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Mahānirvāṇa Tantra cover

॥ श्री ॥tantraFor reading

Mahānirvāṇa Tantra 10.24

Traditional

Ullāsas
14
Verses
2517
Minutes
1258
Level
advanced

Ullāsa 10 · Verse 24

वृद्धिश्राद्धप्रयोगःHow the vṛddhi-śrāddha is performed

Verse 24

सर्वं कर्म प्रकुर्वीत दैवादिक्रमतः शिवे । लङ्घनान्मातृमातॄणां श्राद्धं तद्विफलं भवेत् ॥ २४ ॥

sarvaṁ karma prakurvīta daivādikramataḥ śivē | laṅghanānmātṛmātṝṇāṁ śrāddhaṁ tadviphalaṁ bhavēt || 24 ||

Translation

Every act should be done in order, beginning with the gods, O Śivā; by passing over the mothers and their mothers, that śrāddha becomes fruitless.

Word by word

sarvaṁ
every
karma
act
prakurvīta
should be done
daiva
the gods
ādi
beginning with
kramataḥ
(kramataḥ) in order
śivē
O Śivā
laṅghanāt
(laṅghanāt) by passing over
mātṛ
of the mothers
mātṝṇāṁ
and their mothers
śrāddhaṁ
the śrāddha
tat
that
viphalaṁ
fruitless
bhavēt
becomes

Meaning

The order matters: gods first, then the lines of the father and of the mother. To skip any of the mothers and grandmothers (and, the ṭīkā adds, the maternal grandfathers) makes the whole rite void.

Commentary

Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated

"Sarvam" and the rest. O Śivā, every rite should be done in the order beginning with the gods. But in performing the ancestral rite, what fault is there in facing south with a right turn? To that he says "laṅghanāt" and the rest: by passing over the mothers' mothers, the mother and the rest, the śrāddha becomes fruitless. "Mātṛmātṝṇām" also stands for the mother's father and the rest.