Shloka 15
Matsya Purana — Soma
पितर ऋतवो ऽर्धमासा विज्ञेया ऋतुसूनवः पितामहास्तु ऋतवो ह्य् अमावास्याब्दसूनवः प्रपितामहाः स्मृता देवाः पञ्चाब्दा ब्रह्मणः सुताः //
pitara ṛtavo 'rdhamāsā vijñeyā ṛtusūnavaḥ pitāmahāstu ṛtavo hy amāvāsyābdasūnavaḥ prapitāmahāḥ smṛtā devāḥ pañcābdā brahmaṇaḥ sutāḥ //
Know that the Pitṛs are identified with the seasons and the half-months (ardhamāsa), as offspring of the seasons. The grandfathers, too, are said to be the seasons, being born of the new-moon day (amāvāsyā) and the year. And the great-grandfathers are remembered as deities of the five-year cycle (pañcābda), as sons of Brahmā.
FAQs
It does not describe Pralaya directly; instead, it presents a cosmological mapping where ancestral classes (Pitṛs, grandfathers, great-grandfathers) are linked to calendrical units (seasons, fortnights, year, and the five-year cycle), showing how cosmic time is sacralized.
By grounding Pitṛ categories in the lunar-solar calendar (amāvāsyā, year, pañcābda), it implies that householders and rulers should time śrāddha and Pitṛ offerings according to proper calendrical observances—especially around new-moon and seasonal transitions.
The significance is ritual rather than architectural: it emphasizes calendar-based ritual correctness for Pitṛ worship, highlighting amāvāsyā and broader time-cycles (year and pañcābda) as key frames for ancestral rites.