JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA-2
-Santhipriya-
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA -7
First Day rituals: Rites performed in Crematorium
158) Upon reaching the crematorium, the Kartha circumambulate the funeral pyre stacked with firewood, few times as instructed by the pundit. The bier tied with the corpse will be placed over the stage, head facing south. Everything including the waist string (waist rope or girdle) on the corpse will be removed except the bed sheet, allowing the body to remain fully naked below the bed sheet. Before the pyre is lit, the ropes over the corpse are untied and corpse placed on the pyre along with the frame of bier.
159) The final journey of the soul begins with the pundit commencing the funeral rites. The person who performs the karma, circumambulate around the funeral pyre anticlockwise with a pitcher made of raw clay kept over his left shoulder. After keeping the pot near the head of the corpse, the ritual of putting few grains of rice by the relatives and friends present there in the mouth of the corpse and placing gold coin over it commences. This ritual also varies from communities to communities.
160) Once the corpse is placed on the pyre, few drops of ghee will be poured in seven parts of the body such as mouth, right eye, left eye, right nose, left nose, right and left ears. In ancient period of times, small pieces of gold used to be placed over those parts along with ghee, but as time passed, ghee replaced gold as no texts in the scriptures insisted on placing gold on those parts. The reason for pouring drops of ghee over those parts of the corpse during the cremation ritual is to symbolize transformation of those parts into a sacred yagya kund, or sacrificial altar which purify the fire.
161) After pouring ghee over those parts, once again the relatives and others present there put few grains of rice mixed with sesame seeds into the mouth of the corpse.
162) The Kartha again keeps the same pitcher containing water over his left shoulder and begins to circumambulate the pyre three more times. He also carries a small piece of sandal wood in his hands. While the Kartha keep circumambulating the pyre, another person who also walk behind him hit the pot with a small piece of stone to create a small hole that allow water to fall over the corpse in the pyre. This is called the final sacred abhisheka pooja performed to the divine corpse.
163) Prior to putting the pyre onto flame, five bunches of darba grass will be placed over the head, eyes, mouth, stomach, navel and foot of the corpse and certain ritual performed. They are believed to be essential items intended to purify the departed soul and guide its journey to the afterlife.
164) The Kartha performing the ritual carrying the holed earthen pitcher after circumambulating around the body, will stand facing opposite direction of the pyre and chant ‘Om’ before placing the sandalwood stick which contains fire over the head of the pyre with the help of some one. Then, he will throw down the pitcher to break it. Carrying holed pitcher around the pyre and finally breaking it to symbolize the release of the soul from the body of the corpse. This ritual also varies from community to community. In some families, Kartha places the sandal wood stick over the pyre standing facing the pyre.
165) Finally, the Kartha will set the pyre on fire, using darba grass ignited with fire. The family pundit will guide how darba grass bunches intended for putting the pyre to flame are prepared.
166) Uthpana agni: Three bunches of darba grass are made ready for putting the pyre to fire. The term ‘Uthpana agni or Utthapanagni’ refers to a sacred fire specially prepared with three bunches of darba grass. The three stages of creating fire through Uthpana agni, for putting pyre into fire involves the following. The first bunch of darba grass will be ignited with fire; it will be used to ignite fire to the second bunch of darba grass and finally the third bunch of darba grass gets ignited by the second bunch of darba grass. The third bunch of darba grass thus ignited with fire is used for lighting up the pyre.
167) Once the pyre is put on fire, entire bunches of darba grass will also be thrown into the burning pyre. The Kartha throws away the temporary finger ring made of darba (Kusha grass) grass put on for the ritual, the thread worn around his shoulder etc into the area where the foot of the corpse lay and stay there till the entire body of the corpse goes up in flame.
168) The corpses of male who was widower or female who was a widow will invariably be put to flame only by the ritual involving Uthpana agni.
169) Kapala Agni: Pieces of cow dung cakes will be placed inside a mud baked (terracotta) pitcher which will be fire-heated. By the high degree of heat generated, the cow dung cakes inside the pot get ignited. The fire thus created on the cow dung cake will be used for igniting the pyre on which the corpse of celibates will be laid. Creating fire in this manner for lighting up the pyre to flame is called ‘Kapala agni’.
170) Dushagni: A terracotta pitcher containing a fistful of husk will be heated to high degree of temperature which in turn ignite the husk kept inside. The fire thus created on husk used for lighting up the pyre is called ‘Dushagni’ and used for cremating the corpse of male who does not have his Upanayana performed (without sacred thread) or to the unmarried female.
171) Ovbasana agni: When one of the married- either husband or the wife- demised, then they are cremated with the fire generated by the process known as Ovbasa agni. Ovbasana refers to a specific mantra upasana. It is devotional worship chanting mantras to invoke specific deity or aspect of the divine. Fire can be generated by the chants of Ovbasana.
172) Unlike in the past, where the body of the corpse was placed on a pile of firewood and put to flame, these days, corpses are cremated in electric cremation chambers fitted with heating coils which generate extremely high temperatures to burn the corpse. After completing the rituals and rites, the body of the corpse is placed on the movable bed of the ‘electric cremation chambers’ and in a symbolic act, a firewood is placed over the body of the corpse. The bed is then pushed inside the chamber and closed. Extremely high temperature of heat generated inside the electric chamber burns down the body of the corpse to ashes within half an hour or so.
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 7(a)
First Day Rituals: Rites performed in Crematorium – Philosophy explained
173) The first reason for performing final sacred abhisheka pooja- allowing water to flow down over the corpse from the hole of the pitcher-is to remove the sins of the deceased and to pave way for the soul to rest in peace. Dharma shastra states that even if a person had committed many evil deeds, he may have also performed few good deeds during his lifetime; therefore, the demised need to be shown respect at least for those good deeds; hence final rites with due respect performed. The act symbolizes immersing the soul in the flow of ganges.
