Funeral: What Should One Know As A Hindu...?
12th Day Rites
1. Garuda Puran (Part of Vishnu Purans which is one of the Maha Purans)
7,000 stanzas and 19,000 verses
Repeated by Bramha to Indra
Tharpanam -
Vedic method to appease ancestors who are seeking salvation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dFMHqfzfW4
Darba grass
Offerings to
7 Rishis
-Agasthy, Atri, Bhardwaja, Gautam, Jamadagni, Vashistha, Vishvamitra
Devine Beings Davatas
Ancestors
Right Hand
Pam down and water in pam tolls off to the tips of
the finger into the taree
“Aum dava trip-en- tam”
Water in pam rolls off the side for the Devine Beings
Water pour in hand with seseseeds and allow it to pour between thumb and index finger
Pinda: Piṇḍas are balls of cooked rice and/or barley flour mixed with ghee and black sesame seeds
offered to ancestors during Hindu funeral rites
(Antyesti) and ancestor worship (Śrāddha).
Garuda Puran, offering a pinda to a recently departed soul helps to unite the soul with its ancestors
Pindas are offered to both maternal and paternal
lineages.
When making an offering of pindas the
1st can be offered to the father (or for widow's,
their husband),
2nd their father's father,
3rd their father's father's father,
4th their mother,
5th their father's mother,
6th their father's mother's mother,
and so on to cover ancestors from all sides of the
family
Prior to all arrangements, you should consult your
Pandit. There are zodiacal stars (planets) that are inauspicious for funerals.
They are (1) Panchak (2) Dwipushkar Yoga and (3) Tripushkar Yoga. Funerals
performed in Panchak can be harmful to the family. If it cannot be avoided then
Panchak Vidhi has to be done with five dolls made of cotton or kusha grass. The
deceased is shaved and bathed with five pieces of cloth.
A Hindu should be dressed in traditional costumes. A
cotton sheet is spread in the coffin before placing the body. A chandan tikaa
is put on the forehead (sindur tikka for female if the husband is still alive).
A drop of Ganga jal is poured between the lips and sprinkled all over. A Tulsi
leaf and a piece of gold are placed between the lips. The head must be kept
towards the northern direction while the rites are performed. A jholi is
prepared with white rice, flowers and coins are put in it. The pindas can also
be placed in it later.
The performer of the rites shaves his head, face,
takes a bath and wears white clothes. He faces the south in performing all
funeral rites. All offerings are given by Pitri Tirth (between the thumb and
the first finger). Pinda Daan and Hawan are done as part of the last rites.
Shraada brings happiness to the departed soul and should be done by all. Five
pindas are offered. A sixth pinda is also given when the ashes are gathered,
but because many funerals are burials, where there are no ashes, and in in
cremation the ashes are gathered by the crematory, the sixth pinda is offered
the same time of the other five. Singing of Kirtans and bhajans should be
encouraged. Bhajans and good thoughts from relatives and friends give solace to
the departed soul. They create a potent vibration that awakens the stupefied
condition of the soul and brings back their veiled consciousness. Weeping,
mourning an uncontrolled grief by relatives gives pain and drags the soul down
from the astral plane. Loud music and heavy beating of drums must be
discouraged as it is inappropriate for the occasion. Hindus should be cremated
not buried. This is highly recommended for the liberation of the soul.
Five Manjil (resting places) are made on the way to
the cremation/burial area. A piece of cotton is spread on the ground for the
Manjil. Prayers are chanted with five or seven persons perform circumambulation
(pradakshinaa) three times before the casket is put into the furnace. For
burials-after the casket is lowered onto the grave, four cakes of camphor are
placed on four corners of the grave and lit allowing for circumambulation.
After the funeral, all relatives, especially the
person who performed the rites, should bathe and wear fresh clothes. Fire,
water, a stone, a cutlass and neem leaves should be placed on the ground in
front of the door of the home. Touching the stone, fire and cutlass with the
neem branch, water should be sprinkled over the head before entering the house.
A neem leaf should also be chewed. Sitting together in the house, relatives
should partake of some black pepper water and parched rice after giving a
little as offering to the departed soul. In the evening, an alter with a photo
of the deceased should be placed in a corner of the home with a lit diya. The
performer of the rites should take meals at the same place every day, but must
offer a portion to the departed soul. All this should be done facing the south.
The singing of bhajans and kirtans and the reading of the Garud Puran and other
scriptures is highly recommended.
Teelaanjali (water, teel, and petals of white
flowers) should be given every morning facing the south in the Pitra
tirtha(through the first finger and the thumb)This offering should be made up
to ten times by each relatives. The home must be kept clean, food should not be
Chhoukal and unclean food should neither be cooked nor eaten in the house. The
performer of the rites should be fasting and eating fruits and vegetables only
and should not eat food from outside the home. He should sleep on the ground
near the alter. He should live the life of a Brahmachaari. If possible, he
should not eat any food prepared with salt. On the first evening after the day
of the funeral, a doona (khicharee), glasses of milk and water, along with a
fire stick should be taken outside by five persons and left on the ground in a
clean place. The ashes should be picked up from the funeral home and scattered
in the ocean, buried or taken to the Holy Ganges. At the time of scattering the
ashes, the Pandit chants mantras or beneficial prayers for the departed soul.
It should be scattered along with flowers. Pinda should be given every day for
ten days. If this is not done, Teelaanjali alone should be given and then on
the tenth day all the ten pindas are offered together.
Counting begins from the day of the funeral not the
day of death. No gifts and food should be accepted from the home of the
deceased as all relatives are in Sutak- a state of mourning and should not
undertake any thing auspicious. On the tenth day, the performer of the rites
should shave his head and facial hair and anoint his body with mustard powder
and Haldi (turmeric) before bathing. He should wear traditional white Hindu
clothes. The tenth day Shraadha or Dasgaatra is done in the morning. Ten pindas
are offered. The pindas build the Yamayaatra sharira. After the shraadha, a
doona is taken outside by five persons. The doona is food that is cooked the
regular way.it is the first time since the funeral that the food is chhounkay.
The food on the tenth day and for that matter all food prepared for any
religious service must be fruits and vegetables only.
The doona is taken out at lunch time. The soul is
fully embodied on the eleventh day. The next shraadha is done on the twelfth
day, not the thirteen day. The offering of shraadha on the twelfth day
nourishes the soul and helps it to begin its journey to Yamraj, the Lord of
death. The departed soul leaves for Yampur or the abode of Yamraj on the
thirteenth day. This is called Madhyam Shodashi, where sixteen pindas are
offered. It is at this time that the relatives can give daan and dakshina and
gifts in the name of the departed soul. The Gita is also done on this day.
Doona is taken outside by five persons.
Shraada or offering of pinda is done monthly. This is
called Uttam Shodashi. If not done monthly, it can be done at the end of the
year. Traditionally, it is being done on the eleventh month. Sixteen pindas are
offered .To conclude, the entire last rites of the departed soul, the Sapindi
Shraddha must also be done immediately after Uttam Shodashi Shraadha. Four
pindas are offered. The sapindi shraadha enables the preta (departed soul) to
join the pitris (ancestors), Gita must also be completed.
It is only after completing all these rites that a
wedding and other auspicious ceremonies can take place in that home and in that
family. Shraadha or prayers for the departed soul is one of the fundamental
doctrines of Hinduism. Those who do not perform Shraada, Tarpan, and other
religious rites on account of ill advise, ignorance or egoism have done great
harm to their ancestors and themselves. They should start doing these
ceremonies for now for it is never too late.
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