06-24-2008, 07:52 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-k.ram+Jun 24 2008, 05:11 PM-->QUOTE(k.ram @ Jun 24 2008, 05:11 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A person dying without progeny usually means that no proper last rites were conducted, since antyeShTi and shrAddha are supposed to be performed by a son.
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Ashokji, what is the recourse for such hapless parents?
Also, what do shastras say about marriage outside jaati and kulam? From what I have been told (anecdotally), that such people lose rights to do any shraaddha and anthyesti or ancestors' link gets cut off or something to that effect - True?
[right][snapback]83270[/snapback][/right]
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Adding to what Bodhiji wrote:
In the shAstra-s, one often finds mention of pitR^i-yANa ( the way of the forefathers) and deva-yAna (the way of the Gods). Consider all these rites of antyeShTi and shrAddha etc as part of the pitR^i-yANa. They are meant to help the jIva that goes the usual path of the soul birth after birth. These rites are important to follow in general. But devayAna is superior. It is the path of the divine, and leads to liberation or mukti. Bhakti, vairagya, viveka etc are part of the devayAna.
From munDaka-upaniShad:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->satyameva jayate na anR^itam
<i> Truth only wins, not untruth</i>
satyasya panthA vitato devayAnaH
<i> The path of the Gods (devayAna) is formed of Truth</i>
yenAkramanti R^ishayo hi Apta-kAmaH
<i>Through which the sages who have silenced their desires, reach</i>
yatra tat satyasya paramaM nidhAnam
<i> where that Truth's highest abode is</i><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
1. The general principle is that the Divine is so utterly good, pure, powerful etc, that any one who is stationed in the Divine, need not worry. What a son can do for a person, a long practice of the holy name of God can do better. So childless people can hang on to the Divine. Also some one else in tha family can perform the rites, which supposedly not as powerful as rites performed by a son, are still some way out there.
2. The "vairagya" teaches the vital part of the jIva, the prANamaya-kosha to give up its attachments. The "viveka" teaches the mental part, the manomaya-kosha to develop right concepts. The "bhakti" teaches the heart to love without desire. Pure selfless love sans desires is the key to reach close to the divine. So bhakti prepares the heart, or the deep lying Anandamaya-kosha through pure love. After the death, the praNamaya and the manomaya eventually decay. But vijnAnamaya and Anandamaya don't decay. They are part of our eternal soul or jIva that transmigrates from birth to birth and undergoes development in each birth just as a child grows in the womb. At a new birth, a new manomaya, prANamaya and annamaya kosha is genereated for the jIva, based on heredditary conditions and the jIva's innate saMskAra-s.
So, a combined practice of bhakti, viveka and vairAgya saves a person from all the troubles in this life and hereafter.
3. Regarding intercaste marriage etc, again, divine help and viveka, vairagya will carry anyone through. These rules for rites are meant for common people stuck in the mire of mAyA, and vitally bound by attachments and mentally deluded by moha. But if anyone puts in the effort to rise towards the divine, one need not worry too much about all these.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ashokji, what is the recourse for such hapless parents?
Also, what do shastras say about marriage outside jaati and kulam? From what I have been told (anecdotally), that such people lose rights to do any shraaddha and anthyesti or ancestors' link gets cut off or something to that effect - True?
[right][snapback]83270[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Adding to what Bodhiji wrote:
In the shAstra-s, one often finds mention of pitR^i-yANa ( the way of the forefathers) and deva-yAna (the way of the Gods). Consider all these rites of antyeShTi and shrAddha etc as part of the pitR^i-yANa. They are meant to help the jIva that goes the usual path of the soul birth after birth. These rites are important to follow in general. But devayAna is superior. It is the path of the divine, and leads to liberation or mukti. Bhakti, vairagya, viveka etc are part of the devayAna.
From munDaka-upaniShad:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->satyameva jayate na anR^itam
<i> Truth only wins, not untruth</i>
satyasya panthA vitato devayAnaH
<i> The path of the Gods (devayAna) is formed of Truth</i>
yenAkramanti R^ishayo hi Apta-kAmaH
<i>Through which the sages who have silenced their desires, reach</i>
yatra tat satyasya paramaM nidhAnam
<i> where that Truth's highest abode is</i><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
1. The general principle is that the Divine is so utterly good, pure, powerful etc, that any one who is stationed in the Divine, need not worry. What a son can do for a person, a long practice of the holy name of God can do better. So childless people can hang on to the Divine. Also some one else in tha family can perform the rites, which supposedly not as powerful as rites performed by a son, are still some way out there.
2. The "vairagya" teaches the vital part of the jIva, the prANamaya-kosha to give up its attachments. The "viveka" teaches the mental part, the manomaya-kosha to develop right concepts. The "bhakti" teaches the heart to love without desire. Pure selfless love sans desires is the key to reach close to the divine. So bhakti prepares the heart, or the deep lying Anandamaya-kosha through pure love. After the death, the praNamaya and the manomaya eventually decay. But vijnAnamaya and Anandamaya don't decay. They are part of our eternal soul or jIva that transmigrates from birth to birth and undergoes development in each birth just as a child grows in the womb. At a new birth, a new manomaya, prANamaya and annamaya kosha is genereated for the jIva, based on heredditary conditions and the jIva's innate saMskAra-s.
So, a combined practice of bhakti, viveka and vairAgya saves a person from all the troubles in this life and hereafter.
3. Regarding intercaste marriage etc, again, divine help and viveka, vairagya will carry anyone through. These rules for rites are meant for common people stuck in the mire of mAyA, and vitally bound by attachments and mentally deluded by moha. But if anyone puts in the effort to rise towards the divine, one need not worry too much about all these.