the eleventh
day one becomes the possessor of much wealth in clothes and utensils (of
brass and other metals). Such a man also obtains many sons all of whom
become endued with Brahma splendour. By performing the Sraddha on the
twelfth day one always beholds, if one desires, diverse kinds of
beautiful articles made of silver and gold. By performing the Sraddha on
the thirteenth day one attains to eminence over one's kinsmen. Without
doubt, all the young men in the family of him who performs the Sraddha on
the fourteenth day meet with death. Such a man becomes entangled in war.
By performing the Sraddha on the day of the new moon, one obtains the
fruition of every wish. In the dark fortnight, all the days commencing
with the tenth (and ending with that of the new moon), leaving only the
fourteenth day out, are laudable days for the performance of the Sraddha.
Other days of that fortnight are not so. Then, again, as the dark
fortnight is better than the lighted one, so the afternoon of the day is
better than the forenoon in the matter of the Sraddha."'"

SECTION LXXXVIII

"'Yudhishthira said, "O thou of great puissance, tell me what that object
is which, if dedicated to the Pitris, becomes inexhaustible! What Havi,
again, (if offered) lasts for all time? What, indeed, is that which (if
presented) becomes eternal?"

"'Bhishma said, "Listen to me, O Yudhishthira, what those Havis are which
persons conversant with the ritual of the Sraddha regard as suitable in
view of the Sraddha and what the fruits are that attach to each. With
sesame seeds and rice and barley and Masha and water and roots and
fruits, if given at Sraddhas, the Pitris, O king, remain gratified for
the period of a month.[398] Manu has said that if a Sraddha is performed
with a copious measure of sesame, such Sraddha becomes inexhaustible. Of
all kinds of food, sesame seeds are regarded as the best. With fishes
offered at Sraddhas, the Pitris remain gratified for a period of two
months. With mutton they remain gratified for three months and with the
flesh of the hare for four. With the flesh of the goat, O king, they
remain gratified for five months, with bacon for six months, and with the
flesh of birds for seven. With venison obtained from those deer that are
called Prishata, they remain gratified for eight months, and with that
obtained from the Ruru for nine months, and with the meat of the Gavaya
for ten months. With the meat of the buffalo their g