I saw a post on Shradh on hobo's blog and i wanted to write something.In indian calender a month is divided into two fortnights and except Amavasya and Poornima, rest of the days are named in the same way----first second,third fourth.one fortnight is called Krishna paksh and other shukl paksh. now-a-days.krishna paksh is going on, and this fortnight is devoted to shraadh.
Shradh is a ceremony where we remember our departed parents and grand parents (called pittr or poorvaj). we invite a Pandit and he does some pooja and sankalp and then we serve him the same variety of food liked by our dear ones and give him Dakshina.It is considered that the day our poorvaj died like on dooj, teej like that, in that tithi they visit us, and feel happy and satisfied when they see our love for them,and bless us.
Earlier traditionally nobody bought anything new or did any auspicious work in those days,but i think why not? they are our loved ones and they wud like us to be happy so.....
This day is a symbol of our Indian culture where we give respect and love to our departed souls also.and remember them with love.Its only our emotions which make it more meaningful.
Shradh is a ceremony where we remember our departed parents and grand parents (called pittr or poorvaj). we invite a Pandit and he does some pooja and sankalp and then we serve him the same variety of food liked by our dear ones and give him Dakshina.It is considered that the day our poorvaj died like on dooj, teej like that, in that tithi they visit us, and feel happy and satisfied when they see our love for them,and bless us.
Earlier traditionally nobody bought anything new or did any auspicious work in those days,but i think why not? they are our loved ones and they wud like us to be happy so.....
This day is a symbol of our Indian culture where we give respect and love to our departed souls also.and remember them with love.Its only our emotions which make it more meaningful.
22 comments:
Without emotion person is dead.
Thanks for the post
:)
This reminds me of our Good Friday where all people went to church wearing white & the priest told us tht Jesus died for us for save us & so we are supposed to be happy & not mourn.
So good you wrote about this topic. We , especially those living abroad - at least I feel totally isolated, despite emails, telephones and web etc, hardly get to practice all thes rituals. But, i have to call up my father and find out now.
Thanks for passing by and leaving a comment at my blog. I'm sure I'll find saying such things as you when I reach your age too, you know. :)
But isn't it a great idea!
Hobo: yes, emotions are the only thing which differentiate between an animal and human being:)
Reflections: That is true, but our emotions take the better of us:)I feel amazed at the devotion of Christians for sunday mass.many of my friend tell me that no matter what, they never give a miss to their visit to church on sunday.
I feel ashamed to say that I will never be able to go to temple evry sunday judiciously.
PG: Thanks ! These things come to u naturally with experience or as u age:). What about abroad, even in Chennai, I cudnt find a hindi speaking pandit, so i went to the orphanage and gave them money for one time food:( on the day of my FIL's shradh.
When i lost my parents at the turn of this century, I was their only child here in India, the others being in the US. After a lot of thought, because I had to basically plan out everything on my own,and also because today rituals are something folks perform sort of automatically,and non one including the priest, explains anything, I did away with the whole thing.
I now regularly donate to an orphanage in my parents memory every year.
My parents did all these rituals for the ancestors , but I think, today my parents would probably approve of what I am doing..... they taught me to do what i believed in....
And once again you have proved you are such a nice bharatiya naari..hehehehehe...and no sarcasm there, trust me...
Konachi: My heart goes out to you, alone at those difficult times.
Yes, your parents will certainly approve of what you are doing, its a noble cause.Plus you are remebering them that is important, Your donating regularly....is also a ritual.
Rebel: Did u have any panga with Bhartiya naari:) and i dont even mind sarcasm from u:), I am very happy with what i am and proud of my thought process.No confusion or conflicts here.if ever i come to London,we will see, though so far I never intended to as I have seen it in 79.
Renu...i am very traditional about all these rituals..though we don`t have shraadhs at home , we do donate food, milk ,mithai to a needy person..Apno ko yaad karke agar kuch daan kia toh apna hee parlok sawaara na??
I think we need to have some such rituals cos in todays fast paced world we don`t have time for the living forget the dead and departed...
AArti..It is good to be traditional,this is our inheritance we pass on to our children,some people misunderstand tradition with superstition. but its not so...Donation is always good, good for the giver...it gives us mental satisfaction and good for the taker....his some basic needs get fulfilled.
ask me abt it man!
every day v have some panditji coming over..
tomm is the final shraad i think
Swats: So u also belong to a religious family:), good:)if taken in right spirit and understood well, religion always makes u a better person.
All the rituals have some meaning. It isnt fer no reason that its followed since ages. Only problem is that,there is no one to explain/understand the reasons . If U ask elders , they say its not to b questioned !! .. Ofcourse, some of them does try to reply(without solid reasons). But frnakly there r many things we can derive ourselves. As u said y dhaana/dhakshina is given.
On the day of shraadh, ppl who does the ritual r supposed to b on fast. Till the rituals r done. What i infer is to keep the mind devoted. Frnakly fasting does help to keep the mind devoted. So every ritual has meaning. When we follow the ritual without knwin the meaning, then it becomes superstition !! ..
And believe me , on the day of shraadh we do rem the departed ones more :) .. nd thats all it is about ..
u are right,there is no need to abstain from doing any thing new or good in days of Shradd.I fact i have broken this old tradition my self by getting my house painted in kanagat days and buying New things despite opposition frm my Mom.And I hope Soul of my dear departed Father will Happy so see His house looking good on the day of his shradd rather than ........
Raghu: yes thats right, everything has a reason behind it, sometimes may parents used to tell me and for other things I tried to understand everything myself.
I believe that fasting makes us devoted, removes the toxins and brings discipline in us, as we have to remain without food or eat certain foods only for a particular period, so its good all the way:)
and thanks for coming !
Anonymous: Actually earlier, they used to instill some fear for being particular about traditions, I always believe that any of our departed dear ones can never even think of harming us, whatever we do, so no need to be afraid of them, they may not be alive but they are our near and dear ones.and they would always like us to be happy and make merry.
Yes ur father will certainl;y be happy to see the house:)
what an interesting topic- you've taught me something today, so I thank you for that!! I love the way we can learn so much via blogs.
thanks for reminding these things... in the hustle bustle of life specially living away from home we tend to forget all these things... I think navratras are starting from tmrw right?
Anjuli: yes i have also learned a lot thru blogs, about different places, rituals and all that..
Monika: yes navratra are starting tomorrow, and this is the starting of festival season:) I just love this period.
We believe in eternal life, so even if a loved one has passed away, it only means that they have left this physical Earth & gone on to a better existence. Yes, obviously we miss them, but that doesn't mean that we should be sad for them because they are in a far better place than we are. And like you rightly said, they wouldn't want us to not live our lives well. So we should honour their memories, pray for their souls and also ask them to pray for us as they are much more closer to God.
Shalom: Exactly the same thing I say that even grieving too much for anybody is also going to make them suffer. we must always move on in life, keep alive their ideals and memories.
That is a lovely post Mom :). Thank you for explaining the hindu calendar. Believe me, some day sources of such information will become priceless!
Smriti: yeah, I also think sometimes, that whatever my mother knows, i dont know even one tenth of that:)
Post a Comment