वृद्धिश्राद्धप्रयोगःHow the vṛddhi-śrāddha is performed
Verse 54
प्रज्वाल्य धूपं दीपं च निमील्य नयनद्वयम् । दिव्यदेहधरान् पितॄनश्नतः कव्यमध्वरे । विभाव्य प्रणमेद्धीमानिमं मन्त्रमुदीरयन् ॥ ५४ ॥
prajvālya dhūpaṁ dīpaṁ ca nimīlya nayanadvayam | divyadēhadharān pitṝnaśnataḥ kavyamadhvarē | vibhāvya praṇamēddhīmānimaṁ mantramudīrayan || 54 ||
Translation
Lighting incense and a lamp and closing both eyes, the wise man should picture the ancestors in divine bodies eating the offering at the rite, and bow to them saying this mantra:
Word by word
- prajvālya
- having lit
- dhūpaṁ
- incense
- dīpaṁ
- a lamp
- ca
- and
- nimīlya
- having closed
- nayana
- eyes
- dvayam
- (dvayam) both
- divya
- divine
- dēha
- bodies
- dharān
- wearing
- pitṝn
- the ancestors
- aśnataḥ
- (aśnataḥ) eating
- kavyam
- (kavyam) the offering
- adhvarē
- at the rite
- vibhāvya
- having pictured
- praṇamēt
- (praṇamet) should bow
- dhīmān
- the wise man
- imaṁ
- this
- mantram
- (mantram) mantra
- udīrayan
- saying
Meaning
The heart of the śrāddha is an act of imagination and love: with closed eyes the son sees his forebears, in bodies of light, receiving the kavya, the food offered to ancestors.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
"Prajvālya" and the rest. Then, lighting incense and a lamp and closing both eyes, imagining (vibhāvya, vicintya) the fathers, wearing divine bodies, eating (aśnataḥ, khādataḥ) the kavya, the food for the ancestors, at the sacrifice (adhvara), the wise man should bow to them, uttering this mantra, about to be given.