Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 2
जारजातापविद्धाद्यैर्यो नरः श्राद्धमाचरेत् । ब्राह्मणैस्तु न संदेहस्तच्छ्राद्धं व्यर्थतां व्रजेत्
jārajātāpaviddhādyairyo naraḥ śrāddhamācaret | brāhmaṇaistu na saṃdehastacchrāddhaṃ vyarthatāṃ vrajet
Wenn ein Mann das śrāddha durch Personen wie solche, die aus Ehebruch geboren sind, und dergleichen vollzieht, dann—ohne Zweifel, selbst wenn Brāhmaṇas beteiligt sind—wird jenes śrāddha fruchtlos.
Bhartṛyajña (continuation of discourse)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A cautionary scene: a householder is about to delegate śrāddha to a dubious agent; an elder/ācārya stops him, pointing to the proper brāhmaṇas and the śrāddha altar, indicating that impurity nullifies the rite.
FAQs
Ritual duty toward the ancestors must be carried out through dharmically qualified persons; violation of eligibility undermines the rite’s efficacy.
The setting remains Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya in Nāgara Khaṇḍa, though the verse is a general dharma rule.
Do not perform śrāddha through disqualified persons (e.g., jārajāta, āpaviddha); otherwise the śrāddha yields no result.