174) The second philosophy is that even if the body is burned in the fire, the soul exited will not be allowed to remain in hunger till it reached Yama Loga; hence, for the next twelve days, food will be cooked in a pitcher and water supplied to satiate its thirst .
175) The third philosophy is that the soul after deserting the body of the corpse temporarily turns into another subtle form called Pretha and while travelling with the corpse to the crematorium begin to experience hunger and thirst. Therefore, to quench the thirst of the Pretha the water is poured through the hole of the pitcher.
176) The rituals performed by the Karthas and others help the soul transition peacefully to its next stage of existence after wholeheartedly blessing the family members for prosperity. The earthen pitcher break when it falls: similarly, our life will come to an end when we break laws of divine.
177) Lord Shiva frequents crematorium and applies ashes all over his body. He is both embodiment of creation as well as destruction when he is in the aspect of Rudra. Hence, philosophically speaking, the body of the corpse when turns into ashes in the crematorium, finally merges with Lord Shiva when he applies its ashes over his body.
178) Similar to a seed which turns into a plant or tree and the fruits plucked from is offered as sacrificial food to the divine, humans also take birth and after enjoying various stages in life, by way of thanks giving, they offer their body to the creator by turning their body into ashes finally.
179) The Yagyas are considered to be sacred ritual in which several materials are put into the fire as oblation. In the same manner the physical body possessing sixteen divine energies/aspects are put to fire on the pyre as oblation. Only when the body of the corpse is put to fire, then the divine energies given by Lord Surya in the eyes, Lord Agni in the mouth and Lord Indira in the hands also returns back to their original bases in divine abode.
180) The shastras tell, ‘return the body to the giver’. Therefore, whoever is born on earth, whichever religion they belong to, they will have to return back the body to the giver either by way of cremation, burial or be thrown away to be consumed by scavenger birds (Zoroastrianism).
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 7(b)
Mode of disposal- Burial or cremation ?
181) Once some one demised, his body is disposed off either by putting it on flame of fire or body buried or thrown away to be consumed by scavenger birds in tower of silence.
182) In ancient periods of time, whenever a pregnant women died, the baby inside her womb used to be taken out and buried secretly in their garden before the body of the mother was cremated separately. The shastras states that the unborn should not be put to fire and cremated, but should only be buried.
183) The reason attributed to the burial of the unborn baby is that the skull of the baby is embodiment of divine energies by acts of nature which remains beyond our comprehension. The skull is believed to be the tenth and highest energy center or chakra, the gateway through which the soul enters and leaves the body.
184) The practice of leaving the crematorium after the body has fully caught fire and returning the next day for collecting the ashes is part of long followed tradition. In the event the same practice is followed in the case of new born babies, the sorcerers and wizards, waiting for such a thing to happen will pull out the skull of the baby on flames after everyone left the crematorium and takes it away with them.
185) The skulls of the babies which has immense divine powers will be misused by the sorcerers and wizards to cast curses, hexes, and spells to cause illness, death, misfortune, or causing crop failure, all the bizarre acts for monetary considerations.
186) Hence in ancient periods of time no babies were taken to the crematorium for cremation. They used to be either buried or burnt secretly in their gardens.
187) The reason why buried corpses of the babies were not dug out to remove the skulls is, the divine powers imbibed in the skull of the babies get destroyed once they are buried. This belief based on tradition has been passed down through word-of-mouth stories over time.
188) When some one met death in a family -whether the death was caused out of suicide, murder or natural death, the family pundit guides the family to perform appropriate ritual needed to honor the departed soul and aid its journey toward liberation.
189) As per the hindu shastras, the corpses of everyone, whether the deceased had committed suicide or met natural death or died in accidents are to be only put to flame of fire and cremated.
190) Rigveda (10.16) states that those above the age of eighteen when demised should necessarily be cremated and their corpses put to fire, but the bodies of the children are to be buried.
191) However, of late, even the bodies of the children are taken to the crematorium and put to flame as the sorcerers and wizards can not take out the body which had been put in a closed, high-temperature, electric-powered furnace or chamber.
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 8
First Day ritual: Post funeral rites: Immersion of bones and ashes
192) Few hours after the corpse has been cremated, the cremator takes out the ashes and bone fragments from the chamber and hands it over to the Kartha performing last rites if the body had been cremated in the electric-powered furnace or chamber.
193) However, if the cremation has been done in open air using wooden stacks in traditional manner, it is customary for the Kartha to collect the bone fragments and ashes only the following day, after the body gets completely burnt and pyre cooled.
194) Those (bones and ashes, known as asthi) will be placed into an earthen pot or pitcher containing milk. The pitcher will then be taken for immersion into a sacred body of water, such as a river or the sea. This ritual is called Sanjayana or Ashthi Visarjan. The Kartha and those who accompanied him will take bath there itself and return home. After Sanjayana the Kartha will wear a finger ring made of darba grass (Kusha Grass) after performing a formal ritual. The pundits performing the rites will prepare the darba grass ring and give it to Kartha.
195) As per the texts in the Vedas, the corpse should be cremated and its ashes immersed in the sea or rivers. For those whom such rituals have not been done, the soul disembodied will remain restless in Pretha form, keep hovering over the burnt bones of the body of the deceased in crematoriums. The Pretha form is explained later.
196) Why do the Karthas perform Sanjayana? The basic reason is to ensure that the soul remains free of hunger and thirst on way to Yama loga. While immersing the bones and ashes of the deceased in water beds the river goddess is requested to keep quenching the thirst of the soul by keeping its subtle body Pretha form- moist while it undertakes journey to Yama Loga.
