Hinduism prescribes elaborate rituals for the dead beginning from the day of burning the body till the 13th day when Subhasweekara or Auspiciousness in invited back Home.
These rituals are based on the belief that the Departed souls take rebirth and the Preta Sareera hovers around till the 12th Day.when the dead are respectfully moved to the ancestors, Pitrus.
It is the belief of the Hindus that one born to enjoy the fruits of actions one performs/ed; if Righteous deeds had been performed one enjoys happiness and sails through Life easily while Non Righteous acts bring in Unhappiness and misery when one lives.
In both the cases , the effects of the actions performed by one gets wiped out as one undergoes the experiences of Life.
In Hinduism the wages of Sin is Birth unlike Christianity and other Religions where the wages of Sin is death.
When one dies, the inert body , Sava is consigned to flames.
One becomes Sava when Consciousness leaves permanently, The Consciousness being an attribute of the Soul.
However the Sukshma Sareera, the body which one does not perceive, which surrounds one’s physical frame, remains.
The Physical frame made of he essence of food, Anna rasa dies.
But the Sukshma Sareera , which is the result of the actions one performs remain .
This sareera is like dust accumulated when action is performed.
This sukshma Sareera takes rebirth depending on the Nature of actions, Karma performed by the individual.
The Soul never dies.
Death Rites Hindusim,
The Sukshma Sareera enters into human wombs, they are reported to be 83 Million different types of Female genital parts( Yoni Beda), according to Hinduism.
The Womb chosen at rebirth is determined in accordance with the actions performed.
So till such time, that is the Twelfth-day from the date of death, the preta Sareeera lingers , hovers around the place of Death and around the Home.
This Preta once it is released after the twelfth day is reborn;in such cases where no karmas or the dead performed rebirth still takes place;in this case the Reborn, in the new Life will have unexplained issues facing its new Life.
This is Pitru Dosha.
Another kind of Pitru Dosha is one that accrues when one does not perform the Rites for the departed.
This results in Pitru Saapa.
The Suksma Sreera, once it leaves the Pysical frame is called Preta and this during life has been nurtured by the essence of Food.
This has been enjoyed by it through the Physical frame.
Now that one is dead, the Preta sarera can not get Food for nurturing.
As it is yet to be released, till the Twelfth day(Sapindi Karana), it suffers.
To nurture it, the Tharpana is performed with sesame Seeds and water,the former substituting food, as sesame seeds, according to Hinduism, was the first to be created as Food, Water to quench Thirst.
It is also considered necessary to indicate the Preta that it would no longer get Food or water as it lacks the physical Frame.
As the Preta is finally elevated to the level of Pitrus on the Twelfth day,prior indication is given on the tenth day by way of offering huge quantities of food, without salt to wean away the Preta from food as it is believed that it would get disgusted with the huge quantity of food offered and that too with out Salt.
During the next two days , the preta is paid respects by a Brahmin in the ceremonies.
On the 12th day Sabindi karana is performed and the preta leaves.
On the thirteenth day Gruha yagna or Subha sweeakara is performed.
Upanayana or the wearing of the Sacred Thread ceremony is one of the most important duties of a Hindu.
Please read my posts on Samskaras, Upanayana.
Uapanayana
I received a call yesterday from reader in the US whether there is any procedure for performing the Upanayana Ceremony for the Blind and the Dumb and whether they are exempted from performing the Sandhyavandana.
In the earlier days the Blind and Dumb were exempted from Upanayana ceremony and consequently the Sandhyavandan.
Taking into consideration the importance of Upanayana and performance of Sandhyavandana, Sage Kapila has laid down rules for performing the Upanayana ceremony for the Blind and the Dumb.
All the procedure for Upanayana are to be followed for these handicapped.
But the father must chant the Mantras (for the Dumb) .
In the case of the Blind, the Samit must be placed by the Blind person.
The Blind must be made to write the Savitri with a Palasa stick in Water, Ghee, Milk and Curds.
The Dumb must perform Sandhyavandan by gestures.-Kapila Smriti 323-329
Wear Poonal, Upaveedha one by one by reciting(poonal should be held by both hands, the knot in the poonal being held above by the right hand facing upwards)
After wearing all poonals one by one do Aachamanam
Remove the old poonal and separate them to pieces by reciting
Upaveetham bhinna thanthum jeernam kasmala dooshitham, visrujami na hi brahma-varcho deerghayurastu meDo aachamanam.
Short meaning: I wear the white yagnopavitha that is purifying , which was born along with brahma, which is capable of increasing life .I am sure this would give glory and strength to me.I am destroying the dirty , soiled yagnopaveetha .
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Hinduism, as a part of Forty Samskaras, lays down certain Procedures for Annaprasanam.
Annaprasanam is the First feeding of the child with solids.
This function is held at Home normally, excepting in cases when there is a vow to have it done at a Temple.
In Kerala, it is a practice to perform Annaprasana at Guruvayur.
Normally Rice is fed to the child.
The Procedure for Annaprasana.
