Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 155
एकत्रिंशद्गणा येषां पितॄणां प्रबला नृप । कृतं च तदिदं श्राद्धं तर्पयेत्तान्परान्पितॄन्
ekatriṃśadgaṇā yeṣāṃ pitṝṇāṃ prabalā nṛpa | kṛtaṃ ca tadidaṃ śrāddhaṃ tarpayettānparānpitṝn
ఓ రాజా, పితృదేవతలలో ఏకత్రింశత్ (ముప్పై ఒకటి) గణములు బలవంతమైనవి; ఈ నిర్వహించిన శ్రాద్ధం ఆ పరమ పితృలను తర్పింపజేయుగాక।
Mahākāla
Listener: a king
Scene: A ritual scene where thirty-one pitṛ-gaṇas are symbolically represented as a vast assembly of ancestral lights; the performer offers piṇḍa and tarpaṇa, and the ‘para pitṛs’ receive with solemn power.
FAQs
Śrāddha is portrayed as a potent rite that reaches powerful ancestral collectives when done with correct intention and method.
No particular tīrtha is mentioned in this verse.
Perform Śrāddha so as to tarpayet (satiate) the parāḥ pitaraḥ, the higher ancestral orders.