197) One may wonder whether the rivers possess such power. The generally accepted divine philosophy has been that entire rivers in the earth have been created from the energies of river Ganges who is mother goddess of rivers and sea. During ritual, a prayer is placed to goddess ganges that the soul whose bodily parts have been immersed into the water bodies, must take birth and live useful to the universe similar to water which is essential for life.
198) Well off family members usually take the ashes to Kashi and immerse them in the ganges while those who cannot go to Kashi immerse the ashes in any river bed which are believed to be from the divine energies of mother river ganges.
199) Why are the bones immersed in pot of milk? The first food of a newborn baby is mother’s milk. The souls of the dead are also destined to take birth as a child according to their karma. Since mother’s milk is source of energy to newly born- be it be human or animals- putting bones of the soul into the milk is a symbolic act of feeding mother’s milk to keep hem energized till it reached Yama Loga.
200) When bone fragments taken out from the pyre is put into the pitcher containing milk, the soul of the deceased mentally accept the milk as spiritual sustenance. After the bones have been collected thus, the Karthas shave off their beards and moustaches. Some people also tonsure their heads. It is symbolic gesture to show that henceforth in the remaining twelve days, he will perform the karmas to the departed soul cheerfully without remorse.
201) There is another reason for tonsuring the head. As per the cultural and spiritual beliefs, the crematories or funeral grounds are a gathering place for the evil spirits, some of which may be malevolent. They along with the soul of the deceased which manage to temporarily escape from the clutches of Vasus will try to enter into the hair follicles on head of those who are present in the funeral rites or sit on the hair of the blood relatives of the deceased who may be returning home.
202) Hence in ancient days, it was tradition, that the relatives who had gone to the crematorium to attend the funeral rites tonsured their heads. Even today, in many of the interior villages, everyone in the village tonsures their heads because when someone demised, the entire village participate in the funeral procession and take part in the subsequent rites in the crematorium.
203) When the body of the deceased is taken to the crematorium, the soul which exited the body also travel along with it to directly witness the destruction of the body in which it had resided till then. Once satisfied with the rituals performed, it silently accepts captivity at the hands of the Vasus through Yama Ganas.
204) Though the funeral rituals or rites will end on the first day itself provided the corpse was cremated in electric chamber, in those cases where the cremation took place in traditional manner using wooden stacks, the funeral rites end only on second day. Hence the ritual of laying the stone to continue the twelve-day ritual starts on the third day.
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 9
Post funeral rites – Second to twelfth (2-12) day Rituals
205) Let us now understand the post cremation rituals performed during next twelve days after cremation.
206) The ceremonies performed after cremation are called obsequies. Since the rituals/ceremonies are performed to the body of the corpse they are termed as inauspicious rituals.
207) Before the Kartha returned home after completing the funeral rites, the house will be neatly cleaned and kept ready to commence the next twelve days ritual. Once the pundit performs the purification ceremony, the stone laying ritual called Pasana Sthapana will be performed. Pasana means Stone and Sthapana means consecration.
208) A small, clean stone will be installed in a suitable, clean place (leaving half portion showing out) within the complex or where post cremation rituals will be performed. This is done on the first day post funeral rites. The small stone believed to be the resting place for the soul of the departed along with two small yagya kunds will be installed where all the twelve days rituals will be performed.
209) As per the Agama Shastras, if the stone laying ritual -Pasana Sthapana- could not be done on the first day due to unforeseen circumstances, then it will be done on the third day. If the Pasana Sthapana cannot be performed on the intended third day, the ritual can be rescheduled to an alternate day, always on the odd-numbered days such as the 5th, 7th, or 9th day.
210) As per Garuda Purana, the soul which deserted the body of the deceased remains in the space for first twelve days in a ghostly state called Pretha which is formed through the rituals performed by their family. This new body-Pretha-, which is recognizable by celestial beings, is needed for the soul’s journey to the realm of Yama, the god of death.
211) Every day, with the chants of specific mantras, the Kartha will request the pre Pretha soul to enter into the stone installed to accept the offerings made. The prohibit who is guiding the Kartha ensures chanting of the correct mantras to properly respect the departed soul and ensure the ritual’s efficacy.
212) The daughter-in-law or daughter of the demised take bath where the rituals are performed and as instructed by the pundit prepare the pind (rice with puffed rice) for the rituals. After preparing the Pind, she will clean up the fire stove (meant for cooking) and other utensils and keep them ready for preparing Pind the next day. They will not be used for other purposes till the rituals are completed on all the twelve days.
213) The soul in the form of Pretha which will be under the custody of Vasus, Adithyas and Rudras will be brought to the site where the rituals are held and allowed to temporarily enter into the stone when ritually invited by chants of mantras and accept the rituals performed.
214) During the first ten days of ritual, the Pretha accepts the cooked rice mixed with sesame seeds which is offered to the stone installed in which it temporarily stays. By this, the Pretha begins to shed its ghostly state and turn into Pinda body (lump or mass body, but in subtle form) which can only receive the sustenance; it will be visible and recognizable only by the celestial beings.
215) This ritual will be continued in the same manner, in the same place, for the next ten days after cremation. Only then on the thirteenth day, Subasweekaram, the auspicious function can be held.
216) Every day in the post-funeral rituals, the Kartha offers water mixed with sesame seed in the name of Vasuothaga and Thilothaga, followed by offering food and other items which help the soul transition to the afterlife.
217) It is stated in the hindu scriptures that when the Pind in the name of Vasuothaga and Thilothaga is continued to be offered by the Kartha in the ritual performed every day for ten days, the soul happily accepts them which in turn cause the soul attain a temporary ever young youthful appearance of a subtle body to feel happy for itself.
218) Everyday each son of the deceased, beginning from the youngest to the elder brother offers the Pind.
219) The water mixed with sesame seeds is poured through bunch of darba grass in the ritual Vasuothaga and Thilothaga.
