When the sun and the moon reside together in the same constellation, that fifteenth night is known as Amāvāsyā, the sacred new moon. On this Amāvāsyā, when the sun and moon align in perfect conjunction, their simultaneous presence is called 'Darśa,' signifying the moment when both are visible together. On Amāvāsyā, there are two fleeting moments—called lavas—at the junctions where the lunar phases meet. This brief period is known as the two-syllabled Kuhū, revered as the festival juncture. During this time, if the moon is seen from midday onward and then again at night, and when the sun rises the next morning with the moon, it is said that the moon rises together with the sun. After midday, as the sun sets, having joined with these two moments, the moon of the bright fortnight emerges anew from the solar disc. When the sun and moon begin to separate from each other, the time between them is set aside for the Anvāhāri offering and the Vaṣaṭ rituals of Darśa. This interval marks the commencement of the season and the festival time on Amāvāsyā. When the moon is waning and appears pale on Amāvāsyā during the day, it is understood that this daytime Amāvāsyā is characterized by the sun’s presence. The cuckoo calls this time 'Kuhū,' for it signifies completion, and so this Amāvāsyā is named Kuhū after that moment. When only a slender remnant of the moon remains—just the measure called Sinīvālī—Amāvāsyā is said to enter the sun, and this time is called Sinīvālī. Thus, there are four sacred moments: Anumati, Rākā, Sinīvālī, and Kuhū. Of these, the two-lava period is specifically called Kuhū. The time between these lunar junctions is always two lavas; the duration of the lunar days is equal, as are the offerings and the utterance of 'vaṣaṭ' in sacrifice. When the sun and moon are in conjunction or opposition—on both full and new moon days—the period known as parva is of double measure. The moments of Kuhū and Sinīvālī are counted as two lavas, and at the sun’s node with the moon, the parva time is measured in kalās. Because the moon becomes full on the fifteenth day, the full moon is said to be completed by fifteen kalās—ten and five in the order of days. Therefore, on the fifteenth day, the moon does not possess a sixteenth kalā, and thus, the waning of the moon on the fifteenth day is explained. These cycles are not merely celestial phenomena but are intimately connected to the ancestors, the gods who partake of Soma and increase its potency. These gods are themselves the seasons and the year, and they are sustained by the divine powers. Now, the scriptures explain further about the ancestors who receive the śrāddha offerings—their path, their essential nature, and the results of śrāddha. The path of the departed souls is mysterious; their coming and going cannot be known, nor their return, not even by those of great austerity, much less by the physical eye. Here, these ancestors are regarded as the worldly ancestors of the gods and the pitṛs. By the power of their righteousness, the twice-born declare that they attain union with the divine. Or, by following the dharma of the āśramas—those established in knowledge and those pleased by faithful actions—union is also attained. This is achieved in seven ways: through celibacy, austerity, sacrifice, offspring on earth, śrāddha, learning, and the giving of food. Those devoted to these actions continue on their path until the fall of the body. With the gods and pitṛs who partake of warmth and Soma, having reached heaven, they rejoice and worship the ancestors. This is the well-known path of those with offspring and those who perform śrāddha; the offerings made for them by their kin of the same family. Those who partake of the monthly śrāddha surpass the ancestors dwelling in the Soma-world; these human ancestors are indeed the recipients of the monthly śrāddha. Yet, there are others—those whose actions and births are mixed, who have fallen from the dharma of the āśramas, and who are deprived of svadhā and svāhā offerings. Having lost their bodies, they come to a difficult state, becoming pretas in the abode of Yama, lamenting their own deeds in places of torment. They wander long, exceedingly emaciated, with disheveled hair and naked, tormented by hunger and thirst, roaming here and there. All the rivers, lakes, ponds, and lotus pools—they wander among them, longing for others' food, driven about in search of sustenance. Some are cast into places of torment such as the Śālmalī tree, the Vaitaraṇī river, the cauldron of Kumbhīpāka, and burning sands. Others, by their own actions, are thrown into forests of sword-leaves among the sleepless and suffering inhabitants of those realms. Yet, for those dwelling in other worlds, when relatives on earth offer three balls of rice in their name and lineage, these offerings reach and satisfy those established in the realm of the departed. Those who have not received such offerings, who are lost in torment in five ways, and those who later exist among stationary beings, are sustained according to their own actions. Among the many forms and species in animal births, whatever sustenance is found in those wombs, they receive it there. Whenever food is given as a śrāddha offering, at the proper time, to a worthy recipient according to prescribed rules, it brings satisfaction; wherever the departed reside, they receive that food. Just as a calf finds its mother among a herd of cows, so too, through the śrāddha ritual, the mantra delivers the offering to its intended recipient unfailingly. Thus, Manu declares that a śrāddha performed without defect and with faith is effective. Sanatkumāra also affirmed this, perceiving with divine vision. He who knows the coming and going of the departed, and the attainment granted by śrāddha, reveals: the dark fortnight is for the benefit of the ancestors, while the bright fortnight is for dreams and night. Thus, the ancestors are gods, and the gods are ancestors; mutually, they are both in heaven. The ancestors are gods, and humans too are ancestors—father, grandfather, and great-grandfather alike. In this way, the domain of the ancestors who drink Soma has been described, and this greatness of the ancestors is established in the Purāṇa.