A religious institution with millennia of uninterrupted continuity, shraddha (broadly) is an individual’s homage, through certain ritualistic offerings, to the sacred memory of his ancestors. Involved in the shraddha-ritual is also, perhaps, the Hindu belief in the doctrine of metempsychosis. Shraddha-Sagara, written sometime during 1520-1620, by a celebrated scholar: Kullukabhatta, offers an authoritative, manifold exposition of this ageless ritual. Yet, in treating the shraddha-theme – from Dharmashastra, its author, Kulluka exhibits a striking originality by applying the Purva-Mimamsa logic to ancestral worship. Which makes his Shraddha-Sagara both unique and unrivalled in the literature of the genre. Here is the first ever critical edition of this rare, hitherto-unpublished work – with Kulluka’s original text (in Devanagari script) and a comprehensive introduction, footnotes and comments. Himself a reputed scholar of Dharmashastra literature, the editor: Professor Moghe, highlights the importance of Shraddha-Sagara and of its author, focussing specially on Kulluka’s status vis-a-vis other writers on shraddha. Essentially in the nature of a ‘digest’, Kullukabhatta’s work abounds with quotations. Which Prof. Moghe not only identifies, but also locates in their diverse sources : smritis, shrutis, puranas, astronomical/astrological texts, and even grammatical treatises. Also demonstrating how and where Kulluka’s readings are corrupt, deficient or grammatically flawed, the book suggests correctives – with variant readings in the footnotes. Supplementing this critical edition are seven appendices, listing/indexing the whole range of works, referred to in Shraddha Sagara.
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