220) Only after performing Vasuothaga and Thilothaga, the cooked rice called Pind will be offered to the soul along with a tender coconut water to satiate its hunger and thirst. Thus, the rice, sesame seeds, water and darba grass plays important role in this ritual.
221) Since the entire place where the ritual is done turns into temporary divinely abode overwhelmed with divine energies powers, the darba grass, the sacred material is used in that sacred place. The darba grass is believed to have purifying and protective properties that protect the ritual’s sanctity from negative forces.
222) The Pind will have to be offered in the same place (same hall of garden) for all the ten days where the ritual was performed on the first day. After the ritual of offering Pind is completed, again those who performed and attended the Karma will have to take bath before entering home.
223) A lamp is kept burning for 24 hours a day for all the ten days in the place where rituals are done. Animals like dogs and cats should be kept away from urinating and defecating the place. The cooking kund is kept protected by covering it with an old dhoti or saree of the deceased.
224) The ritual Vasuothaga and Thilothaga is kept on increasing each day-three times on the first day, four times next day, five times next to next day and so on till tenth day when the same will be performed twelve times in the name of Ekotra Vritti Shrarddha. It varies from families to families. By this the Kartha offers his reverence, gratitude, and prayers to the souls of the departed.
225) In the same manner, a ritual called Nava Shrarddha will be performed on the odd-numbered days between the first and eleventh day (1,3,5,7,9,11). The Nava Shardha rituals provide spiritual nourishment and mental peace to the departed soul which is on its journey to Pitru Loka, the realm of ancestors. Rice will be given (Dhan) to the Pundit, each day after performing Nava Shrarddha.
226) Offering the sesame seeds, water, and pinda through darba grass for eleven days allows the soul to gradually develop a new body -subtle body- in the same appearance when it died.
227) This is explained in Garuda Purana thus. The Pinda offered on the first day creates the head, the second day’s Pinda creates shoulder and neck.
228) The hands and chest are created by the Pinda offered on third day; the fourth day Pinda creates stomach; the fifth day Pinda creates navel.
229) The sixth day Pinda creates buttocks at the back, the seventh day; Pinda creates the private parts of female and male; the eighth day Pinda gives the thighs.
230) Pinda on nineth day creates legs, while on the tenth day, the full appearance of the deceased gets created in subtle form.
231) After the soul accepts the Pinda given on eleventh day, it transforms the offered food into the food consumable by the Pithrus, sends it to them to absorb the offerings for their sustenance and mental satisfaction.
232) On the eleventh day, when the subtle body is fully formed, the soul is allowed to make final visit to the home where it lived to see and hear the voices of its loved ones and recounts memories of the past.
233) Once the soul calms down at the end of the rituals performed on the 12th day, it is handed over by the Vasus to the Yama Ganas to begins its journey to Yama Loga.
234) The rituals lasting for 12 days are meant to prepare the soul face the punishments in Yama Loga based on the accumulated karma before reaching Pithru Loga. Extra rituals are performed on 10th, 11th and 12th day.
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 9 (a)
Second day to Eleventh day Rituals – Reasons
235) In Hindu rituals, odd days are considered auspicious. In the event that the Pasana Sthapana had not been done on the first day and deferred to any other odd day, then the most important part of the protocol is that all rituals which would have been performed on the missed days must be completed first to ensure that no part of the ritual is omitted due to the delay which took place in Pasana Sthapana.
236) In Hindu tradition Lord Vinayaga (called Lord Ganesha) is traditionally invoked first in any ritual, or auspicious events followed by other deities, reason being Lord Vinayaga is the remover of obstacles and difficulties. The ancient belief was that since number one marks the start of a sequence; the odd number one is considered to be equivalent to Lord Vinayaga. Hence, the karmas, invariably commenced on the odd days.
237) In the past, funeral rituals and subsequent twelve days rituals were performed at home. Therefore, the Pasana Sthapana (installing stone) was also done in the corner of their garden or in a separate room at the back yard of the house. In the modern era however, since most of the families live in the apartments, the rituals are done under the stair cases in basement or performed under a coconut tree at the back if one was available, provided there was no objection from other inmates in the apartment.
238) However, in most of the apartments, there are many restrictions and objections for performing such post funeral rituals, specifically the final, purification rites on the 11th and 12th day and therefore, the 12 days inauspicious ritual connected to post funeral rites are performed in rented halls and other such outlets which offer all the facilities to perform 12 days rituals, while the auspicious 13th day function is performed at home.
239) The belief based on agamic shastra is that the place where the Pasana Sthapana was done for post funeral rites become sacred divine abodes like mount Kailash and Indra Loga to the souls exited from the body. The souls temporarily released by the Vasus to take part in the rituals will happily intrude into the stone erected and seated there to accept the rituals treating it as if it was their own palace.
240) The text in the shastras describes a concept where the soul is metaphorically seated on a stone erected for the rituals that serves as a temporary throne. The moment the soul comes out of the stone, its movement is again restricted to the ritual boundary as it is always surrounded by the guardian deities of the souls such as Vasus, Rudras, and Adithyas restricting its free movements.
241) Even then the imprisoned souls keep blessing the families performing the rituals, by wholeheartedly accepting the Pind Dhan given in those twelve days of post funeral rituals.
242) In the halls where the rituals are done, each stone erected by one family remains soul specific to the one departed from the body of their family member, and souls exited from other bodies can not enter into it.
243) Why do the ladies prepare the Pind wearing wet sarees?
244) In ancient days, on all twelve days, it was tradition to perform the rituals near river beds. The ladies who took bath will not find closed space to dry the sarees and other clothes, before wearing them again to cook the pind; hence, they continued the ritual wearing wet clothes. There is therefore neither scientific reason nor karmic reasons attached to the act of cooking the pind with wet clothes.
