Thus Spake the Divine - Where do Sesame Seeds and Water Go?

Thus Spake the Divine

Where do Sesame Seeds and Water Go?

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava clarifies specific doubts of devotees with respect to Shrardham and Tarpanam carried out for Pitrus.

All those who have taken birth as human beings should be grateful to their ancestors (Pitru) and to God. They must perform their “duties towards the Pitru” (Pitru Karma) and “Tasks related to God” (Deyva Karma).

When our parents are alive, we must be polite and carry out all our duties towards them. We should do our best to ensure a comfortable life for them. There can be no substitute for the amount of sacrifices they have made for us. Once our parents leave this earth, even then, there are some duties that their children must perform for them. Shastras say that we should do the Tarpanam and Shrardham for them without any break. Tarpanam is the offering of water mixed with sesame seeds to the dead ancestors on the day of New Moon. Shrardham is the annual death ceremony for ancestors.

‘Reformers’ too agree that parents should be well taken care of by their children when they are alive. But they feel it is ridiculous to carry out duties to the Pitrus once they die!

They say, “sesame seeds, water of the Tarpanam, the cooked rice ball (Pindam), rice, plantain and other eatables are lying here in front of our eyes; we see some Brahmin taking it away or eating the same here itself on the day of Shrardham. You say that Pitrus have taken another birth. In that case, is it not foolish to say that all these items reach those Pitrus who have died long back?” Even some of you may have the same opinion. Let me tell you a story.

There was a boy studying in a school while staying in a hostel. He urgently wanted some money to pay his exam fees. He wrote a letter to his father asking him to send a telegraphic money order, so that the fee reaches him faster. The father went to the Post office, gave the cash to the clerk and told him to send it to his son. The clerk collected the money, gave a receipt and said, “We have sent the money; the money will reach your son soon”. The father told the clerk, “I am seeing the money here and how do you say you have sent the money?” The clerk again said, “It will reach your son, don’t worry”. The father was really confused. The clerk had only punched some telegraphic code and was saying the money would reach his son. How was that possible? However, the money reached his son indeed!

Performing Tarpanam is similar to this. Whenever we send money to another person, we adhere to the statutory or legal formalities prescribed by authorities. Likewise, we follow the laws of our Shastras when we do the Tarpanam. The Pitru Devata will reach that Tarpanam to the one it is meant for. If the Pitru has taken the birth of a bullock, the Pitru Devata will convert it into a haystack and give it to the bullock. If the Pitru has taken the birth of a horse, the Devata will convert the Tarpanam into green grass and feed it to the horse. Lord Parameshvara has instructed and empowered Pitru Devatas to do so. Therefore, the father who has died need not come in person to receive what we offer to him on the day of his Shrardham.

In case the recipient of money-order lives in a foreign country and the money is in Indian currency, it will be converted into dollars or pounds and handed over to the specified recipient. We cannot send the money in the form of dollars or pounds from here. Similarly, as stipulated by Shastras, if we offer sesame seeds, water and plantain to Pitrus, it will be suitably converted and handed over to the respective Pitru.

What is important here is our gratitude to ancestors and our commitment to Shastras. Westerners commence eating their food saying “Cheers! For the good health of so and so”. They strongly believe if they wish good health for others, that itself will bring good health to the other. Shrardham itself means “doing it with Shraddha”, doing it with commitment. When we perform activities relating to Pitrus, we should do it according to the stipulated rules and regulations. If it is an ordinary course of action, we can do it as we like without any restrictions. But when it comes to something that is done for Pitrus, we should never violate any rules and regulations thereof.

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.