O righteous and illustrious one, I am per-forming these rites in honour of the Pitris for the sake of Narayana, and agreeable to those ordinances that have been laid down by himself.  The illustrious Narayana is the father, mother, and grandfather (of all creatures).  In all sacrifices performed in honour of the Pitris, it is that Lord of the universe who is adored and worshipped.  On one occasion, the deities, who were sires, taught their children the Srutis.  Having lost their knowledge of the Srutis, the sires had to acquire it again from those sons unto whom they had communicated it.  In consequence of this incident, the sons, who had thus to communicate the Mantras unto their sires, acquired the status of sires (and the sire, for having obtained the Mantras from their sons, acquired the status of sons).[1891] Without doubt, what the deities did on that occasion is well known to you two.  Sons and sires (on that occasion) had thus to worship each other.  Having first spread some blades of Kusa grass, the deities and the Pitris (who were their children) placed three Pindas thereon and in this way worshipped each other.  I wish to know, however, the reason why the Pitris in days of yore acquired the name of Pindas.’

“Nara and Narayana said, ’The Earth, in days of yore, with her belt of seas, disappeared from the view.  Govinda, assuming the form of a gigantic boar, raised her up (with his mighty tusk), Having replaced the Earth in her former position, that foremost of Purushas, his body smeared with water and mud, set himself to do what was necessary for the world and its denizens.  When the sun reached the meridian, and the hour, therefore, came for saying the morning prayers, the puissant Lord, suddenly shaking off three balls of mud from his tusk, placed them upon the Earth, O Narada, having previously spread thereon certain blades of grass.  The puissant Vishnu dedicated those balls of mud unto his own self, according to the rites laid down in the eternal ordinance.  Regarding the three balls of mud that the puissant Lord had shaken off from his tusks as Pindas, he then, with sesame seeds of oily kernel that arose from the heat of his own body, himself performed the rite of dedication, sitting with face turned towards the East.  That foremost of deities then, impelled by the desire of establishing rules of conduct for the denizens of the three worlds, said these words: 

“Vrishakapi said, I ant the Creator of the worlds.  I am resolved to create those that are to be called Pitris.—­Saying these words, he began to think of those high ordinances that should regulate the rites to be gone through in honour of the Pitris.  While thus engaged, he saw that the three balls of mud, shaken off his tusk, had fallen towards the South.  He then said unto himself,—­These balls, shaken off my tusk, have fallen on the Earth towards the southern direction of her surface.  Led by this, I declare that these should be known henceforth by the name of Pitris.  Let these three that are