245) They were not permitted to carry dried clothes from home to change them after taking bath because the whole house remains impure (also termed here as polluted) for twelve days due to death. Since the ladies travelled from such impure house, they took bath to purify themselves before cooking the Pind.
246) However, some justify such act by citing scientific reason. The death of dear ones causes a temporary rise in body temperature which is activated by the nervous system in times of mental and emotional distress. The scriptures state that while performing any rituals, one has to remain focused on them with cool and calm mind. Since moist body cools down the heat of the body, cooking the Pind with wet clothes have been suggested.
247) This emotional visit on 11th day ritual marks a critical transition before soul’s final departure to Yama Loga. The final visit makes it clear that it can no longer get attached to its former earthly life; therefore, it sheds away the feelings of the departed carried by it in the subtle form, and gets ready to take the arduous journey towards the Yama Loga.
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 10
Rituals performed on 10th day :
248) On the tenth day, after cremation, various rituals are performed to rest the soul in peace and help the Pithrus of family recover from their grief. The rituals include Nithya Vidhi, Pangali (Panceners) Tharpan (Kuzhi Tharpan), Prabhutha Bali, Bhashana Uththaabanam, Shanti Homam, Ananda Homam, Charu Sambhavanai, distribution of Appam (name of a sweet dish), Pori( puffy rice kernels) etc
249) The soul stays in the water in the first three days, next three days it stays in fire (Agni) and next three days it stays with Vasus, Rudras and Adithyas. But none of them will be visible to the eyes of humans.
250) On all the nine days, it is brought to earth for the limited purpose of receiving the Pind by staying in the stone erected for its stay and goes back to the space with Vasus. However, on the tenth day it is allowed to stay for several hours to attend all the rituals performed on that day. Hence, the tenth day ritual gains more importance.
251) On the tenth day, the ritual of Vasuothaga is performed 30 times and Thilothaga 75 times .
252) Kuzhi Tharpan: Close relatives of the deceased visit the ritual site and perform Kuzhi Tharpan, which is the rite performed for the ancestors. It involves digging a small pit with bare hands and pouring water mixed with sesame seeds into it (For this ritual, seas sand filled ground space is kept ready in the halls where the ritual is held) . As said in one of the earlier paras, the hindu traditional belief is, the life energies of the water poured in the pits, deeply intrudes into the ground and gets mixed with the under-ground water which merges with the water of sea or river flowing underground. The water vapors evaporated from them turns into invisible water energies consumable only by those in the Pithru Loga to quench their thirst by the powers of prayers made in the rituals. All these beliefs are based on the some of the agama and Vedic texts.
253) Therefore, in the ancient days such rituals were performed near river beds or sea beds to ensure that the water energies poured through the pit merges with the underground river or the sea in some manner. However, as time passed, when the ritual was carried out in several other places far away from sea or river beds, the one who performed the said ritual prayed to the Mother goddess of water-ganges, to ensure that the water mixed with sesame seeds used in the ritual quenched the thirst of the ancestors.
254) Recall the Sanjayanam ritual in which the ashes of the body and bones are immersed into the river or sea water beds. Their life energies remain floating in the water for next twelve days. By the grace of mother ganges, the life energies of the ashes of the body, the bones of the deceased and the life energies of the water mixed with sesame seeds poured in Kuzhi Tharpan when merge somewhere in the sea, river sides or water bodies flowing underground, those water energies were able to quench the thirst of the soul of the departed under the custody of Vasus.
255) This is one of the reasons why the shastras insisted on performing the rituals near river beds or sea beds or some other water bodies. Again, these are not based on any scientific research but are purely based on the traditional beliefs based on some spiritual texts, percolated down generations after generations.
256) The life energies in the form of molecules evaporated by the water bodies which contain the sesame seeds mixed water poured by the family members of the deceased, not only keep quenching the thirst of the soul of their families journeying to Yama Loga, but also make them feel that they (soul) have not been left in distress, but have the support of his family even after death. This is the spiritual philosophy of this ritual .
257) One can question when millions and millions of such life energy atoms float in the space above earth, how will a specific soul belonging to a family identify the life energies of tarpana water offered by the relatives of the deceased from whose body it exited. Even though there are millions and millions of life energies floating in the air in the form of atoms, like magnets, a soul can only attract the life energy atoms emanated from the tarpana water offered by its own family members.
258) This is the grand design of divine. This strange divine act remains beyond our contemplation and is foundational belief in many philosophical traditions and spiritual concepts.
259) During the Tharpan ritual, the water is poured through the gap between the index finger and thumb of the right hand. The rekhas (lines) running in those areas are generally called Pithru bhoomya rekhas (rekha meaning lines).
260) The water which flows rubbing those lines absorb the life energies from those lines and gets converted to life energies in the form of atoms specific to their Pithrus; hence, the souls are able to identify the atoms of the life energies of the water of their family member and absorb them like magnets. It is again based on spiritual and metaphysical belief system rooted in ancient traditions.
261) Pred Bali or Prabhutha Bali :- Pred Bali also called Prabhutha Bali is the ritual of placing half-cooked rice besides few salt less items like idly, fried balls of some grains, each eleven in nos, and humming bird tree leaves or august tree leaves, a leafy green vegetable etc before the stone (stone erected in Pasana Sthapana) and request the departed soul to accept it when it is believed to be experiencing extreme hunger at this point in its journey. This ritual too may vary from community to community.
262) Prior to above, a single line small rangoli will be drawn before the erected stone; a cloth placed on the ground touching the stone, its head facing south; darba grass will be kept spread over the cloth; all the items as said in previous para laid over it, water mixed with sesame seeds sprinkled over them and prayed for the prosperity of their family. Finally, all the utensils will be washed with sesame seeds mixed water. The ritual ends thus.
