When the sun and the moon come together in the sky, that union marks the completion of a year. Within the sacred days, there are three distinct times remembered: Kuhu, Mātra, and Dvyakṣara. As day and night are each divided in half, the moon gradually draws near to the sun. There are two periods and a conjunction, and at midday, the sun remains steadfast in its place. Between their paths—where the sun and the moon move apart—there lies a space, the very interval between their orbits. This interval is to be understood as the beginning of a new season, or as the mouth of the lunar phase itself. Thus, on the day of the new moon, it is said that the sun is taken or joined. Even within these divisions of time, there is a waxing and waning of their watery essence, the subtle energies that ebb and flow. In due course, both the sun and the moon reveal themselves once more. For two lavas—a brief span—the moon touches the sun by day and by night, completing the period known as 'Kuhu,' so named by the cuckoo. The measure called Sinivali is the portion that remains when the moon is waning. From Anumati, Chara, and Sinivali—excluding Kuhu—these phases are marked. When the sun and moon are in conjunction, between the full moons, the periods of Kuhu and Sinivali are found in the midst of the cosmic ocean. In the bright fortnight, at the junctions of the lunar phases during the night, the moon steadily increases, reaching fullness on the fifteenth day. Thus, fifteen divisions are attributed to the moon, while the sixteenth belongs to the sun. These divisions are not merely measures of time, but are the very forms of the divine ancestors—the Pitṛs—who drink Soma and cause it to increase. Now, let it be told of those ancestors who partake of the monthly offerings. The path of the dead is shrouded in mystery; no one knows it, nor can the departed return. Those ancestors who are not divine are known as the worldly ancestors. Yet all the gods themselves are truly ancestors, and are praised by these very beings. Among the ancestors are the father, the grandfather, and the great-grandfather. Those who perform sacrificial rites with offerings are called Barhishads. Because of their righteousness, the twice-born say that such souls attain union with the ancestors. In the end, those who are steadfast in their duties and filled with faith do not fall from their path. Through śrāddha (ancestral rites), through knowledge, and through charitable giving in sevenfold ways, the living connect with those divine ancestors. Subtle offerings of Soma are made together with them, especially when relatives of the same lineage offer oblations on their behalf. These are the human ancestors who receive the monthly śrāddha. But there are those who, having fallen from the duties of their order and deprived of the sacred svadhā and svāhā offerings, suffer greatly. Lamenting their own actions, they reach places of torment, afflicted by hunger and thirst, wandering in distress. Yearning for the food of others, they are tormented in many ways—in the branches of the Śālmalī tree, in the dreadful river Vaitaraṇī, in the hellish cauldron Kumbhīpāka, and even in the grinding of stones—they are cast down by the weight of their own deeds. For these souls dwelling in other worlds, their relatives—according to family name and lineage—go forth and offer oblations to them, to those who reside in the realm of the departed. Later, those who are reborn at the end of the immobile beings, having fallen low because of their own actions, continue their journey according to the fruits of their deeds.