Pitru Paksha: A Journey from Memory to Faith

The festive spirit of Shravan was still lingering in the air, and preparations for the arrival of Ganapatiji had begun. Her eyes fell upon an old photograph hanging on the wall for years — her mother-in-law, Parvati's grandmother. She was reminded of the old days when she had come to this house after marriage, and Lakshmiba, the grandmother, used to explain the household traditions. However, being educated and possessing modern thinking, all these things seemed outdated, irrational, and full of superstition to her. Yet, she kept performing them reluctantly; after the passing away of her mother-in-law, she had bid farewell to all the outdated and irrational traditions from the house. Her daughter Parvati was also educated and modern-thinking just like her, of which she was proud. Just then, Parvati's call brought her back from her thoughts to the present. Parvati burst an unexpected firecracker: “Mom, Pitru Paksha is starting next week, right? When are we going to do the Shraddha for grandparents? Which Tithi is grandmother's Shraddha?” Amba was still astonished; she looked closely at Parvati, feeling that she was joking, but it did not seem so on her face, so she said, “Why do Shraddha? Shraddha, feeding crows, feeding Brahmins, giving Dakshina... otherwise saying that ancestors will get angry. Who believes in all this nowadays? To me, all this feels like nonsense. Someone died so we should do Shraddha every year? The crow eats it so the ancestors become pleased? If all this is not superstition, then what else is it? No one else's ancestors trouble them except in our India.” Parvati fell into deep thought; she knew that this was not merely a question about Shraddha. This matter showed how far Amba had drifted away from her own roots and traditions. After a moment, Parvati softly said, “Before discarding any tradition like this, have we ever tried to know where that tradition came from? And do you know that all over the world — the concept of Pitru-Rina (debt to ancestors) is seen in some form or another in every ancient culture. This is not just an isolated Indian ideology, but a shared, deep moral understanding of humankind.” Amba said, “I only know that grandmother used to do it, and people before them must have been doing it too. So what? But they were people of old-fashioned thoughts, they kept doing everything out of superstition, so educated and modern people like us should also keep following it.” Parvati's smile puzzled Amba. Parvati took the conversation further; today she was in some different mood. “That is why this matter is interesting. Right now, we do not believe in that tradition and dismiss it by calling it old-fashioned and superstition.” Amba kept looking at her; Parvati was in her own distinct rhythm: “Mom... let us keep aside the question of whether we perform Shraddha or not, but let us try to understand what our ancestors actually believed.” Parvati opened her mobile phone. “Let us not look into folklore and tradition, let us go straight to the Vedas. Towards the most ancient literature of human culture.” Amba's astonishment kept growing, “All this is in the Vedas too? No way, I didn't know and to be honest, I hadn't even thought of this.” Parvati said, “Yes Mom, today's entire Pitru Paksha the way we perform it in this form, but the remembrance of ancestors, offering Tarpana to them, and the sentiment of praying for them is clear in ancient Vedic literature. The tenth Mandala of the Rigveda, the fifteenth Sukta — Pitru Sukta.” Parvati recited the Sanskrit verse: उदीरतामवर उत्परास उन्मध्यमाः पितरः सोम्यासः । असुं य ईयुरवृका ऋतज्ञास्ते नोऽवन्तु पितरो हवेषु ॥ Then she explained its meaning. “Here the ancestors are invoked. They are called upon to accept the offerings and prayers for protection and welfare are sought from them.” (Sanskrit Documents) ये चे॒ह पि॒तरो॒ ये च॒ नेह यांश्च॑ वि॒द्म याँ उ॑ च॒ न प्र॑वि॒द्म । त्वं वे॑त्थ॒ यति॒ ते जा॑तवेदः स्व॒धाभि॑र्य॒ज्ञं सुकृ॑तं जुषस्व ॥ Those ancestors who are here and those who are not here, those whom we know and those whom we do not know — O Jatavedas (knower of all created beings), you know how many they are. Accept this well-performed sacrifice along with Svadha.

