Pitru yagna

Background

Our scriptures talk of 3 types of obligations - Pitru Runa, Deva Runa, Rishi Runa. They say that there
is no salvation until one discharges all three obligations in the prescribed manner. Taittareya upanishad
echoes the same sentiment and cautions us against ignoring or misjudging their importance “deva
pitRu kAryAbhyAm na pramaditvyam”. The word ‘kArya’ means “that which must be performed” It
should be noted that the Upanishad combines the worship of devas and pitRus in one phrase, thereby
placing them on equal footing, and does not split them into two separate phrases.

A smRiti vAkya says ('jIvatO vAkya karaNAt pratyabdham bhUri bhojanAt gayAyAm pinda dAnAt
tribhiH putrasya putratAm") that a son deserves to be called a son only if he
- Obeys parents during their lifetime
- Performs shrAdhha and feeds brAhmaNas every year
- Perform pinDa dAna in gayA

All of the above points underscore the fact that our scriptures attach very high importance to pitru
kArya and make it one of the mandatory duties of every sAdhaka.

This document focuses on Pitru Runa or obligation towards Pitrus (forefathers) with the intent of
providing an understanding of the key terms and concepts involved. This is necessary because one
needs to perform this duty with sincerity and earnestness and not as a necessary evil (shraddhaya
charitam shrAddha). One critical element of Shraddha is gyAna or knowledge; without this we end up
with andha shrAddha (blind belief), which is not a good thing. The Chhandogya Upanishad puts this
succintly “yadEva vidyayA karOti, shraddhaya, upanishada, tadeva vIryavattaram bhavati” (“only that
which is done with knowledge, sincerity backed by meditation becomes most effective”).
What exactly is shrAddha? There are many definitions; here is one from Brahma purAna

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dEshE kAlE cha pAtrE cha shraddhayA vidhinA cha yat

pitRunuddishya viprEbhyO dattaM shrAddhamudahRuta (brahma purANa)

Meaning : The offerings (food etc.) made to the brahmins (priests) for the sake of deceased ancestors,
after taking into account the aptness of country, time period and place and with complete faith and
abiding by all the rules is known as Shraddha.

One very crucial point needs to be remembered. All worship should be ultimately directed towards Sri
Hari; He is the final object of worship, even though there may be many intermediaries or channels. We
go through these adhishThAnas (icons) to worship Him only because He uses them to channelize His
benevolence towards us. He is there within the mother, the father, the husband, the wife, the children,
the Guru and others and nourishes us with His grace. The BruhadArnyaka Upanishad makes this point
very forcefully and concludes “atmanastu kAmAya sarvam priyam bhavati”.

Pitru devatas:

In order to understand this topic properly we need to understand some basic realities. Let us say
someone (Ramachar) wants to perform the shrAddha of his father (Krishnachar). The first problem
confronting him is that he does not know where his father is. Krishnachar could be in hell (if he was a
sinner), or Heaven (if he was a virtuous man), or in one of the higher lokas awaiting moksha (if he has
completed his sadhana and is waiting for moksha) or he could be on earth reborn as a person, animal,
bird etc. Mortals like us are 'niramsha jeevas' meaning that we can live in only body at a given time.
So, if Krishnachar is say in heaven, he cannot come down to collect his son's offerings. On the
contrary, devatas are 'saamsha jeevas' meaning they can exist in multiple bodies at the same time. For
example, during the dvapara yuga, Yama incarnated on Earth as Vidura and Yuddhishtira; while the
main Yama still ruled over Yamaloka.

The next problem is how can Ramachar's offering reach his father? This is where Pitru devatas come
into play. Let us take an example from ordinary life. Let us say I want to send some money to my
friend in a distant land. I do not have to go there, nor does he have to come here. I just deposit the
money into an account and the money is wired to my friend's account. He gets an amount equal to what
I deposited but not the exact notes or coins I used.

With this background, we can now understand pitru devatas are not our ancestors; they act as the
channel between us and our ancestors. There are 6 key groups to consider in this category

1. Chira Pitrus: They are in the 28th Kaksha in taaratamya (hierarchy of gods). They are the children
of devatas.

2. Deva Bhrutyu pitru gana: They are in the 27th Kaksha and fall into the category of anaakhyaata
ajaanajas. They are totally 100 in number, out of which 7 are higher than the others.

