked to the triple debt and also explicitly conceptualized as part of obliga-
123
Sanderson 1995.
124
In this sense, in the SP it is declared that the rite also benefits the yajamāna and his
family; SP 11.36: śivaśrāddhe kṛte devā †manuṣyāḥ† pitaro ’surāḥ | tṛptāḥ śivānubhāvena
vardhayanti kuladvayam. This verse is also quoted in the KKD (T 370, p. 245; T 403, pp.
175–176). Here it seems that pāda b is corrupt, since living people (manuṣya) are not satiat-
ed during the ritual; the mention of Asuras in the śivaśrāddha is also puzzling. However,
this corruption may have arisen through confusion concerning the brahmanical formulation,
which clearly served as the model. There, the pitṛs (ancestors) are equated with the sons of
the group of śrāddha deities, namely the Vasus, Rudras and Āditis, and are opposed to the
pitṛs of humans. See also YājS 1. 269–270 (which is incorporated into the Agnipurāṇa
[2.163.40c–42b] and the Nāradamahāpurāṇa [51.152c–154b]): vasurudrāditisutāḥ pitaraḥ
śrāddhadevatāḥ | prīṇayanti manuṣyāṇāṃ pitṝn śrāddhena tarpitāḥ || āyuḥ prajāṃ dhanaṃ
vidyāṃ svargaṃ mokṣaṃ sukhāni ca | prayacchanti tathā rājyaṃ prītā nṛṇāṃ pitāmahāḥ.
“The śrāddha deities, which are the ancestors and sons of the Vasus, Rudras and Āditis,
pleased with the śrāddha offerings, please the ancestors of men. [And] the [individual]
ancestors (pitāmahāḥ), who are gratified, bestow long life, offspring, wealth, knowledge,
heaven, liberation, pleasures and royalty on men.” In his commentary on these verses,
Vijñāneśvara interprets that the divine ancestors and the directly named human ancestors are
to be treated as different categories throughout the rite, but that they are nevertheless part of
the same entity.
Kir 61.38 also declares the great benefit of performing a śrāddha. This is simply the re-
sult of performing the ritual well. This is achieved despite the fact that a human can do
nothing to benefit supreme Śiva: śivasya paramātmānaḥ kin nāma kriyate naraiḥ | kriyā
sampūrṇatām eti tad uddiśya phalaṃ mahat. For the apparatus and translation, see the ap-
pendices.
tory practices. Here, the injunctions were reformulated to define the śrād-
dha as the debt to the “gurus, etc.” (gurvādi), rather than to the ancestors
(pitṛ).125 In the initiatory context, this could mean that the family lineage
has been replaced by the spiritual lineage, and thus performing a Śaiva
tantric śrāddha simply represents an additional ritual obligation for the
Śaiva ritualist: if a householder, he would perform a śivaśrāddha for his
spiritual lineage and an ordinary śrāddha for his familial context. The
forms of rudraśrāddha and laukikaśrāddha would then simply be addition-
al services that Śaiva tantric śrāddha priests could offer, thereby reaching a
wider audience.
It may also be considered that for the śivaśrāddha, which is after all
primarily taught, the choice is not problematic if both the deceased and the
yajamāna are initiates, since the former is then worshipped in his supreme
divine state suiting his initiatory status and the latter is performing his post-
initiatory duties, the accomplishment of which is believed to bring about
his ultimate liberation at death. In this light, it is tempting to consider the
hypothesis that in some areas, only the head of a joint household underwent
initiation.126 If this theory is correct, this would mean that an elder son
would be initiated before his father’s death. This, in turn, would qualify
him to undertake the performance of a Śaiva śrāddha. In fact, particularly
the JR seems to support this model, since it also explains how to coordinate
Śaiva postmortem rites with mundane practice.127 This would make sense if
we consider that some members of a household headed by a Śaiva initiate
would not necessarily be initiated and thus would follow mundane practices
in terms of post-mortem offerings and impurity regulations on the occasion
of death.
6. Conclusion
These considerations raise more questions than they answer. Nonetheless,
the texts do reflect the complex situation in which Śaiva ritualists found
themselves as they expanded and adapted their ritual repertoire to include
125
See p. 192.
126
See p. 17.
127
See p. 171.
more communities. After all, especially in the sphere of śrāddha rituals, the
Śaivas tantric priests were encroaching upon a major ritual area in the
brahmanical world, a ritual cycle deeply rooted in its socio-religious struc-
tures and intrinsically connected with familial values and the image of an-
cestral deities. This involved notions that were difficult to project onto a
world focused on the spiritual liberation of the individual. Especially at this
level of mainstream practice, it is likely that how Śaiva rituals were inte-
grated varied widely in response to well-established practices in different
geographical and societal contexts. The doctrinal repercussions seem to
have been too complex to have been completely resolved and rationalized
in Śaiva terms. While not enough material is available to make more defi-
nite assessments about actual practices, it is nevertheless clear that the
sources prescribing śrāddha rites transcend the closed world of the initiated
elite. Indeed, this development, as well as the fact that various types of
Śaiva cremations were firmly established by this time, points to a profes-
sionalized group of tantric funerary and śrāddha priests having emerged.
While this group was likely to have been perceived as unwanted competi-
tion by its brahmanical counterparts, its existence is testimony to the suc-
cess of Śaiva tantric communities in gaining firm footing in brahmanical
mainstream society.