263) The food cooked without adding salt, made ready the previous night, will be put by the relatives of the deceased. This ritual is performed to frustrate the soul’s heart, which unable to partake them will prefer to stay away breaking ties with the materialistic world. This ritual may also differ from families to families.
264) Taking out the stone:- Thereafter everyone except the one performing the karma will be sent out and gifts by way of money and materials given to the pundits. The one performing karma will close his eyes, pray to the soul requesting it to go to Pithru Loga. The Prasana Sthapana stone will be taken out to signify the completion of the ritual for the departed soul. The Karthas will open their eyes only after taking out the stone from the ground. The act of closing eyes and praying is an expression of deep concentration and devotion. The philosophical reason behind removal of the stone is to tell the soul that the connection to the earthly plane for the soul has been severed; the soul is allowed to move forward to its new spiritual home.
265) The above ritual is called Bhashana Utthapanam meaning purification ceremony. The stone will be cleaned to remove the mud stuck on it and wrapped in a clean cloth, buried in the pit kept readily dug and then Kartha and others return back to home to take bath after shaving off their moustaches and beard. These are the sequence of purification rituals performed after removal of the stone from the ground.
266) Yathasthanam : The soul turns into a subtle body in the size of a thumb after the stone has been taken out and gets ready to go to its place of origin. This next act after Bhashana Utthapanam is Yathasthanam meaning sending back the soul which turns into thumb sized subtle body, to the proper place along with the messengers of Lord Yama.
267) If the wife of the deceased was alive, she should also participate in the Prabhutha Bali ritual. It is a poignant ceremony in which the widow receives a new silk saree from her brothers, symbolizing the end of the intense mourning period. The new saree will be placed over her shoulder instead of giving it in her hand. It symbolizes the end of materialistic life in which she lived and signal to her to enter into a new stage of simpler life as her husband had demised. There is no scientific reason attributed for performing this ritual; it is only to guide the widow to shed materialistic desires, a traditional expectation after her husband’s death.
268) Removal of Mangal Sutra (Wedding Badge):- At the end of the tenth day ritual, in the mid of the night, the widow removes her marital decorations, such as Bangles, Sindhoor, and the Wedding badge and hand them over to her brothers. It signifies the end of her marital status and her transition into a new social role as a widow. Her brothers will put them in a cup of milk to purify them. By removing her marital symbols, the widow is symbolically severing the last ties of her husband’s soul .
269) In ancient days of time, several restrictions were imposed on the widow. On the tenth day the widow not only remove the martial symbols, but also shave off her head and begin to wear only white coloured or dull light brownish coloured sarees. Thereafter they will never wear coloured sarees or clothes, nor ornaments; nor put a bindi or Sindhoor; nor went out of home for next twelve months thereafter but begin to lead a life of seclusion and austerity. Such restrictions are prescribed in Garuda Purana.
270) The real intention for such acts is to discourage the widows from indulging in the worldly pleasures and instead pursue the path of spiritually devoted until the end of their lives. However, as the time passed, historical changes in the treatment of widows have taken away all the restrictions imposed on the widows who freely act as per their conscience.
271) Ananda Homa:- In some families another ritual called Ananda Homa will also be performed. Those rituals were meant to keep the soul rest in peace and to bring back happiness in the families of the demised. That also marks the temporary end of the inauspicious period which however resumes next day before performing the eleventh day ritual.
272) Shanthi Homa:- After completing the rituals, the Karthas return home, take bath and perform a ritual in the name of Shanthi Homa followed by small feast given to those who were assembled there. Some eatables like fried rice flakes and a sweet dish will also be distributed to the relatives and friends in the name of charity of the deceased.
273) Vasus, Ekadasaya Rudras and Adithyas are Karma mantra specific deities which safeguard the souls from getting trapped by the evil spirits and gives them protection for first ten days and ensure that the souls remain free of hunger and thirst.
274) Why the time line of ten days have been set is, Lord Yama takes takes ten days time to analyse the good and bad deeds of the soul of the deceased to take some decision on the punishments to me meted out .
275) Even though the soul goes into the custody of the Yama Ganas from Vasus, Ekadasaya Rudras and Adithyas at the end of the tenth day rituals, the Yama Ganas will allow the soul to take part in the rituals held on 11th and 12th day.
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 11
Rituals performed on 11th day :
276) Ekodhishtam: The ritual performed on the eleventh day is called Ekodhishtam, which is a shardha ceremony (ceremonial offering) meaning ritual performed for one demised.
277) The ritual is also performed to help the soul transition from the earthly plane to the realm of the ancestors (Pitru-loga). Until the eleventh day, the soul is considered an earthbound Pretha. Some of the rituals involved in it include:
• Yajnopavita Dharana: After taking bath the Karthas remove the old thread worn by them during the Karma in the last ten days and wear fresh one.
• Punyavachanam: This is a purification ceremony involving chant of several mantras to cleanse the home and bless its inhabitants for good fortune, peace, and prosperity after the post funeral rituals have been completed.
• Nava Shardha : The nine types of gifts offered through a ritual with chants of mantras on behalf of the deceased is called nava Shardha. The offerings are believed to nourish the soul during its journey to the court of Yama, the god of death.
• Vrusha Uthsarjanam :: Vrishabha means a bullock and Uthsarjana means to set free. This ritual is done to free the Pretha body of the soul from the universe and to send it to Pithru Loga to join with them. In this ritual a trident like mark is put over the body of a bullock calf and the same offered to some one so that the soul of the deceased does not retain its ghostly body.
• Ekadasa Brahmana Bojana: Offering feast to eleven Brahmin priests.
