[90] 5.
They stand outside the walls³
and at the junctions and crossroads;
they stand at the door-posts,
having come back to their own home.
But when abundant food and drink,
fare both hard and soft, is set out,
no one remembers those beings,
owing to those beings' kamma.
Thus do those who are compassionate
give for their relatives, in due season,
drink and food, pure, excellent, and suitable:
"May this be for our relatives!
May our relatives be happy!"
And those departed relatives (ñātipetā),
come together and assembled there,
respectfully rejoice over the abundant food and drink:
"Long may our relatives live,
thanks to whom we have this gain!
Honor has been paid to us,
and the givers are not without fruit."
For there is no plowing there,
nor is herding of cattle found there;
there is no trading such as here,
no buying and selling with gold.
The departed (petā), those who have died,
subsist there on what is given from here.
Just as water rained upon the heights¹
flows down to the low ground,
even so what is given from here
benefits the departed.
Just as brimming watercourses
fill up the ocean,
even so what is given from here
benefits the departed.
"He gave to me; he acted for me;
they were my relatives, my friends, my companions" —
recollecting what they did in the past,
one should give offerings (dakkhiṇā) for the departed.
For neither weeping, nor sorrow,
nor any other lamentation
avails the departed one²,
though the relatives stand thus [mourning].
But this offering that has been given,
well established in the Saṅgha,
serves his welfare for a long time
and benefits him at once.
This, then, is the duty to relatives (ñātidhamma) that has been shown;
lofty honor has been paid to the departed;
strength has been furnished to the bhikkhus;
and no small merit (puñña) has been generated by you.
The Tirokuḍḍa Petavatthu, the fifth.
# [Variant readings:] 1. Yu.: tameva. 2. Ma.: ñātakā. 3. Ma.: tirokuṭṭesu.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.