A wise and discerning person, it is taught, should perform the sacred rite of śrāddha at the proper time: in the forenoon during the bright fortnight, and in the afternoon during the dark fortnight, always observing the rule regarding the Rohiṇī star and never transgressing it. These śrāddhas are offered in honor of the ancestors—great souls endowed with profound yoga and immense energy—who are ever to be revered as the perceivers of place and time. Through unwavering devotion to the ancestors, one attains the highest state of yoga; by meditating on them, liberation is reached, and both good and bad actions are transcended. It is said that once, for the sake of sacrifice, the great-souled Kaśyapa, after confounding the world, withdrew the secret yoga and concealed it deep within a cave. Later, Sanatkumāra, foremost among those who know yoga, having withdrawn the secret nectar—the supreme yoga—proclaimed this great and eternal dharma. This teaching is the supreme secret of the gods and the ultimate aim of the sages. Through devotion and effort, especially when directed toward the ancestors, one may attain this goal. The yoga associated with the ancestors can be fully realized by a devoted person through diligence—there is no doubt that all is gained thereby. To whom śrāddhas should be offered, what gifts yield the greatest fruits, where śrāddha is inexhaustible—in holy places, rivers, and at sites leading to heaven—all this has been summarized and explained. Bṛhaspati declares that whoever, having heard this ordinance regarding śrāddha, harbors envy, that person, enveloped in darkness, falls into a dreadful hell as an unbeliever. On the other hand, one who, even when afflicted by severe disease, has a restrained mind and is freed from the Vedic stages of life, does not fall into the Kumbhīpāka hell. However, those who cut the tongue or steal are sure to reach it. Those hostile to yoga become like inert clods, sinking in the vast ocean of existence for as long as the world endures. Therefore, the faithful must always uphold the dharma of śrāddha. One should never slander, especially not the yogins; for the slanderer becomes a worm, revolving endlessly in darkness. Whoever slanders yoga—the very path that leads the meditative to liberation—descends into terrible hell, as does the one who listens to such slander, without doubt. All of hell, dreadful to behold and cloaked in darkness, awaits those who revile the lords of yoga. One who hears reproach against these self-restrained masters surely sinks for a long time in the Kumbhīpāka hell. By thought, word, or deed, one must avoid harboring hatred towards yogins, for after death, and even in this life, one reaps the consequences—this is certain. Those who have not crossed to the far shore of existence do not attain the Supreme Self; instead, they wander the three worlds according to their actions. Even mastery of the Rig, Yajur, and Sama Vedas, with all their branches, is futile if one has not undergone inner transformation—they merely remain entangled. But one who has crossed beyond change, beyond nature, beyond the three guṇas and their limitations, beyond the twenty-four principles—such a person is truly said to have crossed over, to have reached the journey’s end. Just as all the elements are withdrawn into the Self, so too does the knower of yoga, by the power of yoga, withdraw everything into the true Self at dissolution, moving along the path of all-pervading power, beyond the reach of others. He who knows yoga, who truly knows the Veda and realizes that which is to be known, is acclaimed by the wise as a true knower of the Veda—one who has crossed to the end of the Veda. Having understood both what is to be known and what is to be realized, in the proper way, such a person is recognized as a knower of the Veda by those who contemplate the Veda. Such a one attains sacrifices, the Vedas, desires, and many kinds of knowledge. He also gains long life, offspring, devotion to the ancestors, and wealth. Whoever recites, with discipline, the final prescribed section of the śrāddha ritual, attains all these results and the fruits of giving at holy places. He becomes a purifier of his lineage and the foremost among twice-born; by teaching all the twice-born, he fulfills all his desires. Whoever always listens to this endless account, if free from envy, anger, greed, and delusion, attains heaven. He gains the complete fruit of pilgrimages, of gifts, and the like; this is the highest means to liberation and the supreme path to heaven. Here in this life and hereafter, the highest satisfaction is attained; therefore, one should strive diligently. Whoever recites this procedure attentively and with concentration at assemblies or at the junctions of sacred days, gains offspring, supreme brilliance, and reaches the world of the gods. To the Self-born, by whom this rite has been declared, I bow; and always, I bow to the great lords of yoga. Know, O dear one, that these ancestors are indeed the deities of the gods. These seven, ever untroubled, remain always in their respective abodes. They are the sons of Prajapati, all of great soul—the first group consists of yogis, eternal and ever-increasing in yoga. The second group is of the gods, the third of the enemies of the gods, and the rest belong to the classes of men—all have thus been described. The gods themselves worship these ancestors, being established in them; the four orders of life also worship them, each in their proper order. The four classes of society, and even those of mixed castes and foreigners, worship them according to the appropriate method. Whoever worships the ancestors with devotion is honored by them; for one desiring prosperity or offspring, the grandfathers grant prosperity, offspring, and heaven. The duty owed by a son to his father surpasses even that owed to the gods, for the ancestors are the very source from whom the gods themselves receive nourishment. Neither the subtle path of yoga nor the supreme path of the ancestors can be perceived by the physical eye, not even through severe austerity. A vessel made wholly of silver, or adorned with silver, is declared the most purifying and excellent for offerings to the gods together with the ancestors. Those whose relatives, identified by name and lineage, offer them three balls of food on earth, placed upon sacred grass and in the prescribed manner, truly benefit. Wherever those offerings are present, they satisfy the ancestors; whatever nourishment a creature receives, that becomes its own sustenance. And just as a calf finds its lost mother in the cowshed, so too does the mantra guide the departed soul to its proper place of rest.