• Adhya Masika: This ritual is also done to help the deceased’s soul transition from a restless ghost (Pretha) into a revered ancestor. Performing the ritual is an act of duty (dharma) and faith (shardha) to help their ancestor find peace. This ritual also relieves the agony of the family members of the deceased and bring back happiness.
• Meal for one person:- This is called Oththan food; oththan meaning one person. This is another important ritual that takes place on the eleventh day. On that day, a pundit called Oththan (One man) will be called to prepare unsalted and simple food there, eat it and leave without looking at any one.
• The avoidance of salt and other flavorful items in the food prepared by him reflects the family’s state of sorrow and separation from worldly pleasures. He will be given dakshina (a charitable fee or gift) for it before he begins to prepare food.
• No one should see him when he leaves. He is called Pretha person. The pundit eating the salt less food and leaving without being seen by anyone symbolize the Pretha relieved from its hungry ghost state.
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 12
Rituals performed on 12th day :
278) 12th day ritual consists of Punyavachanam, Ovbasana, Sodaga, Sabindikaranam, Sodhasakumba and giving charities etc. All those rituals are also performed to help the soul of the deceased transition into the afterlife. Giving a water pot made of vessel as gift to the pundit is known as Sodhasa Kumba Shardha and it is meant to quench the thirst of the soul of the deceased and involves sixteen (Sodhasa) rites.
279) Punyavachanam: This is a purification ceremony involving chant of several mantras to cleanse the home and bless its inhabitants for good fortune, peace, and prosperity after the post funeral rituals have been completed.
280) Sabindikaranam :- During this ceremony, pindas (rice balls) are offered. Three Pindas of three ancestors will be first offered and then they will be mixed with the Pinda of the deceased praying that the soul of the deceased join with the three ancestors at some point of time.
281) This ritual can be performed either on the 12th day or on the 15th day or after six months, but should be performed without fail. Till the ritual of Sabindikaranam is performed, the Karthas should not take part in any auspicious functions. Only after performing Sabindikaranam, the soul will shed its Pretha body. After performing Sabindikaranam, shardha for the demised mother, and three ancestors from father’s side is performed.
282) The soul which shreds the Pretha body does not immediately reach any realm in divine land. The journey takes one full year after the rituals have been completed on 12th day. On the way the soul is allowed to rest in sixteen places; hence, within one year sixteen Sodhasakumba Shardha is done to ensure that the soul which will be rested in sixteen places on way to Yama Loga remain free of hunger and thirst.
283) In the event the sixteen Sodhasakumba Shardha could not be completed on specified periods of time, before the end of one year all the sixteen Sodhasakumba Shardha is to performed on any specific day as guided by the family pundit. Unless the same is performed, it is believed that the soul of the deceased will remain agonized before reaching Yama Loga; it will cause doom to the family members by way of hurdles and unwarranted issues disturbing peace at home.
284) Since it may not be practically possible to complete sixteen Sodhasakumba Shardha on a single day, on the 12th day of the ritual, sixteen pundits performing the ceremony will be offered dakshina and suitable gifts to their satisfaction. Besides offering gifts and Dakshina to sixteen pundits, one more Brahmin will be well fed at home and suitable Dakshina given.
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 12(a)
Rituals on 12th day -Reasons
285) It is stated that the soul is offered Pind along with sesame seeds mixed water for 11 days which it accepts and consume. When it is the fact that the soul has no physical body, how would it consume them? Does the statement not contradict with each other. Only after we physically consume some food, which enters into our stomach, the feeling of fullness satisfy our hunger. All of them are connected to physical acts. But the soul in subtle body can not physically consume any food, nor drink water. Therefore, the mantra waves released by the chants when converts the Pind along with sesame seeds mixed with water into some kind of food energies consumable by the subtle body the invisible souls absorb them to satiate their hunger and thirst.
286) The pundits use darba grass and sesame seeds due to their specific sacred and energetic properties. The white sesame seed is believed to have originated from the sweat of Lord Vishnu and the black sesame seed from Varaha Murthi, another incarnation of Lord Vishnu; hence, both are usable and considered to be most sacred.
287) It is stated in the shastras that only when the sacred items like sesame seeds and darba grass are used in the post funeral rituals, the soul ultimately finds a place in Vaikunda, which is the heaven.
288) It is believed in Hinduism that trinities- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva reside in the darba grass which has originated from space above earth. In view of the presence of the three Lords in the darba grass, the invisible evil spirits can not stay in the places where it was present; hence, the sacred darba grass is used in the rituals to drive away the evils who attempt to enter.
289) Darpa has a magnetic force of unknown magnitude, which gives life energy to those who hold it in their hands. The belief in the Vedic and Hindu traditions, is that a person loses life energy during the period of performing the rituals and darba grass reinstate it. The glory of Darpa is also mentioned in the Vedas.
290) As per the belief based on shastras, if we fail to perform the twelve days rituals , the souls of the deceased will not quickly reach Pithru Loga and will be wandering aimlessly with broken heart after getting due justice from Lord Yama. If they are agonized, it will spell doom to the families concerned.
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 13
Rituals on 13th day
291) While the first twelve days rituals are meant for the deceased, the thirteenth day, ceremony which is auspicious marks the end of mourning of the families of the deceased. The inauspicious rituals thus end with auspicious note. The thirteenth day ceremony also signals that the peaceful journey of the soul to join seven generations of Pithrus in the Pithru Loga after getting due justice from Lord Yama based on the 292) Subasweekaram:- On the thirteenth day Subasweekaram will be performed to purify the atmosphere at home. The ganges water will be sprinkled in all the rooms to sanctify home. It is tied to the belief that the departed soul has transitioned, and the living family members can now move forward to lead life of normalcy.
293) The other rituals held are Navagraha Homa and Shanthi Homa.
294) In the evening the Pundit narrate the story of how Jeevathma travels after death; the meanings of the rituals done; the story is based on Garuda Purana.