3. Pitru gana: There is a category of 100 pitru-s out of which 7 are worshipped as “pitru-gana-
devatas”. The details of these are given in a conversation between Markandeya and Sanath kumara in
Harivamsha.

sapta ete yajatAM shreShTha svarge pitR^i-gaNAH smRutAH |

chatvAro mUrti-mantaH cha trayaH teShAm amUrtayaH || 1-18-4 ||

[Seven of these are worshipped in heaven as superior Pitru devatas; out of these four have manifest forms
(mUrtimanta) and the balance three have unmanifest forms (amUrtimanta)].

The four with manifest forms are: sukala, angIrasa, susvadha, soma-pa. The three without manifest
forms are more potent and are able to enter into any being, no matter how big or small. They are
vairAjA-s, agniShvata-s, barhiShada-s.

4. Pitru patis:
Shastras mention three devatas as pitru patis (Chiefs of pitru devatas). These are Kavya-vaaha, Soma
(Moon) and Yama. Some scholars add a fourth one - Aryama because in the Gita Krishna says that he
is Aryama amongst pitrus.

anantaashchaasmi naagaanaam varunO yaadasaam aham

pitrUNAm aryama chaasmi yamaH sanyamataam aham (10.29)

4.1 Kavyavaaha: He is a devata in the 18th Kaksha. He conveys our offerings to pitru devatas. He
has a counterpart who conveys our offerings to devatas; he is havyavaaha,

4.2 Soma (Moon): He is in the 12th kakshe. Sun is the main pratima (icon) for offerings made to
devatas. Similarly, Moon is the pratima for offerings made to pitrus. Shastras say that divine rays from
the Moon move upwards towards pitru loka and pitrus get nourished by them. Moon is the abhimaani
devata for Rice; that is why we use pinDas made out of rice as offerings to pitrus.

4.3 Yama: He is also in the 12th kakshe. He is also called ShrAddha deva. He is also the father of the
8 Vasus, and Vishwe devatas. He thus plays a very important role in shraddha. At the end of the
shraddha, one needs to offer 14 tarpanas to Yama.

5. Deva Pitrus: This consists of three groups - Vasu, Rudra and Aditya. Scholars also add Vishwe
devatas in this category. Vasu, Rudra and Aditya serve as the channels through which we can offer
oblations to our ancestors. This is explained in the section titled 'Dvadasha pitrus'.

5.1 Vasus: They are eight in number. As stated before, they are the children of Vishwa and Yama
Dharma. Agni is the main person in this group. He is in the 15th Kaksha. All the others are in 18th
kaksha ; they are DronaH, praNaH, dhruvaH, arkaH, dOShaH, vastu aka dyu, vibhaavasu.

5.2 Rudras: They are 11 in number. They are the children of Bhuta (daughter of Daksha prajapati).
Lord Shiva is the main person in this group. He is in the 5th kakshe. The others are in the 18th kakshe.
They are RaivataH, OjaH, BhavaH, BheemaH, VaamaH, UgraH, VRuShaakapiH, Ajaikapaat,
AhirbudhniH, ViroopaaH.

5.3 Adityas: They are 12 in number. They are the children of Aditi and Kashyapa. Narayana is the
main one in this group. He is followed by Indra (8th kakshe), Ravi (12), Varuna (13), Mitra (17) . The
remaining 6 are in 18th Kakshe. They are Aryamaa, Pooshaa, TvaShTaa, Savitaa, BhagaH, Dhaataa.

Some scholars opine that in the context of shrAddha, we should consider only devatas in the 18th
Kakshe for Vasu, Rudra and Aditya and not their counterparts in higher kakshes..

5.4 Vishve devatas:

They are the other group of entities worshipped during shrAddha. They are children of Dharma
(Yama) and Vishva, the daughter of Daxa. They are the guardians of the shraddha and prevent the
daityas from snatching away the fruits of the shrAddha. In them, one has to meditate on kharaari
naamaka janaardana.

Vishvedevatas are 10 in number and come in pairs. Each pair protects one specific type of shraddha.
This is described below
shAddha type Vishve Devatas
Ishti (homa) kratu and Daxa
Parva (annual ceremony) Pururva, Ardrava
Vivaaha (nAndi done during wedding) Vasu and Sathya
Kaamya (typically mahAlaya paksha) Dhuri, Lochana
Naimittika Kala, Kama

6.0 Paramatma roopas

All pooja acts should be directed towards Narayana, while going through various adhishtanas
(intermediaries). Similarly all shrAddha activites are focused on 5 roopas of Paramatma. We worship
Pradyumna in Vasus, Sankarshana in Rudras and Vasudeva in Adityas. Aniruddha and Narayana are
worshipped in Vishwe devatas.

