[Advaita-l] tarpana vichaara / vidhi

[Anand Hudli]

>Today being mahAlaya I was giving tarpaNa to my parents / dvAdasha pitru
> tarpaNa and all the known deceased relations.  While giving tarpaNa as we
> all know we give tarpaNa to vasu, rudra & Aditya rUpam  or rUpAM.  Is
these
> pitru-s irrespective of gender (stree / pum) will be in vasu, rudra and
> Aditya form only??    And all the other deceased relations we give tarpaNa
> in vasu rUpaM / rUpAM only why it is so??   Even though they are in rudra
> rUpaM or Aditya rUpaM when their respective son / grandson/ greatgrandson
> performs shrAddha or giving tarpaNa.  For example, today I have given
> tarpaNa to my maternal uncle (mother's elder brother - sOdara mAva in
> Kannada) by saying vasurUpaM svadhAnaM tarpayAmi..but he and his son too
> passed away long back and my maternal uncle's grandson giving the tarpaNa
> to his father as vasu rUpaM  and grandfather as rudra rUpaM and
> greatgrandfather as Aditya rUpaM  by saying vasu, rudra or Aditya  rUpaM
> svadhAnaM tarpayAmi !!?? can a same soul be in vasu rUpaM,  rudra rUpaM
and
> Aditya rUpaM depending upon the tarpaNakAra & his relationship with the
> deceased soul ??

The devatA's vasu-rudra-Aditya are adhiShThAtR devatAs for the father,
grandfather, and great grandfather. They play a role in ensuring that food
is available to the Pitrs in accordance with the form of current existence
of each by means of different acts in the shrAddha ritual. It is said that
those Pitrs who have become gods will get their food through "pANi-homa"
(or the homa performed by yajurvedins), those in heavenly worlds will get
food through "vipra-bhojana" (feeding brAhmaNas), those in Yamaloka will
get food through "piNDa-pradAna" (offering piNDas), those in Naraka (hell)
will get food through the vikira, those in the form of animals will get
food through tarpaNa, those in the form of rAkShasas will get food through
bhUri-bhojana (grand meal), those in the form of Rishis will get food
through dakShiNA. The devatAs, vasu-rudra-Aditya are themselves pleased
with these acts and ensure that food is made available to Pitrs in
accordance with their current form of existence. The analogy given is that
of a pregnant woman yearning for a particular dish and getting it through
her husband. By doing so, she pleases herself, nourishes the baby growing
in her womb, and pleases her husband too, who gets the satisfaction of
having fulfilled the desire of his pregnant wife. Vasu and other deities
play a similar role.

The association of vasu etc. with father, etc is in accordance with the
relation that the kartA has with the particular Pitr. Just as the same
person may be a son to his parents, father to his children, grandfather to
his grandchildren, uncle to his nephews, etc., the same Pitr may be
associated with different devatAs depending on the relation with the
(shrAddha) kartA. What matters is that the Pitr gets food through a devatA
because of the shrAddhakartA and blesses him.

Anand