Importance of Shraddha & its underlying science
| The Shraddha rituals provide us with an excellent opportunity to fulfil our duties and repay our debts unto the ancestors. Shraddha is necessary so that the journey of our ancestors becomes comfortable and without any distress, and they attain sadgati (Momentum for moving to the next higher region). If Shraddha is not performed, the desires of the ancestors remain unfulfilled. Negative energies very easily control such desire-riddled ancestors, and then, enslave them. In all likelihood, they use the ancestors to cause distress to their own family members. By performing Shraddha, we get relieved from the distress caused by the ancestors, and our life becomes comfortable. |
What is Pitrudosh (Ancestral problems) ?
Pitrudosha is considered as severe if not more, as the rage of the Deities. When Deities are angry there is draught; however, when the pitars (Departed ancestors) are angry, the house faces severe distress such as having a draught-like situation, falling sick, getting annoyed for no reason, quarrels during meals and not permitting to eat, and so on. Some are always confused. Women do not conceive; and when the pitrudosha is severe, children are born lame, they misbehave, disobey their parents, etc. To avoid all this, each of us has to perform Shraddha in the name of pitars. If it is not possible to perform Shraddha, release curd-rice in flowing water of a river or keep some food separately and pray intently.
In Hindu culture, we give due respect to our parents. Hindu Dharma tells us about four debts we have to repay – Debt unto ancestors (Pitruruna) is one of them. Serving our parents when they are alive; and after their death, rituals like Shraddha are performed to alleviate them from pitruloka. Through this, we are able to clear our debts unto our ancestors. We use the wealth and property of our ancestors, but do not do anything to alleviate them from pitruloka. In the present world, people do not even feel gratitude towards their ancestors. Many ignore the fact that they have to help their ancestors gain onward momentum in their journey after death. So, ancestors get angry at us and to make us realise that we have to do something to help them gain the onward momentum, they create problems in our worldly life. At such times, people try to find ways to help their ancestors. Those who remember their ancestors and perform Shraddha rituals for them with utmost faith, obtain benefits.
What are the signs of Pitrudosh ?
To know if we have pitrudosh or not, let us try to understand the various physical, psychological, familial, financial signs related to ancestral problems. Incurable illness, skin problems, etc. are some physical signs to indicate ancestral problems. Feeling disturbed, afraid, startled, muttering, illusions, getting nightmares, insomnia, obstacles in marriage, marital disharmony, not able to conceive, abortions, delivering a premature baby, having a mentally retarded child, death in childhood itself, no peace of mind inspite of having lot of money, etc. are indications of ancestral problems. If we study these problems, we will come to know that in Kaliyug, almost everyone has ancestral problems – mild, moderate or severe.
To alleviate our ancestral problems and for them to obtain onward momentum, we should chant ‘Shri Gurudev Datta’ daily, which is a very simple and easy solution to the problem.
Hindu culture gives utmost importance to worshipping parents and remembering two earlier generations as well. Pitrulok is the region of the pitars. They dwell in the respective regions with the hope of getting liberated. They keenly watch the success and failures of the successive generations. Whoever remembers them and donates food on the day of their Shraddha, is blessed. Donate food and saree-blouse to an elderly woman and give grass to a cow in remembrance of the mother-grandmother-great grandmother. Some ancestors have harassed someone during their worldly life. Some examples are – grabbing someone’s house, property or money, abusing women, deceiving someone by overcharging for food, depriving the grandmother of food, water & medicine, thus leading to her death. All curses come in the form of suffering to the next generations. If someone drowns in the family, someone is hanged, murdered or an accident takes place, the subsequent generations of the family have to bear terrible hardships. All these are pitrudosha. They create obstacles by becoming karmas and cause hindrance in progress. Ancestors are able to see the inner self of honest people. So, don’t talk bad about them. If pitars are pleased with someone, the individual may also prosper.
Symptoms of pitrudosha in the Horoscope
Physical
1. Suffering from an incurable disease, someone in the house suffering from distress due to illness
2. Venomous snakebite
Mental
1. Restlessness of the mind and body
2. Unsettled mind, fear, trembling, muttering under the breath, apprehension
3. Feeling distress upon seeing a river or sea
4. Nightmares, insomnia, night terrors
5. Facing obstacles in worship, charity, familial responsibilities and traditions, not being able to concentrate while performing them and not believing in them
Familial
1. Reduction in water supply to the house
2. Marital unhappiness and incompatibility
3. Lack of auspicious events in the house or continuous hindrance in fixing a marriage
4. Losing inheritance rights
5. Quarrelling or arguing with people
6. Suffering because of Court cases
7. An individual in the family may experience a sudden subtle distress, trouble from ghosts
Financial
1. Instability at work / business, and frequent changes in them
2. Having loans, insufficient money, shortage of food grains, eatables in the house
3. Being concerned about feeding the family
Shraddha includes acts such as offering the pinda ritualistically to the pitars with faith. During the Shraddha, offering the pinda accompanied by the recitation of mantras and a meal to virtuous individuals are the main acts.
Narayan Nagbali, Tripindi and Tirtha-shraddha
If Shraddha of the ancestors are not performed in the house continuously for 5 years, performing Narayan Nagbali, Tripindi (Shraddha rituals of 3 generations) and Tirtha-shraddha will bring peace to the ancestors and obtain their blessings and earn merits.
