Post by sarmasastrigal on Aug 17, 2012 19:43:20 GMT 5.5
GAYA -- THE PITRU KSHETHRA
(A chapter from the book titled 'Gaya Sraaddha')
The very mention of Gaya invokes in us a sense of devotion suffused with pride and excitement. It is every son’s duty to go to Gaya after the demise of his parents and conduct Gaya sraaddha. Apart from delighting the pitrus his act bestows eminence on his family as well.
“Jeevator vaakya karanaat,
Pratyaabdam Bhuri bhojanaat,
Gayayaam pinda daanaat,
tribhi: putrasya putrataâ€
say the Sastras. “When the parents are alive, obey their commands. When they die, perform their annual sraaddha properly. And go to Gaya and offer pindas for them. You can be called a son to your parents only when you do all these three things.â€
Gaya is in the state of Bihar. It is located on the Kolahaala Mountain in a beautiful place called Champaka. God is ensconced here as Gadaadhara.
How many sraaddhas do you have to do at Gaya?
As per the sastras you will require at least six days to complete all the sraaddhas required of you. But over the years mandatory observances have been reduced to two Hiranya sraaddhas and one Paarvana sraaddha. This is the least one has to do at Gaya.
The modus operandi for this ‘minimum’ observance is described below.
1. At Phalguni River: You should go to the Phalguni River and bring the water, and on the banks of the river itself your lady will make the havis, with help from the locals. She will then take out one part of the broth and make 17 pindam-s from it. You will do pinda pradaana of the 17 pindams with sankalpa mantras right there on the banks, and after doing ‘yataasthana’ you will give the pindas to the cows there.
2. At Vishnu Paada: This is where you go next, to do pinda pradaana. You may recall that when we do sraaddha at home we chant “Vishnu paadaadi samasta paadeshu dattam†at the time of Brahmana bhojana. You literally do this now. You take the remainder of the havis cooked at Phalguni River and make 64 pindas, and do pinda paradaana with sankalpa mantras. And you have the great fortune of reaching these 64 pindas directly to Vishnu paada (the feet of Mahavishnu), instead of imagining it. The satisfaction you get when you do this is indescribable.
3. Paarvana sraaddha: You may undertake the next part of your observance, the Paarvana sraaddha, in the place in which you are staying. We stayed at Karnataka Bhavan, which offers the facility. You should do a sraaddha with homa, with five Brahmins present. At the end of the sraaddha again you have to make 64 pindas out of the havis cooked here, and take them to Akshaya Vata.
4. Akshaya Vata: You may recollect that in the course of our annual sraaddha we say ‘Akshaya Vata’ when doing the namaskara (obeisance) at the end of Brahmana bhojana. This is the place to which you now take the pindas made out of the paarvana sraaddha havis. Akshaya Vata is a huge peepul tree and you offer the pindas in the shade of this tree. A speciality of the pinda pradaana here is that 16 of the 64 pindas you offer are for the mother and are referred to as ‘maatru shodasi’. You can sense an exhilarating, almost supernatural vibration as you enter Akshaya Vata.
Another feature of Akshaya Vata is that you can offer pindas not only for your forefathers of your Gotra but even others and pray for their journey to pitruloka. This can include your near and distant relatives, friends, even your enemies. So it would be wise to prepare a list of people for whom you would like to do pinda pradaana, note their gotra, sarma nama (the name by which they are supposed to do their Brahmin karmas) etc. and have the particulars ready.
It is a matter of great significance that in the Ramayana we are told that Rama and Sita offered pindas for King Dasaratha. You should consider it as nothing short of a divine blessing that you are doing pinda pradaana at such a sanctified spot.
5. A vegetable, a fruit and a leaf: At Akshaya Vata, you usually take a pledge to drop a vegetable, a fruit and a leaf from your diet and not to eat these for the rest of your life. You decide the names and inform a Purohit there, and he will do the sankalpa for you. At the end of the sankalpa you offer a Brahmin there the consecrated water (tirtha), which he takes, confirming your pledge.
When you finish all the foregoing observances you realize that it is far beyond your usual lunch time, and you didn’t even feel hungry! Now that you have completed this leg of your stipulated rituals, you eat the pitru sesha bhojana (the remainder of the Sraaddha food).
The legend of Gaya:
Gayasura was a great Asura whose powers of tapas (penance) were comparable to those of Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu. The Devas approached Brahma, Siva and Vishnu – in that order – to make him desist from his penance, as they feared he would ask for boons that could be their undoing. Brahma tried to convince them that Gayasura was of a noble mind and would not ask for anything deleterious to their welfare, but their fears remained. They watched with trepidation as Vishnu offered boons to Gayasura.
