[Advaita-l] shrAddha for the departed soul

[Shashwata Shastri]

Pranams,
Why is Shraddha necessary?
Every race,natives or group of ethnicity or aboriginals have their own
different ways to pay respect to their forefathers.
The commandment of Sruti is beyond question. Why do we perform rites
related to our manes? Because the laws state so (The highest authority-
Shabda Pramana). Though Shraddha is a smarta ritual (Since by the proof of
smriti, we can assume the existence of unheard sruti- Per kulluka Bhatta),
on the other hand, we are bound to do it. The Laukika necessity can be
ascribed as followed-
'Without the continuation of  manes right memory of our forefathers will
fade away slowly. As sadAchara is obtained from the tradition of our
forefathers, if we tend to disregard our ancestors surely we will lose our
respect,admiration for them. Practice makes it clear concise and it passes
the ritual through generations after generations, thus the memory of
sadachara continues. Performing the act of reverence solidifies our
traditions, makes it intact (Our forefathers are not just the body itself,
they are embodiment of what they lived like). The act of paying homage is
like penance. AvyAsa of sraddha (Respect for the  transcendental, which
later flourishes as Jigyasa, resulting astikya). Forgetting our forefathers
will cause our sadachara to disappear, which will lead to identity
extinction.'

The above excerpt is a bit blurred. I will clarify it more on my next
participation.

Best Regards,
Shashwata Chowdhury

Shashwata Chowdhury

On Wed, Feb 7, 2018 at 7:03 AM, Bhaskar YR via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Paramacharyal explained that shrāddha is an obligatory duty that purifies
> the performer. He emphasised that the pitrus do no sustain themselves
> exclusively on the pinda that is offered during the shraaddha ceremony.
>
> praNAms Sri Subbu prabhuji
> Hare Krishna
>
> Thanks for sharing the clarification by HH.  I am happy to note that
> unknowingly I have shared my thoughts with her something similar to this.
> I told her,  whether pirtru-s are there in pitru lOka or not, whether they
> are in svarga or Naraka, whether they attained shAshwata brahmalOka,
> vaikunTa lOka, whether they have already taken re-birth or still in sUkshma
> deha/rUpa in pitru lOka,  we cannot ascertain here in this lOka.  So,
> irrespective of their status in some other lOka, being a putra one has to
> perform these rituals to his parents with utmost Shraddha as it is an
> obligatory duty in discharging the pitru ruNa.  And it is the only saMskAra
> that children will have to do to their departed parents and other
> saMskAra-s like from puMsavanAdi vivAha paryantaM parents will do to their
> kids.  And concluded my clarification, for doing  all these rituals with
> prescribed injunctions only shAstra is the pramANa.  Being a vaidika dharma
> follower we have to have unconditional ‘shraddha’ in our scriptures and we
> should not put these rituals and injunctions into logical scrutiny ☺ Though
> my intention at that time was just to convince her somehow, I now realized
> that my clarification is not that stupid ☺
>
> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
> bhaskar
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