[FONT="]In the previous post I had generally written “long life” as one of the boons asked for from the [/FONT][FONT="]pitṛs. But the actual words used are “dīrghāyutvam ca śataśāradam ca” meaning a ‘long life of a hundred autumns’. Prayers for long life of a hundred autumns are frequent in the vedic texts as compared to the later ones. There is evidence to show that people in the ṛgvedic times generally might have had long lives. Even then one hundred years was something to be aspired for. When we hear stories of ṛṣis doing penance (tapas) for hundreds or thousands of years from later purāṇas, we must remember that these are all mere flights of fancy and untrue. In the case of this verse also, it is the ṛṣi who is himself asking for a life span of one hundred years, not any ordinary man in the jungle (if we suppose there were no streets in those times). Hence the notion that the ṛṣis are some superhuman beings or divine beings, is entirely false and is one of the inputs given by the orthodoxy to bewilder and thus beguile the gullible followers.[/FONT]
[FONT="]सकृद् आच्छिन्नं बर्हिरूर्णामृदु । [/FONT]
[FONT="]स्योनं पितृभ्यस्त्वाभराम्यहम् ।[/FONT]
[FONT="]अस्मिन् सीदन्तु मे पितरः सोम्याः ।[/FONT]
[FONT="]पितामहैः प्रपितामहैश्चानुगैः सह ॥ तै. ब्रा.३.७.४.१०[/FONT]
[FONT="]ஸக்ருத் ஆச்சிந்நம் பர்ஹிரூர்ணாம்ருது [/FONT][FONT="]| [/FONT]
[FONT="]ஸ்யோநம் பித்ருப்யஸ்த்வாபராம்யஹம் [/FONT][FONT="]|[/FONT]
[FONT="]அஸ்மிந் ஸீதந்து மே பிதரஃ ஸோம்யாஃ [/FONT][FONT="]|[/FONT]
[FONT="]பிதாமஹைஃ ப்ரபிதாமஹைஸ்சாநுகைஃ ஸஹ [/FONT][FONT="]|| [/FONT][FONT="]தை. ப்ரா.௩.௭.௪.௰[/FONT]
[FONT="]sak[/FONT][FONT="]ṛ[/FONT][FONT="]d ācchinna[/FONT][FONT="]ṃ[/FONT][FONT="] bar–hirūr[/FONT][FONT="]ṇ[/FONT][FONT="]ām[/FONT][FONT="]ṛ[/FONT][FONT="]du | [/FONT]
[FONT="]syona[/FONT][FONT="]ṃ[/FONT][FONT="] pit[/FONT][FONT="]ṛ[/FONT][FONT="]bhyastvābharāmyaham |[/FONT]
[FONT="]asmin sīdantu me pitara[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] somyā[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] |[/FONT]
[FONT="]pitāmahai[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] prapitāmahaiścānugai[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] saha || tai. brā.3.7.4.10[/FONT]
[FONT="]Note[/FONT] [FONT="] : This mantra is recited for offering āsana for the pitṝ s. It, again, is not a ṛk and found only in the [/FONT][FONT="]āpastamba śrauta sūtra[/FONT]
[FONT="]And taittirīya brāhmaṇa.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Come at once, my manes (pitṝ s), accompanied by the grand fathers and great grandfathers), be seated before on this soft couch of sacrificial grass that I keep for you (meaning the two darbha grasses* placed during [/FONT][FONT="]tarpa[/FONT][FONT="]ṇ[/FONT][FONT="]a as seat for the [/FONT][FONT="]pitṝ s) (which is) unbroken (and) soft as wool.[/FONT]
[FONT="]* Please see the extent to which the import of the words uttered as mantra and our actual action are at variance. Here, we keep two blades of coarse “darbha” grass, most probably in a brass plate with rim, large enough to hold the poured water, but tell the [/FONT][FONT="]pitṝ s, in a rather straight-faced way that we have “placed a soft couch of sacrificial grass, unbroken ( not torn, in this context) and soft as wool”. Now, if we put ourselves as guests of someone else and he offers some rough and abrasive seat and describes it, nevertheless, as ‘woolly soft’ how will we feel?[/FONT]