295) In the evening everyone of the family members visits some temple and worship for the happiness and well being of the family.
JOURNEY OF JEEVATHMA- 14
12 days mourning period – Restrictions
296) There is an intense period of mourning immediately following the death of one in the family which lasts for twelve days. During this time, because the family of the deceased is considered impure or non-sacred, they are bound by several rules of behavior.
297) Based on the texts in agama shastra, every family in whose home some one had demised observe twelve days mourning period period- inauspicious period- since they are required to perform inauspicious rituals (the act of making something ceremonially impure) to the departed soul.
298) The twelve days of rituals are meant to peacefully allow the soul reach Pithru Loga to join with souls of its seven generations Pithrus present there. During the period of mourning no family cook food in their home for a specific period- 12 days- following a death
299) In ancient period of time, people used to cook food by lighting up the cooking stove using fire wood and cow dung cakes. In crematorium too, only the fire wood and cow dung cakes were used for both cremating the body of the corpse and in the next 12-day rituals lighting up the homa kund and stove to cook pinda etc. Therefore, the shastras prohibited lighting up the cooking stove with any medium like fire wood or cow dung cakes as lighting up fire in cooking stove is considered inappropriate till the funeral pyre is lit to burn the corpse and subsequent 12 days of rituals were completed.
300) Therefore, food for the family used to be daily received from the houses of near relatives and friends of those dead.
301) Unlike the rituals performed today, in ancient period of time it took many hours to complete the karma since several mantras are to be chanted for each step in the ritual. After completing the rituals, the Kartha and his family members have to take bath before doing anything. In the homes where children and elders were present, they can not remain hungry for long hours waiting for food to be cooked after completion of karmas. Therefore, the near relatives brought food and fed them on humanitarian grounds.
302) Abstaining from cooking is a sign of respect for the deceased and acknowledges that the family is in a state of deep grief and emotional distress. In ancient period of time, after cooking food it was tradition to put few grains of cooked rice into the fire in the cooking medium to offer it as oblation to Lord Agni. By offering the first portion of cooked rice, the householder was performing a smaller, everyday version of yagna in their kitchens. Since no poojas or yagnas invoking divines are to be done during mourning period of 12 days, lighting up any cooking medium has been prohibited in the shastras.
303) However, these days in many families they use electric heaters and microwave ovens to make coffee or tea. They justify their act citing use of electric geysers to heat water for bathing.
304) Why the period of 12 days is treated as inauspicious is due to the fact that the family members of the demised remain in state of grief and frustration and it takes time for them to come back to normalcy. During the period of grief, their nerves system becomes weak; frequent crying in remembrance of the dead further weakens them bodily and mentally; therefore, they needed mental rest and peace to forget the sad event.
305) The family’s state of grief and frustration may have been taken as the central reason for the shastras to prescribe the rituals lasting for 12 days as inauspicious. The period of 12 days may have been perceived as the structured time for the family members to come back to normalcy and for emotional healing.
306) As the family members keep performing the inauspicious rituals, which can not be avoided due to tradition and moral fear, they slowly return to normalcy as visitors too avoid visiting them to offer condolences in person during the days the rituals are performed. The family members of the deceased also can not happily welcome them nor speak to them normally.
307) However, the shastras may not have prescribed the period of mourning -12 days- as inauspicious in a purely negative sense since few scientific reasons are also attributed for restricting the visitors in ancient time to visit the families where death had taken place. We must remember that the ancient period sages and saints were highly knowledgeable in all fields of life.
308) Normally some germs form in dead body, especially if the demised was diseased; some of the germs in them may be flying in nature. Limiting contact with the household where the death has taken place during the 10–12 days period may have functioned as an effective quarantine to prevent the spread of potentially contagious diseases through those germs. Therefore, the restriction to visit the house where death had taken place may have been prescribed in the shastras for 12 days, terming the period as inauspicious.
309) In ancient periods of time, those who performed karma used to go to the crematorium every day to perform ritual for twelve days since the Prasana Sthapana took place there. That allowed possibility of some poisonous germs and impurities sticking to their bodies. When the Karthas unknowingly brought such poisonous germs home, those germs spread everywhere in the house. Even though the life span of those germs was limited to 10 to 12 days which is one of the divine miracles, the possibility of them getting struck to the visitors was high. Therefore, the homes where death had taken place was treated as impure, inauspicious and unclean for 12 days to discourage visitors visiting there. Hence the shastras insisted on the visitors to take bathe and wash their clothes after leaving a house of mourning to prevent virus germs transmitted from the body of dead if the person was diseased.
310) However, all those germs die from the smoke released from the homa kund which fill the home on the thirteenth day when Subasweekaram is done. Reason being the smoke that rises from a homa kund contains powerful healing energy; the ingredients selected for the homa contain excellent properties which kills the germs of several types. Some studies suggest that smoke from certain ingredients used in a homa or haven may have antimicrobial properties. The antimicrobial effect persists for up to 24 hours after the ritual was performed. They cleanse negative energy, remove impurities, and create a spiritually elevated atmosphere.
311) Besides, there is another spiritual reason given for observing the twelve days period as inauspicious. During those twelve days, the soul of the deceased is allowed by the Vasus to visit the home where they lived after coming out of the stone installed to accept the offerings of food there. If the soul finds their family members and other relatives in happy mood, they will feel pained and heartbroken.
312) The vibrations from the happy moments of the relatives and friends when saddens the soul will prevent it from accepting further ritual offerings wholeheartedly; when the souls reject the offerings which may not be visible outwardly, the silent pain and sorrow suffered by the soul can manifest as a curse upon the family which in turn cause immense suffering to the family in the form of ill luck, disharmony and misfortune in many ways.
………..continued Sr No 313
