[Advaita-l] QUESTION ON THARPANA&SRADHA

[Anand Hudli]

> 1.The dharmasindhu lists the 96 shrAddhas or ShaNNavati shrAddhas as
follows.amAvAsya- 12, yugAdi or kalpAdi- 4, manvAdi- 14, saMkrAnti- 12,
vaidhRti
> yoga- 12, vyatIpAta yoga- 12, mahAlaya- 15, aShTakA- 5, anvAShTakA- 5, and
> pUrvedyu (aShTakA)- 5.
> For the above you stated, short answer is that Tila Tharpana is
performed; which is what  my family members perform on Amavasa and many
nitya karma books (the ones we have are Sanskrit with Kannada lipi and
translation) provide the paddathi.For those 96 days, what is actually the
srAddha paddathi ?

As I wrote earlier, with the exception of MahAlaya and ashTakAshrAddhas,
other nityashrAddhas may be performed, during times of difficulty, as
sankalpashrAddhas, AmashrAddhas or hiraNyashrAddhas. Further leniency,
again in times of difficulty, is also provided, as I wrote earlier. Also,
there seem to be regional differences that come into focus on this topic.
For instance, the custom of the drAviDa (Tamil Nadu) brAhmaNas in the tila
tarpaNa, specifically using  "kUrchas" or "bhugnas" for pitRs, is not
followed by Karnataka, Andhra, and Maharashtra brAhmaNas. Perhaps this
practice is prevalent among Kerala brAhmaNas too. Among the nitya
shrAddhas, the mahAlaya and aShTakA shrAddhas are considered important, and
hence, it is advisable to do them as regular shrAddhas. There is a further
option to skip aShTakA shrAddhas in Margashirsha, PuShya, and Phalguna Masa
and do the ones in mAgha.

> 2.I have heard there is a daily shrAddha, what is that ? I know there is
Divya Pitru Tharpana in Brahma Yagna which is done daily, but that is not
the same one's own Pitru Tharpana which is performed after father has
expired.

The daily shrAddha is nothing more than feeding at least one Brahmana with
the objective of satisfying the pitRs. The dakshiNA is optional. No rules
and requirements of the shrAddha, such as AmantraNa, AvAhana, agnaukaraNa,
vikira, and piNDapradAna, apply here, nor is there any concept of
vishvedevas, kartA and bhoktA.

The daily divyapitR tarpaNa done as part of the brahmayajna is to be done
with just water by everyone, including a person whose father is alive. Such
a person should wrap the yajnopavIta around the left thumb while offering
the water tarpaNa. A person whose father is no more has to do it with the
yajnopavIta in the apasavya position.

> 3.You mentioned, YajurVedis must not do pani homa. So I take it, if
followed to the letter, homa should be done ideally on all 96 days.

Please see the answer to 1 above. There is no homa in AmashrAddha,
hiraNyashrAddha, and sankalpashrAddha.

> 4.This is one of the quite common mistakes being committed today.
shrAddhashould not be performed that early in the morning as 8 AM.
shrAddhas are
> mostly to be done in what is called the aparAhNakAla.
> I understand it is not according to Shastras, but my father and others do
this as they still work for a living. I have cousins who  are in school/or
employed work, and are not able to be off all 96 days to perform Tharpana
at the appropriate time and hence need to do it in the morning. Isn't this
better than not performing at all ?

There is a provision to do certain shrAddhas even in the evening and up
until the end of the first prahara of the night. A prahara is one quarter
of the period of the night calculated from sunset to sunrise, roughly 3.75
muhurtas, 7.5 ghaTIs, or 3 hours in the low latitudes (South India). One
possibility is to do the tarpaNa/shrAddha in the evening, but then one has
to be fasting till the tarpaNa is over. Fasting on 96 days a year, apart
from other fasts such as the Ekadashi, is a tall order for many people.
Perhaps, this is another reason why many people do the tarpaNa early in the
morning - to be able to have breakfast!  Of course, there are varying
opinions on this topic and regional shiShTAchAras too have to be
considered.

Anand