Origin of Pitru devatas

Harivamsha describes the incidents behind their creation. A certain class of devatas were created by
Chaturmukha Brahma and assigned specific duties. According to scholars, they are mostly in 27th
kakshe in taaratamya. These devatas indulged activities different from what was assigned to them. As a
result they were cursed to lose their gyAna. They approached Chaturmukha brahma for relief and he
directed them to get their lost knowledge from their children. The devatas did this and regained their
knowledge and status. In Sanskrit, "pita" also means a teacher or giver of knowledge. From then on,
these progeny of the devatas were called as pitru devatas.

Comparison between Devatas and Pitrus

The following table lists the main differences between Devatas and Pitrus, in a general way.

Parameter Pitrus Devatas

Primary focus Dead souls Living beings
Offering mantra svadha svaaha
Vehicle (form of agni) Kava vaaha Havya vaaha
Best time for pooja Kutapa" Morning *
Direction South North or East

Determining ShrAddha tithi

If the duration between sunrise and sunset is divided into 15 equal parts, the eighth part is called
'kutapakAla'. This is very appropriate for performing shrAddha.

Vasishtasmruti says -

divasasyashtame bhage mandeebhavati bhaskraha

sa kaalah kutapo nama pitrunaam dattamakshayam

(in the eighth portion of daytime the sun starts to dim, this kaala is called kutapa and offerings made to
pitrus become infinite)
More often than not, a tithi (date) spans two days. So, which day should we choose to perform our
shrAddha? Generally speaking, the tithi at sunrise is the one considered for pooja. However for
shrAddha one needs to see the tithi at kutapa kaala and use that to perform shrAddha karma.

In India, generally sunrise and sunset happen 6 AM and 6 PM respectively; then each part is roughly
48 minutes and kutapa kaala falls between 11:36 AM and 12:24 PM. However, as one moves away
from the Equator (USA, England, France, Australia etc) sunrise and sunset times vary significantly
between summer and winter. One needs to consult a local calendar and determine kutapa kala and use
that as the determinant for shrAddha.

Dwadasha pitrugalu and Vasu, Rudra and Aditya:

Dwadash pitragula are our immediate 12 forefathers. These are grouped into 4 categories as listed
below. They are always worshipped along with a form of Vasu, Rudra or Aditya and a form of the
Lord, and never by themselves.

Varga Name Relationship Antargata Roopa

pitRu pitRu Father vasu (pradyumna)
pitAmaha Father’s father rudra (sankarshaNa)
prapitAmaha PitAmaha’s father Aditya (vAsudeva)
matRu mAtRu Mother vasu (pradyumna)
pitAmahi Father’s mother rudra (sankarshaNa)
prapitAmahi PitAmaha’s mother Aditya (vAsudeva)
mAtAmaha mAtamaha Mother’s Father vasu (pradyumna)
mAtuh pitAmaha MAtmaha’s father rudra (sankarshaNa)
mAtuh prapitAmaha Mother’s great grandfather Aditya (vAsudeva)
mAtAmahi mAtamahi Mother’s mother vasu (pradyumna)
mAtuh pitAmahi MAtmaha’s mother rudra (sankarshaNa)
mAtuh prapitAmahi Mother’s great grandmother Aditya (vAsudeva)

These are the ones that must be worshipped during all shrAddhas. Other relatives are worshipped as
needed, during mahAlaya paksha and other special occasions.

Vaarshika shrAdhha

In olden times, shrAddha was done with 5 brahmins - 2 for Vishwe devatas and 3 for Vasu-Rudra-
Aditya. However, this proved to be hard since it was difficult for the householder doing shrAddha to
get 5 suitable brahmins. Another difficulty was that the brahmin coming for shrAddha had to do a lot
of penance and japa after the event. So they were gradually replaced by inanimate objects. The current
practice is to place a darbha pavitra on the seats meant for these brahmaNas and they are called
"kuurcha roopi braahmaNas".

