Home
Understanding
Glory of Hindu Dharma
Pitru fortnight and ritual of Shraddh
Table of Contents
2. The purpose of performing Shraddh
3. Importance of the ritual of Shraddh
4. Necessity of the ritual of Shraddh
4.1 Reasons for performing rituals like Shraddh Paksha for spiritually evolved ancestors
5. Historical details of the ritual of Shraddh
6. Historically established phases of Shraddh and its nature in the current era
7. Significance of Avidhva-Navami
1. Introduction
The dark fortnight in the Hindu lunar month of Bhadrapad is called 'Pitru fortnight' (Pitru paksha or Mahalay paksha). This fortnight is very dear to the departed ancestors souls. If Mahalay Shraddh is performed for the departed ancestors souls during this fortnight, they remain satisfied for the entire year.
Below we see an explanation from a holy text about the ritual of Shraddh.
श्राद्धं कन्यागते भानौ यो न कुर्याद् गृहाश्रमी ।
धनं पुत्राः कुततस्य पितृकोपाग्निपीडनात् ।।
यावच्च कन्यातुलयोः क्रमादास्ते दिवाकरः ।
शून्यं प्रेतपुरं तावद् यावद् वृश्चिकदर्शनम् ।।
Meaning: The householder who does not perform Shraddh during the period when the Sun is in Virgo, how will he earn money and be gifted with children as he would have enraged the deceased ancestors souls? Additionally, the abode for deceased ancestors souls remains vacant till the Sun moves from Virgo and Libra onto Scorpio.
The abode for deceased ancestors souls remaining vacant during this period implies that the deceased ancestors souls come closer to their descendants for blessing them and if Shraddh is not performed, they curse their descendants and return. Due to this it is important to perform Shraddh during this period.
2. The purpose of performing Shraddh
-
The ritual of Shraddh helps departed ancestors who are in the nether region (Pitru-lok), to go forward to higher sub-planes.
-
Departed ancestors who have not been liberated due to their unfulfilled desires and are stuck in the lower sub-planes in nether region, cannot elevate themselves to higher sub-planes. The ritual of Shraddh (Shraddh vidhi) fulfils their desires and aspirations.
-
Shraddh ritual (vidhi) liberates departed ancestors who have become ghosts due to their evil deeds.
3. Importance of the ritual of Shraddh
-
'It is equally important to repay the debt of ancestors along with debt of God, sages and society (dev-runa, rushi-runa and samaj-runa), . To show respect for our ancestors, it is the obligation and duty of the living family member to donate in the name of their ancestors and perform deeds which would please them. Performing Shraddh is part of following our Dharma', advises an ancient scripture.
-
An ancestor's soul is pleased and content only after receiving pinda and water from the son. In relation to this, the following verse from the holy text Mahabharat describes 'who qualifies to be called a son':
Meaning: The son protects his ancestors souls from the Hell called 'Punn'. Therefore Lord Brahma Himself named such a son 'Putra'.
As per the above verse, to enable the deceased ancestors to progress to a higher sub-plane, to relieve them from experiencing severe and everlasting distress and to initiate them to bestow grace on their descendants, every son should perform the ritual of Shraddh. It is clear that this is an obligation and duty on part of all those who call themselves sons. - इ. देवपितृकार्याभ्यां न प्रमदितव्यम । - Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11
Meaning: One should not commit mistakes in any task performed towards God or ancestors souls. Also one should not avoid these rituals.
- The following verse, from the holy text Geeta, is insightful in regards to people who do not perform Shraddh.
Meaning: Departed ancestors of the people who do not perform ancestral rituals like pinda Shraddh and offering water, etc., have to reside in the Hell (narak) region. This results in the stagnation in the spiritual progress of the descendants.
- Sage Sumantu has said,
Meaning: Nothing is as superior as the ritual of Shraddh. Therefore, a judicious person should never abstain from performing Shraddh.
-
Brahmavaivarta Puran says, 'Activities related to deceased ancestors are more important than those related to God.' Therefore every sacred ceremony begins with Nandi Shraddh.
-
If the soul of a deceased person wishes that 'someone should perform Shraddh for him' and if this does not get fulfilled from the expected descendant, then the soul becomes unhappy. Such a soul can transform into an evil spirit (a type of negative energy) and cause distress to its relatives for not performing the ritual of Shraddh.
-
Some people feel that Shraddh is meaningless and that nobody should perform Shraddh for him after his death. But after death because Shraddh has not been performed, he experiences that he is trapped and he cannot convey this feeling to anyone. He could become unhappy because of his wishes remaining unfulfilled. Taking this point into consideration, it is absolutely necessary to perform Shraddh for every deceased person.
-
By performing ritual of Shraddh for a deceased person, the give-and-take account with that person gets nullified, For example, if we owe something to a person and he dies before we could repay him, then by the virtue of performing Shraddh, the loan can be repaid.
In the current age people do not perform rituals like Shraddh or do spiritual practice the way it used to be done earlier. Therefore most of the people experience distress due to unsatisfied ancestors souls. Only the spiritually evolved (saints), can tell us if we are suffering due to distress caused by ancestors souls or if we might face such distress in future.
If it is not possible to take guidance from a spiritually evolved person then the following problems can be assumed to be caused by ancestors souls - regular conflicts amongst the family members, unable to get along with each other, unemployment, unable to save any money, serious illness, unable to get married in spite of favourable conditions, unable to get along with the spouse after marriage, unable to conceive, abortion, giving birth to a physically or mentally handicapped child and developing addictions. By performing Shraddh one gets relieved from the distress caused by the departed ancestors as they get satisfied, and if they are trapped in a particular region, they get momentum to progress to higher sub-planes and in turn the descendants are able to obtain their blessings.
