In the ancient and sacred time, a woman stands at the threshold between worlds. With resolve and devotion, she chooses to follow her husband into the realm beyond, approaching the departed mortal. According to the ancestral law, she is entrusted with the care of children and wealth, her role enduring even after her husband’s passing. Yet, she is called back. "Arise, woman," the voice commands, "return to the world of the living. Come, rejoin this one whose breath has departed. By taking his hand, you have become as a mother to your husband; you are united with him in spirit." The seer recalls having witnessed a young woman, still alive, being led away—set apart from the dead and enveloped in darkness. But by retracing the sacred path, she was brought back to life. "O sinless one," the voice continues, "you know the world of the living, having followed the path of the gods. Here is your guardian; accept him and ascend to the heavenly world together." The sacred fire, Agni, is invoked: "Rise up to the sky, rise to the sacred grass, descend to the rivers! O Agni, let us remove all impurity from the waters." To Agni, the prayer is offered: "Whomever you have consumed equally, extinguish him again, so that he may rise with water, with the sacred grass, and with the spreading shoots of life." The journey is marked: "This is your first place; that is your second. With the third light, enter together. In the place of rest, unite with your body and become dear to the gods in the highest abode." The soul is guided: "Rise and go forth, move to your dwelling in the waters. There, united with the Fathers, rejoice with Soma, rejoice with the offerings." The body is released: "Shake off your mortal form, gather yourself together. Let not your limbs be scattered; enter with a settled mind, and go where you are welcomed on earth." Prayers ascend for blessing: "May the Fathers who delight in Soma anoint me with radiance; may the gods with honey and ghee grant me vision and long life, even into old age. May Agni endow me with radiance, Vishnu with intelligence, all the gods with wealth, and may the waters purify me. May Mitra and Varuna protect me, the Adityas increase my fame, Indra grant me radiance, and Savitar remove old age from my hands." The offering is made to Yama, the first mortal to die and the king who gathers people in the afterlife: "To King Yama, offer the oblation." The Fathers are invited: "Go forth, O Fathers, and return again; this sacrifice is prepared for you with honey. Grant us good fortune and wealth, and bestow all-heroic prosperity upon us." The revered sages—Kanva, Kakshivan, Purumidha, Agastya, Syavashva, Sobhari, Arcanana, Visvamitra, Jamadagni, Atri, Kasyapa, and Vamadeva—are invoked for protection. Visvamitra, Jamadagni, Vasishtha, Bharadvaja, Gotama, and Vamadeva are called upon, with Atri leading the host and the well-praised Fathers offering their grace. It is remembered how the pure ones crossed over enemies, bearing ever-renewed life, increasing with offspring and wealth, and prospering in their homes. The Fathers anoint, adorn, unite, and inspire resolve, anointing with honey. The golden-hoofed ones seize the bull as it leaps at the breath of the river among the cattle. "O Fathers, whatever is your Soma-offering and your sign, join with that, for you are self-glorious. Wise ones, hear us here, being invoked at the assembly, bestowers of good guidance." The Atris, Angirases, Navagvas, sacrificers, and righteous ones—those who stand here—rejoice on the sacred grass. Just as the ancient forefathers, who delighted in truth, shone with purity and radiance, praised by hymns, broke through the earth and drove away darkness, so too did the doers of good, shining and devoted to the gods, strengthen Agni and Indra, and create for us a vast, cattle-rich gathering. Like a herd in fertile pasture, the mighty one revealed the divine origins, and even mortals, longing for immortality, strive for increase in the highest abodes. With humility, the people confess: "We have not acted; we have entered the truth, and the radiant dawns have shone forth. May all that is auspicious, which the gods protect, be ours; may we speak greatly in the assembly, strong with good sons." The guardians of the directions are invoked: "May Indra, with the Maruts, protect me from the east, upholding the earth as if above the sky. May Dhātṛ protect me from the south; may Aditi and the Ādityas from the west; may Soma and all the gods from the north. May the Upholder sustain you, and Savitṛ raise you upward, your radiance above the sky." In each direction—east, south, west, north, fixed, and upward—the departed is placed in their own portion, with the earth upheld as if above the sky, and the gods who have made the worlds and the paths are worshipped. "You are the supporter, the foundation, the lineage. You are filled with water, with honey, with wind." Prayers are offered for protection from every side, as Yama once journeyed forth. The worshipful and devoted bring forth the departed, and may both sit in their own world, knowing it. "O Indra, remain in your place for us; with reverence we join you to the ancient prayer. The hymn spreads forth like a poet on the path; let all the immortals hear this." The steps of the ritual are recalled: "He followed three steps in form, then by observance approached the four-footed; with the imperishable he measures out the hymn, purifying it at the navel of immortality." Thus, with sacred rites, prayers, and invocations, the journey between worlds is sanctified, the ancestors are honored, and the living are blessed with protection, prosperity, and the hope of immortality.