Brahma Purana (critical study)
by Surabhi H. Trivedi | 1960 | 254,628 words
This is an English study of the Brahmapurana鈥攐ne of the eighteen major Puranas. This text occupies an important place in the Pauranic literature. This study researches the rich an encyclopaedic material for social, religious, philosophical, mythological, political, geographical and literary study found in the Brahma-Purana. It also includes a lingu...
16. Number of Invitees
There were several opinions about the number of brahmanas to be invited at a sraddha. The As.Gr. S. (IV. 7.2-3) states that at the parvana saaddha, the abybadayika sraddha, the Ekoddista or kamya sraddha, the larger the number of Brahmanas the greater is the reward, that in no case should a person # invite only one brahmin at a sraddha meant for all pitrs or he may optionally invite only one
721 Brahmana except at the first sraddham, that he may invite one, two or three brahmins for each of the three paternal ancestors, The san. Gr, (IV.1.2) and Kausitaki Gr. (III.14.1.2) Prescribe that one should invite an uneven number of Brahmanas. The Brahma Purana98 provides that one must feed two brahmins at the rite for the gods and three for the manes or one only for each of the two purposes. Therefore, it seems that the number of Brahmanas to be invited did not depend so much upon the means of the inviter, but upon the point whether the inviter would be able to honour them all properly 99 and with ease.