4. Necessity of the ritual of Shraddh
When Shraddh is performed and food is offered on the Hindu lunar death anniversary (tithi) of the departed ancestor, the offering is sufficient for the subtle body for the entire year.
As long as the ancestors have desires and aspirations, they expect their descendants to offer food to them on that day. By performing Shraddh not only their desires are fulfilled, but they also get energy to move ahead in their after-death life. Even if one of the desires of our ancestors is very strong, the energy received through Shraddh can be utilised for fulfilling that desire and it can help them to move ahead in their after-death life.
Thus if Shraddh is performed regularly, then gradually the desires start reducing and this way they gain momentum in their after-death life. According to ancient science, it is advised to express gratitude towards our ancestors and perform Shraddh every year as long as we are alive.
4.1 Reasons for performing rituals like Shraddh Paksha for spiritually evolved ancestors
Very few people are doing spiritual practice (sadhana) in the current times (Kaliyug) as the environment is spiritually impure (raja-tama predominant). Thus the embodied soul (jiva) with unfulfilled desires cannot move ahead in the after-death life. Also the spiritual strength of the embodied soul (jiva) is very less thus it keeps on struggling against distress.Therefore, if the ritual of Shraddh is not performed, then the embodied soul (jiva) cannot move ahead in their after-death life.
A point to note is that even if the ritual of Shraddh is performed at some holy place (pilgrimage), only those ancestors whose time to get liberated has come, get liberated. Hence we should perform this ritual every year for other ancestors who are yet to reach that level.
We should perform this ritual even for ancestors who are spiritually evolved as it is mentioned in our ancient scriptures and to set an example in society that it is more important to follow Dharma rather than having a higher spiritual level. There is no one in society anyway, who can tell us the spiritual level of our ancestors.
A few saints themselves perform puja (ritualistic worship) of God, in front of society, in order to set an example. Whereas in reality there is no need for them to perform puja in the gross. This is a similar example.
5. Historical details of the ritual of Shraddh
The original concept of performing the ritual of Shraddh was conceived by Sage Atri, the son of Lord Brahma. Sage Atri narrated the ritual of Shraddh, as laid down by Lord Brahma to Nimi, one of His descendants. This established ritual has continued till today.
Manu was the first one to perform the ritual of Shraddh. Hence he is called the deity of Shraddh.
As per the Hindu holy epic Ramayan, when Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and Lakshman were staying in the forest, Bharat met them there and apprised them about the death of their father. In Ramayan it is mentioned that Lord Ram later performed the ritual of Shraddh for His deceased father at an appropriate time.
6. Historically established phases of Shraddh and its nature in the current era
Agnoukaran: During the era of Rugveda, deceased ancestors were worshipped by offering a certain kind of wooden stick (Samidha) and a rice ball (pinda) to the sacrificial fire.
Pindadaan (worship of pinda): The ritual of Pindadaan is mentioned in the holy scripts of Yajurveda, Bramhane, Shrout and Gruhya sutra. The ritual of Pindadaan was put into practice during the period of Gruhya sutra.
Offering food to priests (Brahmins): During the post Gruhya sutra and Shruti-Smruti period, offering food to priests (Brahmins) was considered mandatory and became an important part of the ritual of Shraddh.
In the current era, all the three phases mentioned above are included within the 'Parvan' Shraddh. The science of righteousness (Dharma) prescribes that householders should perform the ritual of Shraddh as their duty.
7. Significance of Avidhva-Navami *
The ninth day of the bright fortnight of the Hindu lunar month Bhadrapad is also known as Avidhava-Navami. If our mother or any other lady in our family passed away when her husband was still alive, then her Shraddh is performed on this day. There is a practice or tradition of offering a meal to a Brahmin as well as to a lady whose husband is still alive, on this day.
Importance
The ladies who depart their lives on this day are considered to be a person of sacred celebrity (punyashlok) according to ancient Hindu scriptures (shashtras). Thus even though this tithi (date according to Hindu calendar) falls during the Pitru fortnight (pitru-paksha), it is considered to be auspicious for ladies.
As a married and un-widowed lady is the manifest form of Divine energy (shakti), 3% of the Divine energy principle is emitted into the atmosphere on this day. Hence to some extent, there is a difference between this day and the other days of Pitru-paksha.
Ritual
Inviting a lady, who is similar in status to the deceased lady, for a meal. For example: If the deceased lady was pregnant, then a pregnant lady is invited or if the deceased lady was elderly then an elderly lady should be invited.
Anyone with whom the deceased lady had many attachments, shouldn't be invited for a meal. On this day the subtle body of the deceased lady is roaming around and hence there is high possibility that a friend, if invited, gets possessed by the deceased lady.
Married and un-widowed ladies always have unfulfilled desires regarding their family life, even after their death. Hence we should not keep the photo of the deceased lady in the house for more than 2 hours on this day.
In order that the deceased lady moves on in her after-death life, everyone in the house should chant 15 rosaries of the "Sree Gurudev Dutta" chant after all the rituals are over and other rituals should be performed as mentioned in the article on Pitru-paksha.
* Based on divine knowledge received by some seekers doing sadhana per Gurukrupayoga.
To know more about this divine knowledge please visit the about us section of this website.
Email 