Varaha Purana 13.30: Adhyaya 13, Shloka 30
The Genealogy of the Pitṛs and the Determination of Śrāddha Times
वर्णत्रयाभ्यनुज्ञातः शूद्रः सर्वान् पितॄन् यजेत् । न तु तस्य पृथक् सन्ति पितरः शूद्रजातयः ॥ १३.३० ॥
varṇatrayābhyanujñātaḥ śūdraḥ sarvān pitṝn yajet | na tu tasya pṛthak santi pitaraḥ śūdrajātayaḥ || 13.30 ||
वर्णत्रयाभ्यनुज्ञातः शूद्रः सर्वान् पितॄन् यजेत्। न तु तस्य पृथक् सन्ति पितरः शूद्रजातयः॥
Varāha
A Śūdra, when permitted/authorized by the three higher varṇas, may offer to all pitṛs; there are no separate pitṛ-groups uniquely assigned as ‘Śūdra pitṛs’.
With proper authorization, the act is dharmya and yields pitṛ-prīti; without authorization or by asserting separate unauthorized rites, the śrāddha is considered irregular and its fruit is curtailed.
Pitṛs are a shared ancestral order; performer-qualification (adhikāra) governs ritual agency, not the existence of separate metaphysical pitṛ categories for each social group.
In community rites, ensure consent/authorization and proper officiation; emphasize shared ancestry and responsibility while adhering to one’s prescribed dharma.
Varāha Purāṇa 13.13.29 (three varṇas as offerers; Śūdra not separate)
FAQs
It reflects a Dharma-śāstra-influenced discourse within Purāṇic literature, describing how ritual eligibility and authorization were discussed in premodern Sanskrit textual traditions.
No geographic location is named in this verse; the content is primarily social-ritual and juridical rather than topographical.
The verse frames ritual action as regulated by social authorization and lineage categorization, emphasizing that certain rites are presented as conditional upon formal permission within the text’s normative system.
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