Manusmriti: The Laws of Manu

261. Some make the offering of the cakes after (the dinner); some cause (them) to be eaten by birds or throw them into fire or into water.

262. The (sacrificers) first wife, who is faithful and intent on the worship of the manes, may eat the middle-most cake, (if she be) desirous of bearing a son.

263. (Thus) she will bring forth a son who will be long-lived, famous, intelligent, rich, the father of numerous offspring, endowed with (the quality of) goodness, and righteous.

264. Having washed his hands and sipped water, let him prepare (food) for his paternal relations and, after giving it to them with due respect, let him feed his maternal relatives also.

265. But the remnants shall be left (where they lie) until the Brahmanas have been dismissed; afterwards he shall perform the (daily) domestic Bali-offering; that is a settled (rule of the) sacred law.

266. I will now fully declare what kind of sacrificial food, given to the manes according to the rule, will serve for a long time or for eternity.

267. The ancestors of men are satisfied for one month with sesamum grains, rice, barley, masha beans, water, roots, and fruits, which have been given according to the prescribed rule.

268. Two months with fish, three months with the meat of gazelles, four with mutton, and five indeed with the flesh of birds.

269. Six months with the flesh of kids, seven with that of spotted deer, eight with that of the black antelope, but nine with that of the (deer called) Ruru.

270. Ten months they are satisfied with the meat of boars and buffaloes, but eleven months indeed with that of hares and tortoises.

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