Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 23, Shloka 67
Adhyaya 23 — The Brahmin and His Wife
श्राद्धे तु समनुप्राप्ते मध्यमं पिण्डमात्मना ।
भक्षयेथाः फणिश्रेष्ठ ! शुचिः प्रयतमांसनः ॥
śrāddhe tu samanuprāpte madhyamaṃ piṇḍam ātmanā | bhakṣayethāḥ phaṇiśreṣṭha! śuciḥ prayatamānasaḥ ||
“当施行 śrāddha（祭祖供养）之时到来，你应亲自食用中间的 piṇḍa（丧祭米团），噢诸有伞盖者中最胜者——当以清净之身，并摄持其心。”
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FAQs
Ritual acts are not depicted as mechanical; śuci (purity) and prayata-mānasa (disciplined mind) are prerequisites, stressing inner disposition alongside outer rite.
Not a cosmological lakṣaṇa; it is dharma-upadeśa embedded in Ānucarita—Purāṇas frequently interleave ritual guidance within stories.
The ‘middle piṇḍa’ can be read symbolically as the madhya (central) channel/center: transformation occurs when the practitioner internalizes the offering—turning rite into inner assimilation.