7. Now move on to the 2-nd tip
and do the tharpanam 3 times on that tip. In this way, repeat this process for
all 12 ancestors, i.e., on all 12 tips. 3 times per tip and a total of 12 tips
would mean that you make a minimum of 36 tharpanam offerings for your pitru
ancestors each time you do tharpanam.
8. Next, do karunya tharpanam
for relatives, friends, people you respect, strangers, pets, plants, trees,
animals, birds, creatures and insects. Before you do this, pray to Lord
Varadaraja of Seshambadi and request His blessings for the departed beings you
are doing karunya tarpanam for. Then chant the "neethaar nedungolam"
karunya tharpana mantra given above and the name of the person as follows:
"neethaar nedungolam... tharpanamé Friend Suresh svadhaa namas tarpayami,
Suresh svadha namas tarpayami, Suresh svada namas tarpayami". As you are
chanting the mantra, pour water on the sesame seeds (that are in the palm of
your hand) slowly while tilting your hand to the right so that the water and
sesame seeds fall in the middle of the grid. Do this 3 times for each person or
plant or animal you are doing karunya tharpanam for. Here too, the water should
flow down through the gap between your right thumb and right index finger as
shown in the figure above.
9. When your tharpanam is
complete, remove the pavitram from your ring finger, unroll it and place
it on top of the darbha grass used in the tharpanam.
10. Pray to Lord Narayana and
the exalted pitrus and prostrate yourself (full body namaskar) towards the
southern direction 12 times.
11. Dispose off the sesame
seeds, water and darbha grass used in the ceremony respectfully by depositing
them into a flowing river or ocean or a large pond or well. An alternate method
is to separate the sesame seeds from the water, pour the water alone at the base
of sacred trees and feed the sesame seeds to birds. The important thing here
is that the sesame seeds should not sprout. Why? Refer to Sathguru
Venkataraman's Siddha writings for the answer.
Clarifications
Tharpanam
is done only for departed beings, that is, those who have passed on. Tharpanam
is not done for those who are alive.
If you don't know the name of
an ancestor, that is fine. Just state the relationship alone and offer tharpanam
for that ancestor.
If you know the gotra
lineage of a person, say it just before you mention the relationship, e.g.,
Sri Vatsa Gotra great grandfather Murugan or Vadhoola Gotra friend
Suresh in the examples above. If you do not know the gotram of the
person or you do not know what gotram is, just ignore this step.
For those who wear the sacred
thread, change it to your right shoulder at the beginning of the tharpanam
ceremony and back to the left shoulder at the end of the ceremony. There are
special mantras for this step. If you don't wear the sacred thread, ignore this
step.
Can one do tharpanam for more
than 12 departed ancestors? The answer is yes. But that is a more advanced
procedure and we are not going to cover that here.
There are special mantras for
each specific ancestor. These special mantras will have their special effect for
sure. Consult the Sathguru's books for these special mantras.
Sathguru Venkataraman gave us
hundreds of unique tharpanam procedures. Refer to his Siddha writings for this
information.
When to do Tharpanam?
Sathguru Venkataraman said that according to Maha Guru Agasthiar, tharpanam
should be done at sunrise.
There is a tradition that says
that tharpanam should be done at noon. If this is your tradition, please do
follow that.
Where to do Tharpanam?
You
can do tharpanam right in the comfort of your home.
But it is that much more
effective to do it in temples and on the banks of sacred rivers.
If you can do tharpanam in the
Pitru Moksha temples and
sacred spots, that would be the best. More details in Sathguru
Venkataraman's Siddha writings.
Pitru Mukti Sacred Spaces.
Can the son do tharpanam if the father is alive?
The answer is YES.
The most serious misconception
regarding tharpanam is the idea that if the father is alive, the son should not
do tharpanam. Sathguru
Venkataraman taught that this idea is WRONG.
Think of this key point: Are not the departed ancestors of the
father the departed ancestors of the son too? Of course, they are. So the son
should do ancestral tharpanam too.
Note that the word "pitru" here refers to all departed ancestors and
not just the father.
The son
has a pitru debt (debt to the ancestors) just as the father does. He has to
discharge this debt just like his father has to discharge it.
So it is important to shed this
misconception rightaway.
The
father should do pitru tharpanam and so should the son and the son's son. In
fact, if all three do it together, the pitrus will be very pleased!
|
Can women do tharpanam?
The answer is YES.
Sathguru
Venkataraman gave us the revolutionary idea (in the 1980s) that women can do
pitru tharpanam just as well as men.
Think of this key point: If there are no sons in a family, does that
mean the ancestors should be starved of tharpanam? The answer is NO. The
daughters can certainly do tharpanam.
For a man who had daughters but no sons, will anyone do
tharpanam with more mental involvement and dedication than his own daughters?
NO. So these daughters can certainly do tharpanam for this (departed) man.
Note further that if others do
tharpanam for this (departed) man, it will be karunya tharpanam and not pitru
tharpanam. Whereas, if his daughters do it, it will be direct, full fledged
pitru tharpanam.
Furthermore,
there is the issue of mental involvement and dedication mentioned earlier.
Because of this, it is ideal if these daughters do pitru tharpanam for this man
(their father).
This does not
mean that these daughters should make a big deal out of this and put on a show.
That will only cause problems. They should do it quietly with humility and
devotion. They should realize that their gotra rishi is watching and so they
must do this quietly and with utmost respect, without making a show of it or
drawing attention towards themselves. If they do it thus, their gotra rishi will
be pleased.
However, in the general case
(i.e., where there are both sons and daughters), since women generally have a
lot more family responsibilities than men, the males in a family should take the
lead and do tharpanam and not let that responsibility fall on womenfolk too.
But if the husband does not do
tharpanam, the wife can make up for it by doing tharpanam.
Women who have lost their husbands or
who are separated from their husbands can do tharpanam.
Women can do karunya tharpanam for
those departed souls who cared for them.
Women should use white sesame
seeds in their tharpanam. Why? Refer to Sathguru Venkataraman's Siddha writings
for the answer. |
Pitru Mukti Sacred Spaces.
Nedumbala Ancestor Mandala.
Can
others do tharpanam for your ancestors?
Click here for some of our articles
on tharpanam and related issues. |
Where exactly can i buy these books? I have not heard back from the above website. please email me with All ordering information. lightfeet2555@hotmail.com thanks
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