Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 53
यश्चैवास्तमिते सूर्ये भुंक्ते च श्राद्धकृन्नरः । व्यर्थतां याति तच्छ्राद्धं तस्माद्भुंजीत नो निशि
yaścaivāstamite sūrye bhuṃkte ca śrāddhakṛnnaraḥ | vyarthatāṃ yāti tacchrāddhaṃ tasmādbhuṃjīta no niśi
ശ്രാദ്ധം ചെയ്യുന്ന പുരുഷൻ സൂര്യാസ്തമയത്തിനു ശേഷം ഭോജനം ചെയ്താൽ ആ ശ്രാദ്ധം നിഷ്ഫലമാകും; അതുകൊണ്ട് രാത്രിയിൽ ഭോജനം ചെയ്യരുത്.
Bhartṛyajña (instructor) to Ānarta (king) — inferred from the Śrāddha-kalpa dialogue flow
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: General injunction to the śrāddha-performer; framed with address to a ruler in the passage
Scene: A cautionary scene: the Sun near the horizon; a śrāddha performer hastens to complete offerings and meal before dusk; the contrast of daylight sanctity versus the inauspiciousness of night-eating is implied.
FAQs
Proper timing is part of dharma: rites for the ancestors must be done within prescribed solar limits to retain their efficacy.
The instruction appears within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra Māhātmya of the Nāgara Khaṇḍa.
Do not eat after sunset during Śrāddha; avoid night-eating so the rite does not lose its merit.