Śaṃyu, eager for wisdom, approached Bṛhaspati and asked, “O best of speakers, even a small offering to the ancestors brings benefit. But what is it that yields long-lasting or eternal results?” Bṛhaspati replied, “Listen carefully as I recount all the offerings that the learned consider proper at the time of śrāddha, along with the fruits they yield. When sesame, rice, barley, black gram, water, roots, and fruits are offered, the grandfathers are pleased for a month through the śrāddha ceremony. If fish is offered, their satisfaction lasts for two months; with deer meat, for three months; with hare, for four months; with bird, for five months. Boar meat pleases them for six months; goat meat for seven months; and partridge, it is said, brings satisfaction for eight months. Ruru deer meat pleases the ancestors for nine months, while wild ox meat gives satisfaction for ten months. With tortoise meat, their contentment lasts eleven months. But know, O Śaṃyu, that cow’s meat at śrāddha brings satisfaction for a full year. “Rice cooked with cow’s milk, honey, and ghee, as well as vadhrīṇasa’s meat, can please the ancestors for twelve years. If swordfish meat is offered at the waning of the ancestors, or black goat and monitor lizard, these offerings bring endless satisfaction—suitable for eternity. “On this matter, the wise of old recited the songs of the ancestors, and I shall share them with you now. Listen attentively: ‘May one be born in our lineage who gives food on the thirteenth day—rice cooked with honey and ghee, or beneath the shade of an elephant.’ By offering goat or all kinds of meat, especially during the rainy season or under the Maghā constellation, many sons are to be desired—even if only one goes to Gayā, marries a fair wife, or releases a blue bull. Śaṃyu, still seeking deeper understanding, asked, “Father, tell me about the fruits of Gayā and other sacred places. What merits accrue to the ancestors?” Bṛhaspati explained, “At Gayā, śrāddha is imperishable, as are recitation, offerings, and austerities. For the ancestors, all acts performed there are called imperishable. A son born from Gaurī purifies twenty-one generations, and again and again purifies six maternal grandfathers—such is her fruit. I will now declare the fruit of releasing a bull. Listen: the one who releases a bull surely purifies ten generations before and ten after. Wherever water that has washed the bull falls upon the earth, the act of releasing the bull is said to be imperishable for the ancestors. Whatever water is touched by the bull—even by its tail or other limbs—becomes imperishable for his ancestors, without doubt. Wherever the bull marks the ground with its horns or hooves, there the ancestors become imperishably satisfied by honeyed offerings. As the scriptures say, by constructing a tank measuring a thousand reeds, the ancestors are satisfied, but the satisfaction from releasing a bull is even greater. “Whoever gives sesame mixed with jaggery or honey at a śrāddha, all of that becomes imperishable for the ancestors. “Now, hear about the proper recipients. A man should not always test brāhmaṇas when giving, but in divine and ancestral rites, testing is indeed prescribed. Those twice-born who have bathed after fulfilling all Vedic vows, who purify the rows, who are foremost in knowledge of commentaries and delight in grammar; who study the Purāṇas and Dharmaśāstra, who know the three Nāciketa fires, the five fires, the Trisuparṇa, and the six limbs of the Veda; who are sons of a brāhmaṇa wife, who chant the Chāndogya, who are eldest singers of the Sāma Veda, and who have performed vows at holy places; who have heard the Avabhṛtha at chief sacrifices, who always observe vows and are devoted to their own duties; those who are free from anger, intent on peace, and always established in ten kinds of good deeds—invite them to the śrāddha. “Whatever is given to these is imperishable; they purify the rows. The brāhmaṇas devoted to yoga and dharma are to be revered. They are the foremost in dharma and āśrama; in offerings to gods and ancestors, they are excellent. By honoring them, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara are all worshipped. Whoever honors these, together with the ancestors, attains the purest and most auspicious worlds. “Of all duties, the discipline of yoga is declared foremost. Now I shall speak of those who are unfit; listen carefully. A gambler, a drunkard, one afflicted with consumption, a herdsman, one of bad appearance, a village messenger, a trader in goods, a singer, and a merchant; one who burns houses, a poisoner, one who eats from a common vessel, a seller of soma, a sea voyager, one who deals in skins, an oil merchant, and a maker of counterfeit goods; one who quarrels with his father, whose wife is unchaste, one who is cursed, a thief, and one who makes a living by crafts; a matchmaker, one who performs forbidden acts on festival days, one who betrays friends, a professional beggar, an atheist, and one devoid of Vedic knowledge; one who is insane, a eunuch, a slanderer, a killer of a fetus, one who violates the teacher’s bed, a physician who lives by his practice, a messenger, and one who goes to another man’s wife; one who sells the Veda, vows, or austerities—what is given to an atheist, an ingrate, or a slanderer is lost. “Whatever is given to a merchant yields no result here or hereafter; nor to one who misappropriates deposits, a gambler, or a reviler of the Veda. Likewise, to a merchant, an artisan devoid of righteousness, one who disparages goods when buying and praises them when selling; one who dwells in falsehood, or a merchant, is not worthy of śrāddha. An offering made to a remarried twice-born is like ashes—it is fruitless.” Thus, Bṛhaspati revealed to Śaṃyu the sacred ways of honoring ancestors, the imperishable fruits of offerings, the importance of proper recipients, and those to be avoided, all for the lasting benefit and eternal satisfaction of the ancestral line.