Viswe devatas are placed on a seat facing East and Vasu-Rudra-Aditya are placed facing North. On
the seats facing North, worship is done as listed below:

1) agniShtvaattas ( vasu devas - antargata pradyumna) for father ( or mother)

2) barhiShadas ( rudra devas - antargata sankarShaNa) for grand father / mother
3) sOmapas ( aadityas- antargata vaasudeva) for great grand father / mother
mahAlaya or pitRu paksha:

It is observed in the dark half (Krishna paksha) of Bhadrapada beginning with the day after the full
moon day (Purnima) that occurs immediately after Vinayaka Chaturthi and ending with the new moon
day known as Sarvapitru or Mahalaya amavasya. There are several legends associated with the origins
of this paksha.

It is said that during one of the many wars between the devatas and asuras, many devataas and Rishis
died in this period. As these devatas or rishis are like our pitrus this period is observed as Mahalaya.
Another legend is that when Karna went to heaven after his death he was offered gold and jewels as
food. When he sought the reason for this he was told that had donated gold and jewels all his life, but
had never donated food to his ancestors in Shraddha. Karna said that since he was unaware of his
ancestors, he had never donated anything in their memory. To make amends, he was permitted to
return to earth for a 15–day period, so that he could perform Shraddha and donate food and water in
their memory. This story is not factual and goes against tattvavAda concepts; It has been included here
only because one needs to know vidya as well as avidya (correct and wrong understanding of
theology).

Shannavathi ShrAddha and tila tarpana

Tila tarpana is an important component of any pitru kArya. It consists of offering Black sesame seeds
with water in a specific manner, chanting special mantras. Shannavathi (96 in Sanskrit) indicates the
minimum number of days in a year a person has to perform shrAddha to his fore-fathers; if it is not
possible to perform the full-fledged shrAddha on all 96 days, at least tila tarpana should be performed.
The days are:

12 AmavAsya (New Moon day) 4 yugAdi (besides kali-yuga yugAdi celebrated on

Chaitra shuddha pAdya there are 3 others)
12 Sankramana (this is the day Sun moves to 15 Ashtaka : A group of 3 days - Bahula (Krishna
the next Rasi in the cycle) paksha) saptami, astami, Navami – in 5 months
bhadrapada, Margashira, Pushya, Magha, Palguna)
12 Vaidhruthi yoga 12 vyatipAta yoga
15 Mahalaya paksha 14 manvAdi (daya a manvantara begins)

In addition, one should offer tila tarpana while performing the annual shrAddha of one’s parents and
during Lunar and Solar eclipses. It is also customary to offer tarpana to Bhisma on Magha Shuddha
Ashtami. If any of these falls on an Ekadasi, tarpana should not be performed.

Role of Garuda Purana

Garuda purANa is one of the 18 mahA purANAs composed by Lord Veda Vyasa and is regarded as a
sAtvika purana. It is in the form of a conversation between Lord Vishnu and Garuda primarily
emphasizing the reason and meaning of human life. It contains details of life after death, funeral rites
and the metaphysics of reincarnation, and therefore it is common practice to listen to this purANA
after any death in the family. It is THE authority for all matters relating to this subject. It speaks of
different incarnations of Lord Vishnu, geographical regions, origin of the universe, creation,
procreation, genealogy of the gods and the journey of a soul after death. It also talks about the origin
and propagation of Garuda himself and describes different kinds of austerities, methods of worship,
atonement for sin and divine & sacred mantras. Among other things, it includes a famous Pitru Stotra
that was done by Ruchi prajapati to Pitrus, as narrated by Markandeya muni to Krounchaki.

The transmigration of the seven brahmanas

One verse is recited in every shrAddha. There is an interesting story behind this, which illustrates the
greatness of pitru devatas.

Seven sons of Kashyapa were tending to the cow of their guru Gargya. They got lost in the forest and
were plagued by extreme hunger . Unable to find any other food they decided to kill the cow and eat its
flesh. One of the seven convinced them to offer the cow's flesh as naivedya to pitru devatas before
eating. Due to their henious sin they were reborn several times. However, because they had offered it
as naivedya to pitru devatas, their knowledge of their previous birth remained intact. They were first
born as seven tribals in a forest, next as seven animals on a mountain, seven chArvAja birds and later
as seven swans. They separated in their final birth. Four were born as sons of a brAhmana, one as King
Brahmadatta and 2 as his ministers. The old man's sons decided to go to their forest and perform
meditation. Their father protested against this saying that needed to take care of him in his old age. The
sons then gave him a verse and asked him to recite it in front of the king and his 2 ministers. They said
this verse would fetch the old man a lot of money and left for meditation. The old man followed their
instructions and recited the verse in front of the king and his 2 ministers. His words acted like a
lightning bolt on the king and his ministers. The verse brought back memories of their previous births.
They immediately decided to join their 4 brothers in the forest. They instructed their followers to give
a lot of wealth to the old man and went to the forest to join their brothers. The verse which the old
man uttered is listed below; it basically recants the births the seven brothers took.

