Mahalaya Sraadham

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Mahalaya Sraadham

Pitru Paksha or Mahalaya Paksha is coming up. There are some important things about this. We believe in life after death. More or less, every religion believes in life after death. What you do today paves the way for where you are tomorrow. This is logical. It all comes out of your own actions. If you prepare for IIT and work hard, you end up there. If you want to migrate to Canada or Australia, you have to qualify yourself accordingly and go through the process and procedures. What you are going to face and undergo after death will depend on your day-to-day conduct now.

For someone who follows Christianity, after death, it is 'rest in peace' till God arrives and takes them all together to heaven. This is applicable to those who follow Christianity in letter and spirit in their day-to-day life. For followers of another religion, it could be another outcome. For those who do not follow any such path, we don’t know what is in store for them. Maybe, because they have not prepared themselves for anything in particular, they wander about, directionless. This is provided they are absolutely neutral, neither doing good nor bad. Else, they are pulled into the respective ends.

In Sanatana Dharma, there are many possibilities after death. It is all merit-based—entirely merit-based. The best, based on their deeds, attain mukti; they don’t have to take another birth—one in a billion or a trillion. The second best go to Swarga—stay there for some time, and again take another birth. Swarga is all about comforts and enjoyments but is not permanent. In Swarga, the status and level of comforts also depend on how much good you have done on earth.

Next to Swarga is Pitruloka, where 999 out of 1,000 end up after death. Pitruloka is not one single place. There are different levels, statuses, and experiences. From the one on the back side of the moon, where they almost get status equal to those in Swarga and get forms similar to Vasus, Rudras, and Adityas, to Nirrti Loka, with a lot of sufferings, where they remain bound by the ropes of a devata called Nirrti—it all depends on what you do here, both commissions and omissions. It is not just about doing wrong. If you don’t do vihita karma, the good karma that you are supposed to do, it will not be good either. Then, there are narakas for the worst offenders.

Except for those who attain moksha or mukti, everybody else has to take another birth after spending some time in Swarga, Pitruloka, or Naraka. Those in Swarga or Naraka—you need not be bothered. You have nothing much to do with them. You are cut off from them. Those in Pitruloka—you are still connected to them. Mind you, 999 out of 1,000 of the deceased are in Pitruloka or Pitrulokas undergoing various experiences, both enjoyments and sufferings.

How do they go there, and what happens? The pindas provided to the deceased after death are used to make a body for them. This is called the Aativahika Sharira. This may not be visible to you, but it is the new body that is created. The antah karana, consisting of manas, buddhi, ahamkara, and chitta of the deceased person, gets into this newly made body, which goes to Pitruloka. In this body, all feelings, emotions, faculties, habits—good and bad—remain intact. Only the body is new.

This highlights the importance of death rites. If death rites are not properly performed, the body itself is not made. The antah karana wanders about on earth without a body to go to Pitruloka. This is what is sometimes experienced as what is, in ordinary parlance, called a ghost. Those who reach Pitruloka with the new body are collectively called pitrus, both male and female.

The first three generations—father, grandfather, and great-grandfather—are called Ashrumukhas because they have tears on their faces. They regret not utilizing their time on earth, the karma bhumi, properly. That is why they ended up in Pitruloka instead of attaining moksha or going to Swarga. The older generations are called Naandimukhas.

We retain our connection with our pitrus in Pitruloka. We have duties towards them, and they have expectations from us. Remember, it is the same person with a new body in Pitruloka. The mind, emotions, and habits are the same; only the body is new. We have duties and responsibilities towards them, just as they have with us here on earth.

Just as a son working abroad sends money to take care of the expenses of his parents back home, even though they are living in different worlds and cannot see each other, we provide for our pitrus through shraddha. Strictly speaking, you are supposed to do this 96 times a year, called shannavati shraddhas, in addition to the annual shraddha on the tithi of demise. Whenever you do a shraddha, your pitrus can come to you on earth, leaving Pitruloka, and receive food and water provided by you.

Pitru Paksha or Mahalaya Paksha is different. Pitruloka is ruled by Yamaraja. During Pitru Paksha, he asks every single occupant of Pitruloka to go back to earth to their respective families and receive food and water from them. No one can stay back in Pitruloka during Pitru Paksha. Pitruloka becomes empty. They come down to earth and wait at your doorsteps to be called in. They keep waiting until they are called and offered food and water. Once they receive it, they can return. Otherwise, they must wait until the start of Vrishchika Masa, another 45 days after Pitru Paksha is over, still waiting at the doorsteps of their family, hoping for something. If they don’t receive anything, they return to Pitruloka.

However, they curse and go back. Can you blame them? Their hearts are broken. Family members, sons, and grandsons, for whom they devoted their entire lives, won’t even give them a little food to eat or water to drink. They curse with poverty, diseases, disputes, accidents, lack of progeny, obstacles in livelihood, marriage issues, and all kinds of problems in the family. But when propitiated with food and water, they bless with health, wealth, progeny, and happiness.

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