1.Fix an auspicious date, this should be on the Waxing period of the Moon,
2.After Vigneswara Puja and Sankalpa, Kangana Dharana is to done for the child (the ceremony of tying sacred thread on the left for the Female child and on the right for the Male child.
Annaprasana,First feeding of the Child.
3.Perform Prathisara bantham*.
4.Nandi Sradham(Abyudhayam)
5.Punyahavachanam and Prokshanam to the Child.
5.Navagraha Mantras.
9.Recite Gothra, Name, Nakshatra and Rasi and pray that you are feeding the child.
Keep cooked rice in a Gold/Silver vessel, add Ghee Honey(no Salt/or spices) and recite
Naming a newly born child is given priority in Hinduism.It is one of the most important of the Basic 40 Duties-Samskaras.
Who and When?
All Varnas(loosely called as Caste now)-for explanation of this concept please read my blog ‘Caste’ ,filed under Hinduism.-20th Day from the date of Birth of The Child.
This , generally, is performed for the Kumbabhishekam for Kalasa Pooja.
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The pratisara-bandha is a procedure that precedes any major saṁskāra. It is basically the point at which the saṁskāra itself begins. It consists of infusing a cotton bracelet with various mantras, following which this amulet is tied to the wrist of the yajamāna. Once this is performed, āśouca etc do not afflict the yajamāna. This procedure is detailed in the bodhāyana-śeṣa-sūtra-s (1.15). It is performed on the same day as the nāndi-mukha (abhyudaya-śrāddha), in the evening, at the end of the pradośa-kāla. (karma-s without homa like the annaprāśana are exceptions.)
Each pratisara cord is made up of 9 strands (three strands, each of which is also made of 3 twined strands are intertwined into a single pratisara cord). These prepared cords are then anointed with turmeric.
A kalaśa is established on some rice, and to its north, a copper vessel containing rice is placed. The pratisara cords, bhasma, and tāmbūla are placed in this vessel. 4 brahmins are then invited and asked to infuse its waters with mantras. They sit on the 4 sides of the kalaśa, and recite the following mantra-s:
vedādīn
rākṣoghnam
āpyam (agne yaśasvin)
(dadhikrāvaṇṇo, āpo hi ṣṭhā)
hiraṇyavarṇīyāḥ
pavamānam
varuṇa-sūktam
rudra-sūktam
brahma-sūktam
viṣṇu-sūktam
durgā-sūktam
śrī-sūktam
paridhānīyā (namo brahmaṇe)
The pratisaram is infused with these mantra-s (with prokṣaṇa). dhyāna of vāsuki is performed in the cords, and using the thumb and ring-finger, the cord is thrice rubbed with bhasma (vibhūti) with the mṛtyuñjaya-mantra. It is then given to the yajamāna with the chanting of the 5 “agnirāyūṣmān” mantra-s, and is tied with the bṛhat-sāma mantra. The pratisaram is tied on the right hand of men, and left hand of women. After chanting the ghṛta-sūkta (yo brahmā brahmaḥ), the bhasma is given to the yajamāna and applied on the forehead.
This pratisaram remains tied for the duration of the saṁskāra. Once it is complete, and the sāyaṁ-saṁdhyā is perfomed, the pratisaram is untied with the chanting of the vyāhṛti-s, and is disposed off in a body of water, like a river or sea.
A portrayal of Vyasa, who classified the Vedas in to four parts, and author of the Mahabharata, which includes the widely read Bhagavad Gita. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hinduism , as Dr.Radhakrishanan put it, is a ‘ not a view of Life but a way of Life’.
The duties of the individuals are so naturally practised that many do not seem to know what they are all about.
Hinduism demarcated the Life of an Individual into Four parts.
During the Brahmacharya the individual is made to learn all the aspects of the Vedas, not merely the Ascetic aspects but also the mans of livelihood which come under the Vedas.Thetse include Archery,Politics,Grammar,Linguistics,Agriculture, Trade Craft,Astronomy,Astrology.
During the grihastha period, one performs the Duties enjoined on the House holder, which includes Social Service.
In Vanaprastha, one retires int he true sense of the term by non-interference and by meditation.
In Sanyasa, Man relinquishes all belongings and concentrates on Liberation.
Basic Rites to be performed by an individual are indicated for each stage.
These Samskaras are applicable to all Varnas, all people except the Sudras( Sudras meaning and duties will be dealt with in a separate blog).
Varnas are determined on the basis of Dispositions or Natural tendencies.
There are Forty Samskaras .
There is a controversy that there are only Fourteen Samskaras.
I will be dealing in detail with Forty Samskaras.
The resources are from the Smriti , ancient texts and regular practices followed by the Hindus.
One good source is the book Forty Samskaras by Sri. Srivatsa V.Somadeva Sarma,which has been approved by Kanchi Periyavar.
The Publishers are Sri Surabhi Sadhabdi Publications, Lakeview Road, West Mambalam,Chennai 600033( opposite TNSC Bank
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