¸À¥ÀÛ ªÁåzsÁ zÀ±ÁuÉðµÀÄ ªÀÄÈUÁB PÁ®kÓgÉ VgË |

ZÀPÀæªÁPÁB ±ÀgÀ-¢éÃ¥É ºÀA¸ÁB ¸ÀgÀ¹ ªÀiÁ£À¸Éà || 1-24-20
vÉ C©üeÁvÁB PÀÄgÀÄPÉëÃvÉæà ¨ÁæºÀäuÁ ªÉÃzÀ-¥ÁgÀUÁB |
¥Àæ¹ÜvÁ ¢ÃWÀðA CzsÁé£ÀA AiÀÄÆAiÀÄA QA CªÀ¹ÃzÀxÀ
sapta vyAdhA dashArNeShu mRugAH kAla~jjare girau |
chakravAkAH shara-dvIpe haMsAH sarasi mAnasE || 1-24-20
te abhijAtAH kurukShEtrE brAhmaNA vEda-pAragAH |
prasthitA dIrghaM adhvAnaM yUyaM kiM avasIdatha

"We took birth as four brothers among the seven sons of kaushika in kurukshetra, among the seven
tribals in dashArNa province, among seven beasts on Mt. kAla~njara, among seven chakravAka birds
on an island, and among seven swans near at Lake mAnasa. We have now taken birth as scholarly
brAhmaNa-s, (as four sons of this old man). We four have started our journey on a long path; why are
you still languishing here?"
In conclusion:
The focus of the sAdhaka should be towards discharging one's Pitru Runa and attempting to repay a
small fraction of the love and affection showered on him by his parents and others. He owes his body
and upbringing to them. Nothing he can do will ever repay his debt in full and as long as he is alive he
will remain indebted to them. That said, it helps to know that, like Ekadashi, Pitru karya is one of the
few acts whose observance fetches immense benefits and whose neglect attracts a lot of sin. The
following succinctly captures the merit earned by performing this important karma (there are other
quotes like this)
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ªÁAavÀªÀiï
ÌmÉiÉÉ SSÉÌiÉ xÉimÉѧÉÉlÉç aÉÉãkÉlÉÉÌlÉ ÌmÉiÉÉqÉWûÈ | kÉlÉSÉiÉÉ pÉuÉãixÉÉãÌmÉ rÉxiÉxrÉ mÉëÌmÉiÉÉqÉWûÈ |
S±É̲mÉÑsÉqɳÉÉ±Ç uÉ×®xiÉÑ mÉëÌmÉiÉÉqÉWûÈ | iÉ×miÉÉÈ ´ÉÉ®ãlÉ iÉã xÉuÉãï SiuÉÉ mÉѧÉxrÉ uÉÉÇÍcÉiÉqÉç
pitA dadAti satputrAn gOdhanAni pitAmahaH | dhanadAtA bhavEtsOpi yastasya prapitAmhaH |
dadyAdvipulamannAdyam vRuddhastu prapitAmahaH | tRuptAH shrAddhEna tE sarvE datvA putrasya
vAnchitam |

[The father blesses with good progeny, the grandfather with go-dhAna (cows), Great grandfather with wealth
and property, along with profuse quantities of food and other things. Satisfied (with the son’s action) they grant
all his desires]. Incidentally, each of the benefits stated (“son”, “cows”) has a spiritual interpretation too.

The most important reason for doing this? This is one of the ways of pleasing Sri Hari and earning His
grace. In His incarnations as Rama and Krishna, even though He had nothing to gain or lose, he
performed this action religiously, thereby setting a good example for us. There can be no motivation
greater than this.

References :

Most of the religious texts like mahabhArata, bhagavata and other puranas mention these concepts in
passing but the works that deal with them at length are Harivamsha and Garuda PurANa.; Harivamsha
is an extension to the mahabhArata and was composed by Lord Veda Vyasa.

shrI kRuShNArpaNamastu