ऋचा १४ (१०.०१५.१४) ये अ॑ग्निद॒ग्धा ये अन॑ग्निदग्धा॒ मध्ये॑ दि॒वः स्व॒धया॑ मा॒दयं॑ते । तेभिः॑ स्व॒राळसु॑नीतिमे॒तां य॑थाव॒शं त॒न्वं॑ कल्पयस्व ॥ Those who are cremated (अग्निदग्ध - touched by fire) and those who are uncremated, who rejoice in the middle of heaven with स्वधा (svadhā - an offering to the manes) — O स्वरात् (svarāt - self-luminous fire), uniting with them, fashion this path of life (असुनीति - asunīti) according to your will. Amba remained silent for a while; churning began in her mind as to whether the remembrance of ancestors truly went as far back as the Vedas. Parvati was in the same thought-stream, "Yes. The absolute truth is that today's complete form of Shraddha ritual does not reside in a single hymn of the Vedas. It is found in later Vedic texts, Grihya Sutras, Dharma Shastras, and various traditions. Over time, these rituals expanded further. Thus, the core sentiment is ancient, but its methods kept evolving according to time and region." Parvati spoke further, "Mom, now think about this in another way. Why do we remember our elders? Don't you think their reflection is in our way of thinking? Do you ever feel that if they hadn't been there, your life would have been like this? The generations before us have a share in what we are. Our language, our manners, our home, our cultural values, our knowledge... all of this has come from somewhere. Therefore, remembering ancestors is not merely remembering a dead person, but also accepting the root of one's own existence." Now Amba could not find words; she could not oppose as she did before. But still, her modern thoughts were not ready to accept this, and she tried, "What about Karna's story? Isn't that also connected to ancestral tarpan? According to the popular narrative, Karna donated gold and wealth throughout his life. But upon reaching heaven, instead of food, he received gold and gems because he had given much charity in life, but had not paid the ancestral debt. Later, he got the opportunity to return to earth and perform Shraddha for his ancestors — so this tradition began with Karna." However, Parvati was ready, "This is precisely where we must understand the difference between scripture and folklore. Karna's story is a popular tale explaining the ancestral debt. But to say that Pitrupaksha began with Karna is not correct. The tradition concerning ancestors and Shraddha is even more ancient than that. Every beautiful thing does not need to be turned into a Vedic mantra, and every old thing does not need to be thrown away calling it superstition." After a moment, Amba asked, "Then what is the true meaning of Shraddha?" Parvati said, "Mom, if we understand 'Shraddha' with the sentiment of 'Shraddha' (faith/reverence), the inner meaning is understood much better. It is an offering. It is remembrance. It is gratitude. Therefore, Shraddha is not merely an action of eating food, but we acknowledge a debt — that though you are not amongst us today, a part of your life is still present in our lives today. And turning elders into dishes of the time also comes within this sentiment. In their time, dudhpak and puri were the finest dishes, which we make remembering them. Even after a person departs, if their memory remains alive in society and in our homes, if their stories reach the children, if their memory returns to the kitchen... that too is the remembrance of ancestors." "And Kagvas (offering food to crows)?" Amba's question was no longer of opposition; it was of understanding. Parvati said, "In Gujarati folk tradition, Kagvas has its own place. In many homes, there is a practice of offering a portion of the Shraddha food to the crow. But it is not that the crow is the soul of the ancestor. This is a folk-religious symbol. And perhaps the beauty of folk tradition is that it often keeps big ideas alive in the small actions of everyday life. Therefore, to understand Kagvas, one should not just ask, 'Why does the crow come?' Rather, one should think, 'What sentiment does this tradition indicate?' Do you remember grandma's paniyaru (water-place in a Gujarati kitchen)?" Amba smiled. "Yes. That was the cleanest place in the house. Water was kept filled and a lamp was lit in the evening. Even today, in most Gujarati domestic traditions, such cultural practices of the paniyaru, water, and lamp are seen. This is Gujarati culture where water, meaning life, and the lamp, meaning light, are synthesized. Thus, the things we forgot simply calling them 'old ways' also contained a wondrous message. And the meaning of a tradition lies in the sentiment behind it." After a while, Amba said, "But people scare us a lot in the name of ancestors. Is it proper that 'ancestors will be displeased', 'curse will befall', 'misfortune will happen' — this is the language of fear. By associating ancestral remembrance with fear, the gratitude within it has been devoured. Would ancestors ever bring misfortune upon us? What is the point of spreading such superstition in society?" Parvati said softly, "For ordinary people to follow a tradition, this too might be necessary. What is important is that society preserves this custom and passes on cultural values to the next generation. You remember how you used to give me bitter medicine in childhood, keeping me under your protection by saying a monster would come. Now that I have grown up, you don't have to do any such thing. This is necessary for adherence at every level of society. Just as customs keep changing when society uplifts itself." "They gave life. They gave cultural values. They gave tradition. Then what is our responsibility? It is just this: that we are not the last link of our ancestors, but we are the first link of the coming generation." After a moment, she asked, "Then what should we do in Pitrupaksha? Explain that first." Now Parvati fell into thought; she said calmly, "To know the family tradition. To remember the elders, to tell their good stories to the next generation. And most importantly — where there is the basis of scripture, understand it as scripture; where there is regional tradition, recognize it as tradition. We should not accept a thing just because it is old, nor should we reject it just because it is old." Amba said softly, "Parvati, you are not persuading me to perform Shraddha. You are forcing me to think." That night, Amba remembered her paternal home from the old days. She remembered the days of Pitrupaksha. The aroma of dudhpak in the kitchen, grandmother's voice, and the lamp burning beside the paniyaru. At that time, Amba had never asked why this was done. She was merely mechanically following her mother and grandmother. And then one day she left everything because she felt it was the superstition of the old generation. Today, for the first time, she felt — she was wrong. Perhaps she could not understand the tradition and its essence. The next morning, Amba herself brought out the old brass lamp and told Parvati, "Daughter, I had not moved away from our tradition... but I had forgotten the meaning behind it." Parvati caught her mother's hand. There was a mother who, after years, was looking at her own tradition with a fresh vision, following her daughter. The lamp was lit at the paniyaru. Final Thought Some traditions reach from generation to generation merely as rituals. Some are forgotten along the way. And some are such that when a single generation rediscovers their meaning, that tradition becomes alive once again. Pitru tarpan is perhaps one such tradition. The Vedas contain the remembrance of ancestors. There is the sentiment of offering to ancestors. In later scriptures, rituals expand. Regions add their own methods. And in the homes of Gujarat, it remains alive through Kagvas, favorite foods, the lamp, the paniyaru, and family memories. In Rigveda 10.15, prayers are offered to welcome ancestors, accept offerings, and for well-being. The debt towards ancestors is one of the most ancient ideas of human civilization — this is not limited to India alone, but a similar idea is rooted at the foundation of almost every ancient society. And amidst all this, one thing remains constant — that we are the first link of the coming generation, and Pitru tarpan is not a superstition, but a deep, innate truth of the human mind — which every culture has expressed in its own language and custom.