Benefits of performing a ritual such as Shraddha
Those who perform rituals such as Shraddha regularly, satisfy their pitars and get a long life, fame, strength, brilliance, wealth, children, worldly happiness, health, honour, etc. Pitars control the worldly progress of the family and are constant guardians of the family as well. Hence, worldly happiness ensues only when pitars are satisfied. Without the blessings of the pitars, obstacles arise in spiritual progress and in attaining the grace of the Deity of worship; hence, the satisfaction of the pitars takes precedence. We have to try obtaining the grace of the pitars first, followed by that of the Family Deity, then the grace of the Deity of worship. In short, it is important to note that pitars are basically responsible for transcendental happiness.
Benefits of Shraddha for eliminating pitrudoshas
Performing Shraddha eliminates the troubles caused by pitrudosha. At times there are difficulties in getting a well-behaved, beautiful, well-educated girl married despite financial stability of her parents and despite serving the Family Deity. At such times, the main cause is pitrudosha. As soon as the pitrudosha is eliminated by performing the Narayan Nagbali ritual, the marriage of the girl gets arranged with a groom who is better than expected and the ceremony gets performed at a low cost.
Recite Ramraksha & Maruti Stotras, Shlokas; pray, do Haripatha, read Scriptures. This will beget mental satisfaction and health.
– Astrologer BV alias Chintamani Deshpande (Guruji) (Reference : Shridhar Sandesh)
Ways to eliminate the obstacles in performing Shraddha
A. If Brahmans are not available for performing the Shraddha ritual of one’s mother, one can invite married women and perform the Shraddha.
B. If two Brahmans are not available, then make one Brahman sit on the seat meant for pitars (Pitrusthan), place an Idol of Shaligram or Balkrushna on the seat meant for the Deity (Devasthan) and make a resolve to perform the Shraddha.
C. If due to some reason one is unable to perform Shraddha, he can get it performed through his son, disciple or a Brahman.
D. Invite a Brahman, and after he has washed his hands and feet, offer him a seat. After the worship with five substances offer him a meal.
E. In case of unavailability of money and a Brahman, perform Shraddha with sacrificial fire (Homa-shraddha).
The Scriptures have also specified what a person should do if he is incapable of any of the above. They are as follows :
A. Give a pitcher filled with water to a Brahman.
B. Give some food to a Brahman.
C. Give sesame seeds to a Brahman.
D. Give some money to a Brahman.
E. Give food grains as per your capacity to a Brahman.
F. Feed grass to a cow.
G. Even if you don’t perform rituals atleast do pinda-daan.
H. After bathing, release water that contains sesame seeds (Pitru-tarpan).
I. Observe a fast on the tithi of the Shraddha.
J. On the Shraddha day, recite the related ritual.
If even this is not possible, then go to a forest and raise your hands, and exposing your armpits, wave a blade of grass towards the Deities of the regions (Lokapal) such as the Sun and pray – “I do not possess anything useful for Shraddha such as wealth. I pay obeisance to all my pitars. Let all my pitars be appeased with my devotion. I am helpless”. Alternatively, go to a secluded forest area and pray in a loud voice raising your hands – “I am penniless and without food. Liberate me from the debt of my pitars”. If even this is not possible, then lament facing the south direction.
Spiritual effect underlying the act of a crow touching the pinda
Ability of the crow to attract Raja-Tama predominant desire- waves : During the Shraddha rites, the ancestors are invoked by offering a pinda. Unfulfilled desires of the ancestors are fulfilled through the pinda. Since an average human has many desires, his subtle body releases Raja-Tama predominant waves. A crow can attract maximum of Raja-Tama predominant waves; hence, it can perceive such waves. When the subtle body of ancestors gets attracted to the pinda, it gets charged with Raja-Tama predominant waves. The crow is attracted towards these waves. The crow pecking the pinda is an indicator that the ancestors were invoked at the venue of the Shraddha and that they were satisfied with the offering. This process is known as ‘crow pecking’. Thus, the crow is a medium between the subtle bodies with unfulfilled desires and human beings. – Swami Vidyanand, Mumbai (1987)
Importance of chanting ‘Shri Gurudev Datta’It is important to chant the Name of Deity Datta besides performing the ritual of Shraddha. Deity Datta is the Principle created from the Principles of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. One of His functions is to give momentum to the journey of our deceased ancestors (Pitars) to go to the next region. Hence, we should chant ‘Shri Gurudev Datta’. Spiritual benefit of chanting ‘Shri Gurudev Datta’ A. The Pitars getting momentum in their onward journey : Many desires of a person who is attached to materialistic life remain unfulfilled after death. Such unsatisfied subtle bodies get trapped in the region of the dead (Mrutyuloka). They cannot go to the next region because of their unfulfilled desires. By chanting ‘Shri Gurudev Datta’, the Pitars who are trapped in the Mrutyuloka obtain momentum. B. Creation of a protective sheath : By chanting ‘Shri Gurudev Datta’, a protective sheath is created around the body of the person. To perform the Shraddha with bhav : A. Put up the Name-strips of ‘Shri Gurudev Datta’ in the room where the Shraddha ritual is being performed. B. Play the audio of ‘Shri Gurudev Datta’ chant in a low volume. C. Before the Shraddha, worship a sattvik picture of Deity Dattatreya and offer Arati. The energy and Chaitanya (Divine consciousness) of Deity Dattatreya is emitted at the venue of the Shraddha and the family benefits from it. (Audio of the chant on – https://www.sanatan.org/en/datta-mantra) |
This shows how inevitable it is for everyone to perform Shraddha.
| The Shraddha rituals provide us with an excellent opportunity to fulfil our duties and repay our debts unto the ancestors ! |