Once the fourth ancestor has been ritually honored, there are no further rites required for him. Having attained the revered status of ancestor, he becomes completely satisfied. He now dwells among the Agniṣvāttas and others, enjoying the middle rank among them and reaching the highest immortality. After the rite of sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, nothing further needs to be offered to him. From that point onward, offerings are to be made only to the ancestors in whose lineage he is now established, and with each eclipse or festival, the transfer of offerings takes place. On the day of death, the śrāddha should be performed with three balls of food for the departed soul, abandoning the older custom of a single offering. Whoever continues the single-offering rite on the day of death commits a grave error—he becomes an ancestor-killer, a destroyer of mother and brother. If someone performs the fortnightly rite on the day of death, he sinks lower and lower. When the departed souls are mingled, confusion arises; thus, it is wise to perform the single-offering rite only once each year. Whoever, without envy, gives a pot of water with food for the departed for a year gains the fruit of an Aśvamedha sacrifice. One well-versed in the rites, when performing the preliminary śrāddha, should make the fire offering and present the balls of food accordingly. In the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, when the father is fully united with the three groups of ancestors, he is released from bondage in due time. Even after release, he still receives a share of the residue, cleansed with kuśa grass. From the fourth ancestor onward, those who share the balls of food are residue-sharers, and the seventh in the line is the giver of the balls; thus, the relationship extends up to seven generations. A question arises: How do offerings of cooked food and oblations, given by people on earth, reach the ancestors in their world? Who acts as the means for this transfer? If a twice-born mortal eats, or the offering is placed in the fire, how do the departed enjoy what is given to them, whether it is auspicious or inauspicious? The Vedas reveal that the Vasus are called the ancestors, the Rudras are grandfathers, the great-grandfathers are likewise, and the Adityas. The name and lineage of the ancestors serve as the means for cooked and fire offerings; the mantras of the śrāddha, along with faith and utmost devotion, are to be used. The Agniṣvāttas and others are established as their lords, and even ancestors who have entered other forms are reached by name, lineage, time, and place. Those living beings who have assumed various forms for that meal are satisfied by these offerings. If the father has become a god due to virtuous deeds, the food becomes immortal nectar and follows him even in divinity. In demonhood, it becomes enjoyment; in animal form, it becomes grass. The śrāddha food, in the form of wind, attends even in the state of a serpent; as a Yakṣa, it becomes drink; as a Rākṣasa, it becomes meat. In the state of a Dānava, it becomes illusion; as a ghost, it becomes blood and water. In human form, it becomes various foods and drinks, with diverse tastes of enjoyment. Pleasure is the power of enjoyment; women are beloved; food is the capacity to eat; giving is the power of generosity with wealth; beauty and health are also bestowed. Faith is the flower, and union with Brahman is the fruit; long life, sons, wealth, knowledge, heaven, liberation, and happiness too. The satisfied hosts of ancestors grant kingship to men. It is heard that, in ancient times, the sons of Kauśika attained liberation and reached the supreme abode of Viṣṇu through fivefold birth connections. How did the descendants of Kauśika attain the highest yoga? Through fivefold birth connections, how does the exhaustion of karma occur? There was a great sage named Kauśika, righteous in soul, residing in Kurukṣetra. Listen to the names and deeds of his seven sons: Śvasṛpa, Krodhana, Hiṃsra, Piśuna, Kavi, Vāgduṣṭa, and Pitṛvartin. These seven became disciples of the sage Garga. When their father passed away, a severe famine befell them; a great drought arose, causing fear in all the worlds. On Garga’s instruction, these ascetics guarded a milch cow in the forest. Tormented by hunger, they thought, “Let us eat this tawny cow.” As they contemplated this sinful act, the youngest brother spoke: “If she must be killed, let it be done in the form of a śrāddha offering.” When this one was to be appointed for the śrāddha, the cow refused, saying, “I will not do it, for it is sinful.” Yet, being permitted by those devoted to their father, she performed the rite. With focused mind, the youngest brother performed the śrāddha, and after offering it to her again, he made two brothers as divine guests, and in succession, all three for the father. In the same manner, appointing one as a guest, the performer of the śrāddha himself conducted the ritual with mantras, remembering his father with devotion. Without a cow, even a calf offered to the teacher—when the cow was killed by a tiger, it was said, “Let this calf be accepted.” Thus, the cow was eaten. But those seven ascetics, relying on Vedic power, were fearless in that cruel act. Then, drawn by time, those hunters were born in Daśapura, having attained the state of remembering past births, their minds shaped by devotion to their fathers. Because of that cruel act performed in the form of a śrāddha, they were born in the house of hunters, doers of cruel deeds. Yet, by the greatness of their fathers, they were born with memory of past lives; and through dispassion and yoga, they again undertook fasting. Those seven, born with memory, became deer on Mount Kālanjara, before Nīlakaṇṭha, influenced by their devotion to their fathers. There too, through knowledge and dispassion, they gave up their lives righteously, observed by the people, at the end of a pilgrimage, by fasting. In the Mānasa lake, those seven became cakravāka birds, yogis by name and by deed. Their names were Sumanā, Kumuda, Śuddha, Chidradarśī, Sunetraka, Sunetra, and Aṃśumān—these seven excelled in yoga.