Gayasura asked the Lord: “Make mine the most sanctified, the purest body on this earth, much purer than even those of devas, rishis, mantras and other sanyasis. And anyone who touches me should be cleansed of all his sins and become pure.†He further prayed: “All Gods, with or without form, should be consecrated at this place as long as this Universe exists. This sthala could be named as Gaya, after me. People who come here to do sraaddha and pinda pradaana should get promotion to Brahmaloka after their death, in spite of any sin that they might have committed on the earth.â€
Mahavishnu, who had expected Gayasura to ask for mukti (freedom from rebirth) was pleased that he had prayed for something that would benefit the world at large, and gave him the boon. He was wonderstruck at the sacrificing nature of Gayasura’s boon-seeking.
But the Devas realized that the boon would be a double-edged sword, and could do great harm. This was because one key deterrent to wrongdoing is fear of hell, fear of being condemned. If people were to be rid of this fear by the knowledge that anything they do can be absolved with a visit to Gaya, sins would escalate and the very foundation of Creation would be shaken. They approached Vishnu again.
Mahavishnu conveyed their view and anxiety to Gayasura and asked him to offer his body for a yaga (penance). Gayasura was delighted to submit to the Lord’s wishes and lay down across the Madhuban called Champaka aranya, with the Kolahala Mountain for a pillow. This became what is Gaya today.
Buddha Gaya: If you have the time and the inclination, do visit Buddha Gaya and the Bodhi tree under which Gautam Buddha got his realization. You can also go to the Buddha temple in this place.
Pratyabdika sraaddha and Gaya Sraaddha:
A word about this. It is absurd to think that doing Gaya sraaddha exempts you from doing pratyabdika sraaddha or the annual ceremonies for your departed parents. This is quite contrary to what the sastras say. If you have a stupendous feast at a five-star hotel one day, don’t you need to eat the next day or for the rest of your life? Sraaddha at Gaya is a very fulfilling ritual, and one should try to do it in one’s lifetime. But it has no correlation to the pratyabdika sraaddha that you have to do annually. The annual ceremony has to be done, and there is no exception.
When you complete the Gaya sraaddha and touring around Gaya, you will find it difficult to leave Gaya, the place renowned as ‘Pitru Kshetra’.
**************************************************************
Please note: This slim book has two more chapters on Triveni Sangamam (Prayagai) and Kasi (Varanasi) also. Some tips for the yatra based on my own experiences to these places are also included in this book.
THIS BOOK - FREE of COST
Those who wish to have this book in English, they can contact me with their address and I would be happy to send a copy to them, across India, Free of Cost (including postage) till I have stock.
My email ID: sarmasasthrigal@gmail.com
(A chapter from the book titled 'Gaya Sraaddha')
The very mention of Gaya invokes in us a sense of devotion suffused with pride and excitement. It is every son’s duty to go to Gaya after the demise of his parents and conduct Gaya sraaddha. Apart from delighting the pitrus his act bestows eminence on his family as well.
“Jeevator vaakya karanaat,
Pratyaabdam Bhuri bhojanaat,
Gayayaam pinda daanaat,
tribhi: putrasya putrataâ€
say the Sastras. “When the parents are alive, obey their commands. When they die, perform their annual sraaddha properly. And go to Gaya and offer pindas for them. You can be called a son to your parents only when you do all these three things.â€
Gaya is in the state of Bihar. It is located on the Kolahaala Mountain in a beautiful place called Champaka. God is ensconced here as Gadaadhara.
How many sraaddhas do you have to do at Gaya?
As per the sastras you will require at least six days to complete all the sraaddhas required of you. But over the years mandatory observances have been reduced to two Hiranya sraaddhas and one Paarvana sraaddha. This is the least one has to do at Gaya.
The modus operandi for this ‘minimum’ observance is described below.
1. At Phalguni River: You should go to the Phalguni River and bring the water, and on the banks of the river itself your lady will make the havis, with help from the locals. She will then take out one part of the broth and make 17 pindam-s from it. You will do pinda pradaana of the 17 pindams with sankalpa mantras right there on the banks, and after doing ‘yataasthana’ you will give the pindas to the cows there.
2. At Vishnu Paada: This is where you go next, to do pinda pradaana. You may recall that when we do sraaddha at home we chant “Vishnu paadaadi samasta paadeshu dattam†at the time of Brahmana bhojana. You literally do this now. You take the remainder of the havis cooked at Phalguni River and make 64 pindas, and do pinda paradaana with sankalpa mantras. And you have the great fortune of reaching these 64 pindas directly to Vishnu paada (the feet of Mahavishnu), instead of imagining it. The satisfaction you get when you do this is indescribable.
3. Paarvana sraaddha: You may undertake the next part of your observance, the Paarvana sraaddha, in the place in which you are staying. We stayed at Karnataka Bhavan, which offers the facility. You should do a sraaddha with homa, with five Brahmins present. At the end of the sraaddha again you have to make 64 pindas out of the havis cooked here, and take them to Akshaya Vata.
