Hare Krishan.. Dandawat Pranam to all devotees..
In bhagwat gita and SB, there are many instances where discussions of Pitrus and Pitrulok is mentioned. It isbsaid that Pitrus are our ancestors who left their body and residing in Pitrulok.. I am confused, if out Pitrus left their previous material body, they may have taken rebirth as per their karma and the soul may have transmigrated. Then why do we observe Shradh for Pitrus, and what does it mean by Pitrus staying in Pitruloks..
please explain.. forgive my ignorance..
hare krishna
Replies
Hare Krsna
If our Pitrus left their previous material body, they may have taken rebirth as per their karma and the soul may have transmigrated. Then why do we observe Shradh for Pitrus, and what does it mean by Pitrus staying in Pitruloks
Pitrus are the ancestors who reside in Pitruloka.
At the event of death, gross body of a living being is left behind, which is recognized as dead body and which undergoes cremation rites. The subtle body and spirit soul after spearation from gross body gets reactions of the deeds performed in that last birth. So the jivatma may go to higher planets to enjoy or lower planets or to hellish planets depending on karma. Whichever is the destination, the jivatma gets an appropriate gross body there to enjoy or suffer.
Those jivatma that are eligible to go to pitruloka are sent there and they get suitable bodies there. For Pitrus to remain in Pitruloka, the descendents must offer the prasadam of Lord Vishnu. If the offerings of Prasadam to Pitrus stop they no longer can remain in Pitruloka and again take birth on earthly planet. Srila Prabhupada has explained this in the Purport to SB 5.2.2
Only pure devotees who are completely absorbed in Krsna leela may be exempted from this ritual of offering. For others it is highly recomended. To highlight the importance Prahlad Maharaj who is a topmost devotee, performed Shraddha offering for Hiranyakashipu, despite of the fact that Hiranyakashipu was personally liberated by Lord Narasimha and Prahlad was pure devotee. Although Hiranyakashipu had not one but two perfect justifications for non-requirement of Shraddha offering, it was still performed.
Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu being the lord Himself did performed shraddha offering for His father Jagannatha Mishra.
Lord Sri Rama performed Shraddha ceremonies for His father King Dasharatha, Jataayu, Vanaras killed in battle and also demons who were killed in battle.
Although most people who do shraadha offering may not know the devotional value of the offering, they still know the importance of it.But in Kaliyuga, people are becoming lazy, demoniac and ignorant for doing such ceremonies, which certainly is resulting in horrifc reactions at micro to macro levels
Hare Krsna
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji,
A man when born in this world is born with Panch Runa the 5 debts. 1. Pitru Runam 2. Matru Runa 3. Deva Runa. 4.Rishi Runa. 5. Bhuta Runa.
1.Pitru Runa-- gets cleared when the child performs the final rituals of the father upon his demise.[he is free from debt of the father]
2.Matru Runa-- does not get cleared at all [ one can never repay what a mother does to his child . We are all ever indebted to a mother for having brought us into this world bearing all the pain and nourishing us selflessly]
3.Deva Runa --is cleared by performing our duties as worship
4.Rishi runa-- is cleared when we make correct usage of our knowledge and teach it to an able disciple.
5. Bhuta runa--can be cleared only by proper use of materials made available to us by God ,whether it is fire ,water ,air , house utensils and grain and other objects .[By not polluting them and respecting them in its correct usage avoiding abuse and ill distribution]
There is one more Manushya runam also as Matru Runa cannot be cleared. maybe giving fire to the chitta gives her peace. Even doing Shaardha karma gives peace..
Pitrus' when satisfied bless their family with good progeny, long life, fortune and all opulences.
Performing Shraddha is a part of obeying Dharma, as per science of Dharma. Ancestors’ soul becomes satisfied only after receiving pinda and water from their son.
The son protects his ancestors’ souls from the Hell named ‘Puta’. Therefore Lord Brahma himself has named him as ‘Putra’.
Puta is a name of a Hell u come across this in types of hells described in Garuda Purana. A son who performs Shaardha karma ( offering ancestors' water and till every amavasya) Pitru can be satisfied and ascend to higher planets.
Chapter 1 TEXT 42 BG--Due to the evil deeds of the destroyers of family tradition, all kinds of community projects and family welfare activities are devastated.
presently it is time actually called Pitru paksha in the month of Bhadrapada masa ..Is perfect timing to do this Shaardha Karma. If one cannot do yearly shaardha karma for all the ancestors it could be done once for all in this auspicious month.
Esp. Mahalaya amavasaya.
pitru loka's one day equals one month on earth. that's why they do tarpan every amavasya. If possible.
Daily doing pooja for Lord offering Krishna bhog and then offering to guru Maharaj and then taking the same to ancestors and then partaking it is a nitya karma. It is nice but Shaardha karma should not be stopped. If you have no time do do every Amavasya.. you could do it on special days like Mahalaya amavasaya, or on solar eclipse.
Krishna is called Yagna and yagna bhokta all offering to His is like offering to all entire universe .. Draupadi fed him with one single grain. "A single grain of rice, if offered to God with love and humility, becomes the beeja (primordial seed) which feeds and satiates the whole universe." He then ate that single grain of rice, and at that time, for that day, the whole universe was stomach-full and satiated.
But still Pirtu runa has to be removed by the son.
In one ekadashi story we come across a story.. Mokshada ekadashi.
https://iskcondesiretree.com/page/mokshada-ekadasi
you can go thru. This ekadashi relieved the suffering of pitru who are in hell because of sinful activities he performed and was relieved when his son performs this ekadashi and transferes his credits to his father. Then the father could ascend to higher planets.
There is a wait period in pitu loka before taking another birth. During that time if the relatives of the person perform all shardha karams and also some good karma in their names like donating food to poor or doing some charity or keeping a Bhagwatam Saptaha ( 7 days ) for them in their name. They can easy go higher up to next planet or spiritual abodes also. Those pitur's keep seeing if we are doing such charitable work for them. If you do that they feel very happy they will bless you. That is actually a runa ( you have to donate and do selflessly for them) they gave you place in their family. When you were small you did all naughty things pooped, peed on them, they enjoyed all of it. they didn't complain... They supported you ( your grand parents or parents or even great grand parents) when you fell down and with your faliures in life they also suffered along with you. They cared for you. It is all runanu bhandanam. You need to repay them. But doing such things they get pleased by that and bless you profound happiness and bless you all goodness, fortunue or whatever you ask for. Be it even Bhakti also, the pirtus can bless you as they are elders to you.
However, if you don't know anything or have no conducive situations at home to do such shaardha karmas, you can just do is offer everything to Krsna and guru maharaj. It is as good as offering to whole brahmanda. In case you have time and conducive atmosphere at home and money to feed poor or donate for sick in the name of ur purvaj's or do shardha karma then you must do it.
Hare Krishna.