"We all owe a great deal to our ancestors and none can accomplish much in life without the blessing of the ancestors."
- Swamiji
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We have been born into a specific family for particular karmic reasons. Our Job is to love and support the family, not to take whatever we can from the. We must overcome the selfishness which causes resentment to linger and practice love. The mother and father are our first teachers and they will show us what inner attachments we must work to shed. We owe them this life and this opportunity to come to great bliss in this life.
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Offerings for the ancestors and the deceased are of great importance because as we help their souls get elevated to the Pitri Loka (the realm of ancestors), we cut off the bonds of family karma. Many people are suffering greatly due to the karma of the ancestors. People suffer also by the presence of ghosts and other spiritual entities. Offerings to help these spiritual beings help the living a great deal to increase health, success, and prosperity.
We teach people to perform Tarpanam for the benefit of their ancestors and offer services for the benefit of the deceased. |
Pancha Maha Yajnams
Pancha Maha Yajnams, recommended by the Sages to pay off our karmic debts is Pitri Yajnam, offerings to the ancestors. This is traditionally fulfilled by making offerings of water daily for the ancestors.
Ways to Perform Pitri Tarpanam
(Ancestral Worship)
We honor the ancestors daily, or monthly during the New Moon, or during the sacred Pitri Paksha which begins the day after the Full Moon and lasts until the New Moon in Bhadrapada Masa (Aug. / Sept.). We honor the ancestors not only by offering prayers and water and black sesame for deceased ancestors, but also by working to heal relationships with all living relatives.
A person can sit with a photo of any relative there is conflict with and say and feel "I love you. I forgive you." This powerful act of self-healing can shift relationships fir the better.
Regular Tarpanam (rituals of offering water for the ancestors) along with funeral rituals and ongoing shraddha offered by a qualified Vedic priest help ensure that the souls of the ancestors continue in their journey in the inner realms. In the case of tragic or untimely death in particular, there is a great chance that souls may be caught between realms as ghosts. At the time of tragic, sudden, or untimely death extra rituals are prescribed by the Garuda Purana called Narayana Bali to help prevents souls from being caught between realms. Food is offered to Lord Narayana and then offered on behalf of the deceased to help free the soul from the antaraloka (lower astral realm). Negative thoughts and strong unresolved desires and unfulfilled duties in the world otherwise cause such souls to be caught between realms in the form of bhutas (ghosts). It is common also in the case of miscarriage or abortion for the soul of the unborn child to be caught between realms.
A person can sit with a photo of any relative there is conflict with and say and feel "I love you. I forgive you." This powerful act of self-healing can shift relationships fir the better.
Regular Tarpanam (rituals of offering water for the ancestors) along with funeral rituals and ongoing shraddha offered by a qualified Vedic priest help ensure that the souls of the ancestors continue in their journey in the inner realms. In the case of tragic or untimely death in particular, there is a great chance that souls may be caught between realms as ghosts. At the time of tragic, sudden, or untimely death extra rituals are prescribed by the Garuda Purana called Narayana Bali to help prevents souls from being caught between realms. Food is offered to Lord Narayana and then offered on behalf of the deceased to help free the soul from the antaraloka (lower astral realm). Negative thoughts and strong unresolved desires and unfulfilled duties in the world otherwise cause such souls to be caught between realms in the form of bhutas (ghosts). It is common also in the case of miscarriage or abortion for the soul of the unborn child to be caught between realms.