Feeding the Dead: Ancestor Worship in Ancient India

204 Pages·2013·1.03 MB·English

by  Matthew R. Sayers

Feeding the Dead
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Feeding
the Dead
Ancestor Worship in
Ancient India
z
MATTHEW R. SAYERS

1
3

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sayers, Matthew R.
Feeding the dead : ancestor worship in ancient India / Matthew R. Sayers.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–989643–1—ISBN 978–0–19–991747–1 1. Ancestor worship—India—
History. 2. Sraddha (Hindu rite)—History. I. Title.
BL2015.A6S28 2013
294.5'388—dc23
2013012872
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America

on acid-free paper
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Contents

List of Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
1. Ancestral Rites in the Early Vedas 25
2. The Solemn Ancestral Rites 40
3. The Domestic Rice-Ball Sacrifi ce to the Ancestors 56
4. The Śrāddha -Rite 70
5. Ancestral Rites in the Buddhist Literature 86
6. Soteriology 100
7. Mediation 117
Conclusion 138
Appendix 1 43
Notes 145
Glossary of Sanskrit Terms 165
Bibliography 169
Index 185
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List of Tables

I.1 Theological schools of the R(cid:653) g , Yajur , Sāma , and Atharva Vedas 14
4.1 Reference to diff erent types of śrāddha -rite in the Gr (cid:653) hyasūtras 79
6.1 Duration of benefi t for the Ancestors from diff erent off erings 110