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Chapter 5

Ancestor Worship in Early Śaiva Siddhānta

dures, is based on non-Śaiva material adopted, in some parts almost verba-

2. Śrāddha in its original brahmanical context

ancestors).4 In essence, these śrāddha rituals are conceptualized as gratify-

and (5) the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, a special śrāddha performed to incorporate a

2.1. Overview of brahmanical śrāddha rituals according to the YājS

the ceremony at his house.12 For a regular pārvaṇaśrāddha he should ideal-

hands, together with offerings of scented powders, garlands, incense and

2.1.2. Ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha and sapiṇḍīkaraṇa

The ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha and sapiṇḍīkaraṇa are special kinds of śrāddha pro-

The ekoddiṣṭaśrāddha (also called the monthly śrāddha, i.e.

consensus and practices varied widely. As will be shown, the Śaiva

2.1.3. Śrāddha for female ancestors

Although the śrāddha for female ancestors is not prescribed explicitly or in

3. Rationalizing śrāddha in Śaiva tantric terms46

Viśvedevas are given Śaiva identities, namely Kālāgnirudra and Ananta,

Of such procedure is the supreme śivaśrāddha that bestows union with

The Saiddhāntika manual JR expresses a similar sentiment:

This śrāddha, since it is a form of initiation, bestows liberation in the

He (i.e. Abhinavagupta) states: But for a jñānin, no [rite] whatsoever is

While the Saiddhāntika authors are not as explicit in acknowledging the

In its opening verses to the section on śrāddha, the JR propagates a similar

A notable difference from the brahmanical formulation of the triple debt, as

4. Śaiva śrāddha: On the ritual procedure

female family members (mātṛśrāddha). Amongst the Saiddhāntika sources

4.1. The period between death and the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa

pārvaṇaśrāddha. Moreover, in the case of the KKD it is not certain if these

4.1.1. Śrāddha rites in the Jñānaratnāvalī: an account from the BK

In the JR, rituals to be performed during the intermediary period between

4.1.1.1. Rites during the first ten days after death

On the eleventh day, the first of the ekoddiṣṭaśrāddhas takes place.74 It is

4.1.2. Śrāddha in the Kriyākramadyotikā

The KKD of Aghoraśiva is the only early Saiddhāntika source to contain a

The pāṣāṇasthāpanavidhi, “the rite for the installation of a stone [repre-

direction, starting in the northeast. Into each of these he is to invoke one of

At the beginning of its treatment of the pārvaṇaśrāddha, the KKD rules

The Sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, analogous to the brahmanical model, is performed

in order to represent the recently deceased.102 This extra invitee is ceremo-

deceased person’s status as a preta.109 As in the YājS, the rite of combining

5. Beyond the initiate community: The Kiraṇa’s rudra-

5.1. The Kiraṇa’s model in the Somaśambhupaddhati and

5.2. How to choose the appropriate śrāddha level? Some practical

his respective spiritual level that is commemorated and worshipped during

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