The ritual of performing the ceremony of the departed souls

[dattaswami]

The ritual of performing the ceremony of the departed souls

Let us take the example of the ritual of performing the ceremony of the departed souls. You give importance to the day on which the souls departed from this world. You have to find out a deserving person to give him food, clothes and some wealth, so that the fruit of such donation will benefit the departed soul and the doer. Here, the deservingness of the receiver decides the result. If the receiver is undeserving, the departed soul is punished for such a sin apart from the doer of the ritual. Therefore, the departed soul should be careful to do charity to a deserving receiver while he is alive. The time of the ritual i.e., the day of the ceremony is not at all important here. The important aspect is only the deservingness of the receiver. If you do not get a deserving receiver, there is no harm in postponing the ceremony till you get a deserving receiver.

 

You insist on the bank transaction to be done on the first day of every month. You are not bothered about the nature of the transaction i.e., whether it is credit or debit. Similarly, you are bothered about the particular date of the ceremony and you are not worried about the aspect of deservingness of the receiver. If the receiver deserves, the departed soul and doer will be benefitted and it will be a credit. If the receiver is undeserving, the departed soul and the doer will be punished and it will be a debit. You are always worried about the process of ritual, which is just like the bank transaction. Even if the bank transaction is postponed for a few days, you will appreciate if the transaction is a credit.

 

Similarly, even if the ceremony is postponed, you should appreciate if the ritual yields good fruit and the fruit will be good only if the receiver is deserving. You should not worry about the place of ritual. You need not worry whether the bank transaction is in State Bank of India or Axis Bank. You should worry only about the credit-nature of the transaction. Actually, the departed soul is in the energetic body and does not get any trace of the materialized food offered to the priest. If the departed soul goes to God, the food is not required (Nahitena Pathaa Tanutyajah…).

 

This is called as the path of Devayanam or Shuklagati in the Gita. In the Pitruyanam or Krishnagati, the soul may go to heaven or middle world of departed souls (Pitruloka) or hell. In heaven, the soul does not require food or drink (Ubhe tirtvaa ashanayaa…). If the soul goes to the middle world, it takes food from the rays of moon (Nirvishtasaraam pitrubhih Himamshoh…). If the soul goes to hell, it will be tortured with hunger and thirst (Jayasva…). Hence, the materialistic food given to the priest is not at all related to the energetic food taken by the soul. In such case, you need not fear that the ritual is a waste.

www.universal-spirituality.org

Universal Spirituality for World Peace