I read this and thought I should share this with all of you. : Blessed are the People who offer sweetmeats, puris, and puddings even to their dead parents and here is my son who cannot even give proper drinking water to his father who is alive. These words were spoken by the Mughal emperor Shahjehan to his son Aurangzeb when the latter kept his father in captivity and did not even provide him with water to drink. The importance of offering food to the departed ones during Pitrupaksha is retold from a legend from Mahabharata. It is said Karna the great hero of Mahabharata when he left his mortal body and reached Yamalok due to the charity he had done on earth it was returned hundredfold. But, it was all in gold and silver and not food, because Karna had not done any charity in the form of food! Karna prayed to the God of Death but he was sent back to earth for fourteen days to make up for his deficiency. Just as All Souls Day is observed by the Christians, our calendar too sets aside 15 days in the month of Bhadrapada as the fortnight of the ancestors, to perform shraddha so that their souls may be liberated. The period from poornima of the krishnapaksh to amvasaya is considered ideal time for performing rites for ancestors as it is believed that during this period the pitra or the ancestors are closest to us and so can be reached. The belief is that during this period subtle bodies of deceased ancestors from Yamlok visit their relatives on earth. So if shraadh is performed on one of the days in this fortnight, the soul gets peace for the rest of the year. As per the scriptures, if the ancestors are content with the shraadh, they will bestow health, wealth, knowledge and longevity, and ultimately liberation, heaven and salvation (moksha) to the person who performs the rites. The fifteen days , upto Sarvapitri Amavasya, are days of introspection (atmaparikshan) and thanksgiving for we would not be what we are if our parents and ancestors had not blessed us with life. Another thought also comes to my mind and that is that we are all aware how much food is wasted during marriage ceremonies or even during big functions and events. If food was offered to the departed souls not only during the Pitrupaksha fortnight ,but constantly served as charity to the poor starving people and children (instead of wasting by the affordable class), we will be blessed by not only the departed ones but by the living ones too. Thanks for reading my thoughts on this .....
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 04:41:38 +0000
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