Pitru Paksha 2022 Shradh: Can Daughters Do Pind Daan?

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Pitru Paksha is an equally important part of rituals that occupy a major place in Indian cultural traditions. Ancestors are believed to descend on the earth to visit their surviving family during Pitru Paksha, bless them and their deeds, and then get back to their world with happy remembrances.

Shradh accords peace for ancestors and prosperity for their descendants. Pitru Paksha lasts 15 days every year, as it arrives on the full moon of Shukla paksha of Bhadrapada month. Ancestors are believed to visit earth in the form of crows during the Pitru Paksha. This year, in 2022, it is going to be observed from 10 September up to 25 September. Usually, shradh is done by the male progeny of the departed. In case, when the deceased has no male issues, what can be done? Read on to know more.

Pitru Paksha 2022 Shradh: : Legend Associated With It

It is interesting to delve into the details of the 16-day shradh procedure. As per the ancient legends, Karna, after his death, reached heaven first and was offered all precious gold jewellery and not food or water to drink or eat. When asked why it was so, Indra replied that Karna got back what he gave when he was in mortal form. This meant that Karna had donated gold and diamonds to people as daan and had not offered food to the hungry and needy in the name of his ancestors. Hence, Karna got back what he gave.

Karna replied that he was born as a human, but he was born blessed by Surya the god of light and hence had no clue about his parentage. Hence, Karna was sent back to earth for about 15 days so that he could perform shradh for his ancestors by offering food and water. After this Karna was sent to the earth for a period of 15 days so that he could perform shradh for his ancestors and get an opportunity to offer food and water to the needy and the Brahmins. So these 15 days came to be called as Pitru paksha.

Pitru Paksha 2022 Shradh: From The Garuda Purana Perspective

As per the records of Garuda Purana, shradh should be compulsorily performed for the entire stretch of the first year stretch after death of an individual. As it is explained the in scriptures, the soul takes 12 months to travel to the court of Yamaraj from the 17th day of leaving the mortal body. The soul starts its journey on the 14th day and reaches Yamapuri on the 17th day. Till it reaches Yamapuri, the soul has nothing to quench its thirst and hunger throughout the one-year journey. So, the family members as their successors, have to clear their ancestral due, in the way of daan, and tarpan that one does on the day of Pitru Paksha. The departed can receive the essence of our tarpan offerings that keeps them satiated and refreshed.

Pitru Paksha 2022 Shradh: The Procedure

Shradh should conclude with offering of food to Brahmins, cows, crows and ants. It should never be offered to dogs, as a rule. The shradh should essentially be performed by the eldest son of the family who will be called the karta and a priest to initiate the proceedings. After the havan, the rice is offered to crows and cows. Dakshina should be offered to the Brahmins as well.

According to the scriptures, the son is accorded the rights to perform shradh and tarpan of the departed father, as without Pind daan or tarpan, the soul of the departed can never be in peace. We owe a lot to our ancestors and it is only through pind daan, that the deceased can get their due in the pitru lok. Any male relative of the deceased is entitled to do the pind daan. Probably in the ancient society, women had equal importance and right to do the tarpan and it is highly likely this tradition changed over time. Legend has it that once Goddess Sita performed Pind daan for her father-in-law, King Dasharath in the absence of Sri Rama. For reasons unknown, this custom of women participating in rituals like these, must have stopped as times passed by.

For the uninitiated, Pind daan is a ritual where food made of cooked rice balls mixed with black sesame seeds is offered to crows, who are believed to represent the God of Death Yama or the departed ancestors.

Pitru Paksha 2022 Shradh: Can Girls Perform Last Rites?

If the person has no sons, then the brothers and nephews of the family can be considered for doing the tarpan, but if this is also not possible, because the family is nuclear or is mutually separated, then the daughters and sisters can also perform the shradh ceremony for the departed. After the tarpan, sattvic food should be donated to a Brahman as a result of which ancestors would bless their family.

According to Jyotishacharya Chakrapani Bhatt, females are worshipped and venerated, which is the reason why, it is quoted in the shastras that a kanyadan during marriage is the most meritorious deed (a deed that gives punya) that a person can perform. Hence, it has been laid down by the scriptures, that a girl must not participate in the cremation. However, the girl child should be provided the right to conduct last rites or perform shradh tarpan for her father if she is not yet married. As per the scriptures, a girl is a part of the family if she is unmarried and when she is married, with her heart mind and soul, she belongs to the husband's family and hence is not anymore, a family member of her parental home. This is the reason why she is denied the right to conduct last rites for her deceased father. Also, virgin girls, are treated as purer versions, which gives them the reason to perform shradh. In case, the married daughter has a son, that son (dauhitra) can do tarpan ritual for his grandfather.

Shastras say that the shradh ceremony can be performed for a person who has died without producing heirs or someone who has no one to call as family. The shradh conducted by a married girl is not accepted by the ancestors because the gotra of the married girl changes after marriage. And shradh karma has to be observed only by the family members of the same gotra. So only in exceptional situations, a girl can perform Shradh. The grandson (Dauhitra) is given the right to perform the entire Tarpan procedure.

If one is married and does not have brothers, she is still entitled to do Shradh, Tarpan, and Pind Daan for the departed ancestors with her son at the helm. It is mentioned somewhere in some scriptures that the daughter, wife, mother and daughter-in-law of the deceased person have the authority to perform Shradh in case there is no male progeny to conduct the rites. During emergency, It is better to allow the daughter or sister to conduct tarpan than skipping the entire procedure just because there are no male children to conduct it. There are certain rites for which the female children are denied rights, including thread ceremony other than the final tarpan. The woman performing Shradh should place a clean cotton cloth on her shoulder while doing the procedure of savya apasavya.

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