Pitṛyajña
By Swami Harshananda and Vishal Agarwal
Pitṛyajña literally means ‘sacrifice unto the forefathers'.
In the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, it is said that when the students are graduating from their college, their teacher gives them the following parting message:
- May you be one for whom his mother is a deva. May you be one for whom his father is a deva. May you be one for whom a guest is a deva. May you be one for whom his teacher is a deva. Yajurveda, Taittirīya Upaniṣad 1.11
The idea is that we should respect, serve, and worship our parents, guests (this category includes the poor and needy people too), as well as our teachers even before we worship Bhagavān.
The western religions generally place God before parents. The mother is listed first, because she is considered the most respectable of all, more than even the father.
Traditional Pitṛyajña for Departed Forefathers[edit]
The ritualistic portion of this yajña involves performing a yajña to satiate the departed forefathers every day:
- Let a householder perform a daily yajña with food, with water and also with milk, root (tuberous edibles) and fruit and thereby please the departed forefathers. (Manusmṛti 3.82)
Periodically, we should also remember our departed ancestors by performing śrāddha yajña ceremonies and worship in their honor, and giving charity with the hope that they are nourished in whichever state their departed souls are. In these ceremonies, performed typically once a year during a specific period of the calendar, Brāhmaṇas and various creatures are fed.
This debt is similar to the contract between generations, or the ‘Social Security’ system in the United States. The Social Security taxes we pay as working adults today serve the needs of our elders who are retired from professional lives. Likewise, it is expected that when we grow old and cannot fend for ourselves, the taxes that our children and grandchildren pay will take care of our needs. Similarly, we perform the śrāddha ceremonies for elders in three generations before us who have passed away.
The technical details on performing these ceremonies are beyond the scope of this compilation. Most people in modern times will perform the śrāddha for a few days after the cremation of their departed loved ones, at the first anniversary (per the lunar calendar), and rarely during the annual period for performing śrāddha-s. Hardly anyone makes the daily offering to forefathers today.
The Teachings on Respecting Living Elders[edit]
The Pitṛyajña also involves serving our living elders with food, drink, clothing, shelter, and respecting them. The purpose behind it is quite obvious:
- No person can repay his parents even in 100 years for all the troubles that they go through to give birth to him and raise him to adulthood. Therefore, always try to do whatever pleases your parents and your teacher, because only then does any religious worship done by you bear any fruit. (Manusmṛti 2.228)
So great is the merit of serving one’s living elders that it is superior to performing all other acts of dharma:
- Serving one’s mother, father and teacher fulfills all the duties that one has. Their service is indeed one’s most excellent dharma. All other duties are minor in comparison. (Manusmṛti 2.237)
- The father, mother, teacher, elder brother and one's provider—these five are considered as one's superiors. (Kūrma Purāṇa 2.12.32)
- He who desires prosperity should revere these superiors at all times by all means, even if one loses his life. (Kūrma Purāṇa 2.12.33)
- The son who pleases his parents by his good qualities acquires the fruit of all virtues by doing so. (Kūrma Purāṇa 2.12.35)
- No god can equal the mother, and no superior can equal one's father. Hence, no son can get relieved of the debt he owes to them. (Kūrma Purāṇa 2.12.36)
- With the exception of deeds that result in mokṣa and one's religious rites—both optional and obligatory—service to one's parents is the only essence of dharma and it leads one to salvation upon death. (Kūrma Purāṇa 2.12.38)
Conversely, he who does not respect his elders and does not take care of them incurs great evil karma:
- He who serves his parents and teachers truly respects all the teachings of the scriptures. And the person who disrespects them will never get the fruit of any worship. (Manusmṛti 2.234)
In some passages, the Divine Lord commands humans to honor and serve their parents:
- Bhagavān Viṣṇu said to Rishi Markandeya—‘They who serve their parents, thinking of their father as the Lord of the Universe, and Mother as the holy River Gaṅgā—they indeed are My best bhaktas.’ (Nārada Purāṇa 1.5.53)
In his various avatāras, Bhagavān has Himself set an example for us on how we should respect our teachers and our parents.
The story of Śrī Rāma illustrates this beautifully. Queen Kaikeyī indulged in a political intrigue to get her stepson Rāma exiled from Ayodhyā for fourteen years, just the night before he was to be coronated as crown prince. Earlier, she had adored Rāma even more than her own son. But under the influence of her maid, she now asked for her own son Bharata to be declared as the crown prince. Before leaving for the forest, Rāma came to offer his respects to his stepmother, without a shred of anger or hatred towards her. When Bharata learned of his mother’s deed, he lost his temper out of righteousness, but restrained himself thinking that Rāma would never forgive disrespect to his stepmother. After fourteen years, when Rāma returned to Ayodhyā, he first went to meet Kaikeyī and fell at her feet for her blessings.
Our elders may not be infallible, but we must never treat them with indignity, and forgive their trespasses in consideration of their age and prior love for us.
Therefore, it is a child’s foremost duty to serve his parents:
- As long as his parents do not become ascetics and renounce the world, the son should be devoted to them and make this his first priority. (Kūrma Purāṇa 2.12.34)
Story: The Devotion of Pundalik towards his Parents Creates a Sacred Place[edit]
Pundalik was initially unmindful of the needs of his elderly parents but later had a change of heart. He brought them home and started taking good care of them.
Kṛṣṇa said to his wife Rukmiṇī—“A wonderful transformation has come to Pundalik. Let us go and visit him.” When Kṛṣṇa knocked at the open door of Pundalik’s house, he said, “Please wait till I put my parents to sleep.”
As Kṛṣṇa patiently waited with his arms akimbo, Pundalik’s home was filled with a light due to Kṛṣṇa’s divine presence. Pundalik turned and asked for His forgiveness. But Kṛṣṇa blessed him saying, “When you serve your elders, you truly worship Me. I will always stay with you.”
Kṛṣṇa’s presence transformed into a sacred image, which is worshipped as Viṭṭhala in Paṇḍharpur. And when Pundalik died, his ashes were buried and became a shrine that is visited today.
After the Mahābhārata civil war, the Pāṇḍavas lovingly took under their care Uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Aunt Gāndhārī, even though their own dead sons were the cause of the catastrophe. One day, after three decades of looking after them lovingly, Pāṇḍava brother Bhīma, in a moment of weakness, said—“Had you restrained your sons, there would have been no war. You are to blame for your own miseries.”
The words hurt the heart of the old couple and they resolved to leave the care of their nephews and go to the forest.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore