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62
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES AND OPINIONS
A ceremony is then performed by which the spirit of the defunct is supposed to be associated with the Pitris, and to take his place in their sphere or heaven. On every anniversary of his demise the rite is repeated. These Śráddhas are imperative, but the Pitris should be worshipped once every fortnight at least; and offerings should be made to them on every occasion of private or public festivity, and whenever a householder is desirous of acknowledging or soliciting any temporal good. The character, offices and situation of the Pitris formed, no doubt, part of the ancient system, and various appellations and functions are ascribed to them in the laws of Manu", and in some of the Puránas. The subject is little considered or understood in the present day. The inefficacy of all such ceremonies has not escaped the satire of some of the Hindus themselves; and it would not be difficult to shew that their object is incompatible with the condition of the soul after death, as it is more commonly represented by their own authorities.
These are some of the practices of the domestic worship of the Hindus, which, although very materially modified, are no doubt referable to their original institutes. The public worship of the Hindus has, unquestionably, undergone still greater change.
The system of the universe and the theory of creation as universally received by the Hindus, no doubt originated with the Vedas, and consequently the three
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[III, 192 f. Vishnu Purána p. 320 ff.]
