Pitru Paksha - Shraadh - Sept 13 to Sept 28

In the Vedic tradition, parents, grandparents, and all of one's ancestors are considered to be very important.   Common sense tells us that our genealogical heritage is the soil in which the tree of our life is planted. From the point of view of the theory of karma, this is also true. 

The horoscope reflects our individual karma, but it also reflects collective karma. We each play out certain collective karmic patterns and lessons along with other people in our country, state, city, and family. 

Similarly, we participate in a stream of collective karma passed down through our ancestors. There is a verse that comes, that says that the sins of the father affect his offspring for up to three to four generations.   

You don't need to be an astrologer, a yogi, or even believe in the theory of karma to understand this idea. Any psychologist will tell you that the actions, words, and emotional disposition of your parents, grand parents and great-great grand parents can sometimes have a profound affect on you. 

Psychologists make a good portion of their income working with their clients on issues related to their parents.  And more recently, some psychologists have been extending this work to include issues related to more distant ancestors.  An example of this is Family Constellation Therapy, which  has become more popular in recent years. 

Life is a process of psychological and spiritual evolution. An important part of that process involves healing your inner psychological body.  And sometimes that healing process involves having to reconcile and harmonize your relationship with your ancestral line. To this end, the Vedic tradition has devoted a great deal of time and energy to the process of propitiating one's ancestors. 

Every year at about this time, devout Hindus all over India do rituals to pray for their ancestors. To the outsider, this sometimes seems like superstition. Why would a person pray to their ancestors?

 In fact, this is more for the person doing the prayers, to help heal any inner issues related to their ancestral line, and to reform the consequences of any negative influence that has been passed down to them. It is also intended to facilitate the evolution of the soul of the departed family member. The result is to bring the person more peace and happiness.

The period of propitiating the ancestors is called Pitru Paksha, and this year it starts on September 13th and culminates on September 28th. During this time, Hindus all over India will honor their ancestors, by performing special rituals.  This is an astrologically auspicious time for healing issues related to any departed family member.

You don't have do rituals to participate in this wave of healing energy.  Rituals are the formal way of doing it, however, simply reflecting on your ancestors, wishing them well, and trying to forgive their wrongdoing, can help tremendously. In some cases, for serious issues with parents or grandparents, psychotherapy can help. Mantras can also help. A simple mantra that you can chant during that period is Om Pitri Bhyo Namah. If you are interested,  you can try chanting that mantra for 5 minutes each day from September 13th to the 28th.

For those who are interested in performing the Ritual

How To Perform Shraadh Rituals?

You can also perform the Tarpan rituals performed during the 16 special days of Shraddh or Pitru Paksha. Pitru Paksha has a special significance for Tarpan rituals and the rituals performed during Pitru Paksha produces best results. Take a look at how to perform Shradh rituals in the right way:

1. For performing Shradh rituals, prepare pure vegetarian food, you can also prepare the favorite food of the departed person. This food is offered to the Brahmins or Pandits, and known as Brahman Bhoj.
2. Cook Kheer (sweet rice porridge) and other food items, as per your family traditions.
3. Offer prayers for the peace of souls of ancestors.
4. The food should also be offered to cows, crows, and dogs on banana leaves.
5. Different fruits, sweets, and cereals can also be served.
6. Serve the needy like beggars and old people for the peace of the ancestor's souls.

Here in US, we can get Paan leaves and put the cooked food on the leaves in our backyard for crows to eat.

When To Perform Shraadh?

Shraddha should be performed on the death anniversary of the departed family member, but if it is not possible or if one forgets the date, these rituals can be performed on the last day of Pitru Paksha or on the Sarvapitri Amavasya.

Noon time is considered best for performing Shraddh rituals during Pitru Paksha i.e. during the time of 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For Tarpan ceremony, morning time is considered best that is during the time of 8 a.m to 12 p.m during Pitru Paksha.

Find out the Tithi (according to Hindu calendar) for performing Shradh.  Best results are produced by performing Shradh on the same Tithi, according to the death of our ancestor.

What Not To Do While Performing Shraadh?

Let's check out the things that we should avoid while performing the Tarpan rituals during Shradh.

1. Do not use non-vegetarian items for preparing food.
2. Do not consume alcohol while performing the rituals.
3. Avoid haircuts or shaving while performing the rituals.
4. Never use iron vessels for preparing or serving food.
5. Do not perform rituals in the evening, dusk and dawn.

 How to do Tarpan in Hindi

How do do Tarpen in English

Śrāddha is relatively more complicated, and Tarpaṇa relatively less so, but both aim to offer contentment (trpti, a word closely related to the word tarpaṇa) to the deceased. Many are rules for such offerings, and many the locations in India (including particularly Varanasi, Badrinath and Gaya) where these offerings are said to produce superlative effects;  simpler is better (these rites should always be done between dawn and noon, and preferably on the banks of a body of water). 

In Sanskrit Śrāddha literally means an action performed with full faith (Śraddhā). For Śrāddha to be effective you need to have faith that it can in some way be effective. You might believe that the shades of your dead parents actually come to the event and consume the offerings, or that you are in fact making an offering to their genes and chromosomes that continue to live within you, or simply that by rendering heartfelt gratitude towards your ancestors and praying for their well-being and peace you are nourishing your own gratitude, well-being and peace. The key is that any offering should be “heartfelt”; the words Śrāddha and Śraddhā sprout from a root that in English gave us “heart”.

Our hearts and their feeling explain why the Pitr Paksha is regarded as one of the least propitious periods of the year. Just because a human dies does not mean that that human has lost all interest in living; in fact, in the vast majority of deaths, the dying continue to grasp at life even as life departs from them. Dead personalities usually crave a return to the pleasures that they enjoyed while alive, and the affinity that exists between their now-defunct bodies and the bodies of their descendants often permits them to express some of these desires (to some extent) through the bodies of those very scions, via a process that possibly shares some similarities with the process through which a transplanted organ (particularly a heart) can “transplant” important characteristics of the donor into the recipient.

If your departed relative was a great saint, you might perhaps find benefit in having him or her continue to live through you; otherwise, it is more likely that strong ancestral influence on you will transfer to you extra negative traits, or at the reinforce some of your pre-existing negative traits. Most authorities agree that the pitrs are not “liberated” but rather “appeased” through Tarpaṇa and Śrāddha. 

This brings up the interesting question  of whether it would not be more beneficial for we the living to perform some sadhana on behalf of those in our maternal & paternal lineages, to assist them to evolve further even while (presumably) also removing their negative effects on us? The answer in my opinion a cautious and qualified “yes”, qualified by how much stability in your own self you have already achieved thanks to your own sadhana. If you have already become a saint you may be able to release many of your progenitors from their desire-bondages; if not, the act of you focusing on them further may make your awareness further deteriorate, often without you being in the least aware of that deterioration.

And, frankly, any ancestor that is still in need of contentment should first become contented before we try to enlighten them; as Tukaram Maharaj is reported to have said, pahile pothoba ani nantar Vithoba, “first worship the belly god (i.e. address all your human needs and desires) before you try to worship the Supreme God.” Wise advice.

May all our ancestors become content!