4. Akshaya Vata: You may recollect that in the course of our annual sraaddha we say ‘Akshaya Vata’ when doing the namaskara (obeisance) at the end of Brahmana bhojana. This is the place to which you now take the pindas made out of the paarvana sraaddha havis. Akshaya Vata is a huge peepul tree and you offer the pindas in the shade of this tree. A speciality of the pinda pradaana here is that 16 of the 64 pindas you offer are for the mother and are referred to as ‘maatru shodasi’. You can sense an exhilarating, almost supernatural vibration as you enter Akshaya Vata.
Another feature of Akshaya Vata is that you can offer pindas not only for your forefathers of your Gotra but even others and pray for their journey to pitruloka. This can include your near and distant relatives, friends, even your enemies. So it would be wise to prepare a list of people for whom you would like to do pinda pradaana, note their gotra, sarma nama (the name by which they are supposed to do their Brahmin karmas) etc. and have the particulars ready.
It is a matter of great significance that in the Ramayana we are told that Rama and Sita offered pindas for King Dasaratha. You should consider it as nothing short of a divine blessing that you are doing pinda pradaana at such a sanctified spot.
5. A vegetable, a fruit and a leaf: At Akshaya Vata, you usually take a pledge to drop a vegetable, a fruit and a leaf from your diet and not to eat these for the rest of your life. You decide the names and inform a Purohit there, and he will do the sankalpa for you. At the end of the sankalpa you offer a Brahmin there the consecrated water (tirtha), which he takes, confirming your pledge.
When you finish all the foregoing observances you realize that it is far beyond your usual lunch time, and you didn’t even feel hungry! Now that you have completed this leg of your stipulated rituals, you eat the pitru sesha bhojana (the remainder of the Sraaddha food).
The legend of Gaya:
Gayasura was a great Asura whose powers of tapas (penance) were comparable to those of Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu. The Devas approached Brahma, Siva and Vishnu – in that order – to make him desist from his penance, as they feared he would ask for boons that could be their undoing. Brahma tried to convince them that Gayasura was of a noble mind and would not ask for anything deleterious to their welfare, but their fears remained. They watched with trepidation as Vishnu offered boons to Gayasura.
Gayasura asked the Lord: “Make mine the most sanctified, the purest body on this earth, much purer than even those of devas, rishis, mantras and other sanyasis. And anyone who touches me should be cleansed of all his sins and become pure.†He further prayed: “All Gods, with or without form, should be consecrated at this place as long as this Universe exists. This sthala could be named as Gaya, after me. People who come here to do sraaddha and pinda pradaana should get promotion to Brahmaloka after their death, in spite of any sin that they might have committed on the earth.â€
Mahavishnu, who had expected Gayasura to ask for mukti (freedom from rebirth) was pleased that he had prayed for something that would benefit the world at large, and gave him the boon. He was wonderstruck at the sacrificing nature of Gayasura’s boon-seeking.
But the Devas realized that the boon would be a double-edged sword, and could do great harm. This was because one key deterrent to wrongdoing is fear of hell, fear of being condemned. If people were to be rid of this fear by the knowledge that anything they do can be absolved with a visit to Gaya, sins would escalate and the very foundation of Creation would be shaken. They approached Vishnu again.
Mahavishnu conveyed their view and anxiety to Gayasura and asked him to offer his body for a yaga (penance). Gayasura was delighted to submit to the Lord’s wishes and lay down across the Madhuban called Champaka aranya, with the Kolahala Mountain for a pillow. This became what is Gaya today.
Buddha Gaya: If you have the time and the inclination, do visit Buddha Gaya and the Bodhi tree under which Gautam Buddha got his realization. You can also go to the Buddha temple in this place.
Pratyabdika sraaddha and Gaya Sraaddha:
A word about this. It is absurd to think that doing Gaya sraaddha exempts you from doing pratyabdika sraaddha or the annual ceremonies for your departed parents. This is quite contrary to what the sastras say. If you have a stupendous feast at a five-star hotel one day, don’t you need to eat the next day or for the rest of your life? Sraaddha at Gaya is a very fulfilling ritual, and one should try to do it in one’s lifetime. But it has no correlation to the pratyabdika sraaddha that you have to do annually. The annual ceremony has to be done, and there is no exception.
When you complete the Gaya sraaddha and touring around Gaya, you will find it difficult to leave Gaya, the place renowned as ‘Pitru Kshetra’.
**************************************************************
Please note: This slim book has two more chapters on Triveni Sangamam (Prayagai) and Kasi (Varanasi) also. Some tips for the yatra based on my own experiences to these places are also included in this book.
THIS BOOK - FREE of COST
Those who wish to have this book in English, they can contact me with their address and I would be happy to send a copy to them, across India, Free of Cost (including postage) till I have stock.
My email ID: sarmasasthrigal@gmail.com
Attachments:
