Funeral rites and Shraddha must be distinguished from each other. Funeral rites (antyeshthi) are amangal (inauspicious) while Shraddha are mangal (auspicious). To understand this it should be borne in mind that when a person dies, his or her gross body (sthula sharira) is burnt. This being in fact the ‘Antya ishthi’ (antyeshthi) the last sacrifice offered in fire, but the soul cannot quit the gross body without a vehicle of some kind. This vehicle is the Linga-sharira or subtle body, sometimes described as angushtha-matra (of the size of a thumb), invested in which the deceased person remains hovering near the burning ground or crematorium. He or she is then in the condition of a simple individual soul invested with a subtle body, and is called a PRETA, i.e. a departed spirit or ghost. Thus an embodied soul (jiva) who has departed from the physical body at death is called a Preta. He or she has no real body capable of enjoying or suffering anything, and is consequently in a restless, uncomfortable plight. Moreover, while in this condition he or she is held to be an impure being, and all the relations who participate in his or her funeral rites are held to be impure until the first Shraddha is performed. Furthermore, if a person dies away from kindred (relations), who alone can perform the funeral ceremonies, and who are perhaps unaware of his or her death, and unable therefore to perform them, he or she becomes a ‘pishach’, a foul wandering ghost, disposed to take revenge for its misery upon all living creatures by a variety of malignant acts. The object then, of the antyeshthi or funeral rites, which are carried out for twelve days after death, is not only to soothe or give shanti (peace) by libations of consecrated water to the troubled spirit, but to furnish the preta with an intermediate body, between the ‘linga’ or subtle and the ‘sthula’ or gross body- with a body, that is to say, which is capable of enjoying or suffering, and which is composed of gross particles, though not of the same kind as the earthly gross body. In this manner only can the preta obtain gati or progress onwards. A brief account of Shraddha and tarpan On the first day after death a pinda or round ball (made from rice flour and milk) is offered with libations of water etc. on which the preta is supposed to feed, and which endows it with the basis of the requisite body. Next day another pinda is offered with water etc. which gives it perhaps, limbs such as arms and legs. Then it receives hands, feet etc. This goes on for twelve days and the offering of the pinda on the twelfth day gives the head. No sooner the preta obtains a complete body then it becomes a PITRI, when instead of being regarded as impure, it is held to be a deva or deity, and practically worshipped as such in the Shraddha ceremonies, the first of which takes place on the twelfth day after death. Shraddha is the name of the ceremonies performed by relatives to help the departed soul. The ceremony of Shraddha performed to help the soul at this stage is called PRETA_KRIYA. Hence a Shraddha is not a funeral ceremony but a Pitri-Yajna or worship of departed ancestors, which worship, however, is something different from a puja (ceremonial worship) to a god. It is performed by making offerings of round balls of rice, flour etc. with accompaniments of sacred grass (kusha grass), flowers, and sprinkling of water, and with repetitions of mantras and texts from the SamVeda, the whole ceremonial being conducted, not in a temple, but at any sacred spot such as the margin of a river. It takes many months for the departed soul to reach the abode of the Pitris or the souls of the ancestors. The word Pitris primarily means the immediate ancestors. Viz. Father, mother etc. This abode of the Pitris is known as Pitri-loka. Shraddha proper is performed for three generations of Pitris (the father, the grand-father and the great grand-father), or to all Pitris. Three cakes are offered to the father, grand-father and great grand-father. Gifts to deserving Brahmins (priests) for the benefit of the Pitris, in the proper time and place and with faith, are known as Shraddha. Shraddha gives satisfaction to the Pitris. Performance of Shraddha and Tarpan (libations of water) relieves the hunger and thirst of the departed soul during its journey to the Pitri Loka. By the offering of the Shraddha, the son helps his father to dwell in joy with the Pitris. The rites that the son should perform for his father are known as Sapindi karana. Shraddha must be performed with faith, devotion and reverence. The son who does not perform Shraddha and Tarpan is an ungrateful son. The sacred scriptures declare: "He who does not perform Shraddha will lead a miserable life and suffer from poverty". The ceremonies performed during Pitr-Paksha have very special effects. According to a legend, the offerings of libations of water-tarpan, arghya etc. to the departed reach the Pitris immediately, due to a boon from Lord Yama (the God of death). The Bhagavad Gita, which forms a vital and philosophically important part of the great epic Mahabharata, states that on the eve of death the individual soul contracts all its energies and centers these into the subtle body. Our ordinary sight is incapable of perceiving it. How the individual soul inhering in the linga-sharira enjoys the consequences of its needs from one birth to another can only be perceived by the Yogis with their extraordinary cognitive insight. From The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15, Verse 10 The deluded do not see Him Who departs, stays and enjoys; but they who possess the eye of knowledge behold Him.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 14:57:17 +0000