Bṛhaspati, the revered sage, spoke of the sacred significance of various trees and offerings in the performance of ancestral rites. He explained that the palāśa tree is associated with the attainment of brahmic splendor, while the aśvattha tree is chosen for those seeking sovereignty. For lordship over all beings, the plakṣa tree is always prescribed. For those desiring nourishment, the nyagrodha tree is recommended. The kāśmarya vessel, he said, is famed for bestowing intellect, wisdom, fortitude, and memory, and it acts as a protective force, even destroying demonic influences. In this world, great fortune is said to arise from the offering of honey. Whoever performs this offering in a vessel made of phalgu wood will attain all their desires. Such a performer gains radiant brilliance and special splendor. When offerings are made in a vessel of bilva, prosperity, intelligence, and perpetual longevity are bestowed. For fields, gardens, ponds, and all crops, unceasing rain is granted by the clouds to those who make offerings in bamboo vessels. Those who use these excellent vessels and give the first portion, even once, are said to obtain the fruit of all sacrifices. Bṛhaspati further proclaimed that those who always offer garlands and fragrant items to the ancestors, endowed with prosperity, shine like the sun. Whoever offers incense such as guggulu, combined with honey and clarified butter to the ancestors, receives the fruit of the horse sacrifice. Those who offer incense with fragrance and pleasing qualities, devoted to the ancestors, obtain offspring among women both in this life and beyond. One should always attend to the ancestors, never neglecting them. Whoever offers a lamp to the ancestors with devotion attains incomparable vision in the world and always receives auspiciousness. Through brilliance, fame, beauty, and strength, one becomes radiant on earth and shines in heaven, surrounded by apsaras and delighting at the forefront of celestial vehicles. With devotion and purity, one should offer fragrances, flowers, incense, clarified butter, grains, fruit, roots, and respectful salutations to the ancestors. After honoring the Brahmins and animals, one should worship the ancestors with food. At the time of śrāddha, the ancestors, having become subtle like wind, always arrive upon seeing the Brahmins. Therefore, Bṛhaspati declared, it is essential to honor the foremost Brahmins with gifts of clothes, food, offerings, eatables, drinks, cows, horses, and even villages. The ancestors are pleased when Brahmins are honored; thus, one should properly worship them with food. A Brahmin should mark and sprinkle with both right and left hands, diligently observing the śrāddha ritual. One should offer darbha grass, rice balls, various foods, flowers, fragrances, and ornaments, each separately, as prescribed. After nourishing the people, the Brahmin becomes superior and should perform the anointing with three bundles of darbha grass. Excellent food should be given to the ancestors with the left hand. After uttering their names, one should also give cloth and thread to all. The acts of cutting, nourishing, and marking are performed once for the gods and three times for the ancestors. With one pure cloth in hand, one should offer to all the ancestors, again and again, the beneficial sight-born gift to the rice-balls, accompanied by the prescribed mantra. Always, one devoted to the ancestors should offer three rice-balls mixed with clarified butter and sesame seeds upon the ground, placing the left knee down as prescribed. Having duly invoked the ancestors, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, and facing east, one should carefully encircle the rice-balls with water from the ancestral side, without negligence. Some people wish to separately honor the maternal ancestors with food, water, flowers, and various edibles. The three nourishing rice-balls should be offered in order, using the thumb, between the knees, with care and proper sequence. With the left and upper hands, and the dharma mantra, one should say, “Homage to you, O subtle ancestors.” With the right hand, let one first release the rice-ball, always reciting, “Homage to you, O gentle ancestors.” With the left and upper hands, attentive to dharma, one should serve at the line of the mortar and the vessel for water. New linen thread, red cotton cloth, woolen or bark cloth, and the ancestral thread should be given; silk is to be avoided. Any cloth that is torn or soiled must be avoided in the sacrifice, for such offerings do not please the ancestors nor bring prosperity to the giver. The best is the three-knotted collyrium, and always oil preserved from black sesame seeds. Sandalwood and aguru, tamala, usira, bhaka, and the finest incense—guggulu and turushka—are to be used. The best flowers are white and fragrant, including lotuses and water-lilies, and all others that are suitable and fragrant. Flowers such as javā, sumanas, bhaṇḍīra, upakāma, and kuraṇḍaka must always be avoided in the śrāddha ritual. Flowers lacking fragrance or with only a faint scent should be avoided by those seeking prosperity. The twice-born, thus seated, should be disciplined and face north, but the sacrificer should worship according to rule facing south. Facing them, one should carefully offer darbha grass and rice-balls; by this very method, one directly honors one’s own grandfathers. Darbha grass, green with a touch of yellow, moist with flowers, well-arranged, and the size of a barley grain, should be placed at the ancestral spot. At the base of the roots, dark stones and other such things arise in abundance; grasses such as śmāmāka, nīvāra, and durvā are also mentioned. The most excellent Prajāpati, previously praised, then came into being. His hairs fell to the earth from the path of the sky, marking the sacred connection between the divine and the earthly realm. Thus, Bṛhaspati revealed the profound rituals and offerings that honor the ancestors, ensuring prosperity, radiance, and auspiciousness for those who perform them with devotion and purity.