[FONT="]ऋषिः - यामायनश्शङ्खः । छन्दः - त्रिष्टुप् । देवता - पितरः ।[/FONT]
[FONT="]उदीरतां अवर उद् परास उन्मध्यमाः पितरः सॊम्यासः ।[/FONT]
[FONT="]असुं य ईयुरवृका ऋतज्ञास्तॆनॊऽवन्तु पितरो हवेषु ॥ ऋ. वॆ. १०.१४.६[/FONT]
ருஷிஃ - யாமாயநஃ சங்கஃ | சந்தஃ - த்ரிஷ்டுப் | தேவதா - பிதரஃ |
உதீரதாம் அவர உத் பராஸ உந்மத்யமாஃ பிதரஃ ஸோம்யாஸஃ |
அஸும் ய ஈயுரவ்ருகா ருதஜ்ஞாஸ்தெநொऽவந்து பிதரோ ஹவேஷு ||
ரிக்வேதம் ௧0.௧௪.௬
[FONT="]ṛṣ[/FONT][FONT="]i[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] - y[/FONT][FONT="]ā[/FONT][FONT="]m[/FONT][FONT="]ā[/FONT][FONT="]yana[/FONT][FONT="]śś[/FONT][FONT="]a[/FONT][FONT="]ṅ[/FONT][FONT="]kha[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] | chanda[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] - tri[/FONT][FONT="]ṣṭ[/FONT][FONT="]up | devat[/FONT][FONT="]ā[/FONT][FONT="] - pitara[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] |[/FONT]
[FONT="]ud[/FONT][FONT="]ī[/FONT][FONT="]rat[/FONT][FONT="]ā[/FONT][FONT="]ṃ[/FONT][FONT="] avara ud par[/FONT][FONT="]ā[/FONT][FONT="]sa unmadhyam[/FONT][FONT="]ā[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] pitara[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] somy[/FONT][FONT="]ā[/FONT][FONT="]sa[/FONT][FONT="]ḥ[/FONT][FONT="] |[/FONT]
[FONT="]asu[/FONT][FONT="]ṃ[/FONT][FONT="] ya [/FONT][FONT="]ī[/FONT][FONT="]yurav[/FONT][FONT="]ṛ[/FONT][FONT="]k[/FONT][FONT="]ā[/FONT][FONT="]ṛ[/FONT][FONT="]tajñ[/FONT][FONT="]ā[/FONT][FONT="]steno:'vantu pitaro have[/FONT][FONT="]ṣ[/FONT][FONT="]u || R.V. 10.14.6[/FONT]
[FONT="]May my pitṝs, the low, mean ones, the middle ones and the noble ones, obtain the havis of the highest quality. Let all of them who know this rite (tarpana) become inoffensive, non-hurting and protect me, hearing this appeal from me.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Notes[/FONT] [FONT="] : [/FONT]
[FONT="]1. [/FONT] [FONT="]Please observe the adjective “avṛkā”; it means, in the vedic context, ‘not hurting, inoffensive, safe, etc.’. Here, the [/FONT][FONT="]pitṝs are entreated to become avṛkā which means that, if unpropitiated, they would cause hurt or harm.[/FONT]
[FONT="]2. [/FONT] [FONT="]The word “vṛkā” means ‘wolf’ in present day Sanskrit but [/FONT]
[FONT="] different meanings like jackal, owl, crow, thief, kshatriya, dog, [/FONT]
[FONT="] etc., have been given as meaning by Indian lexicographers. [/FONT]
[FONT="]It, therefore, appears as though the ṛgvedic people, including the “ṛṣis” who composed this (and other verses in which the word ‘avṛkā’ is used in this sense), lived in fear of wolves, dogs, thieves, owls and what not. Hence, it should be evident that these ṛṣis were mere human beings, not possessing any supernatural abilities, etc., (contrary to the indoctrination of orthodox religion). Consequently the oft-heard refrain that the vedas are “apauruṣeya”, that the ṛṣis, due to their superhuman abilities, captured the ethereal vibrations of the highest mystical and esoteric import etc., etc.[/FONT]
[FONT="]3. The pitṝs are classified in different ways. One view is that they get ranked in accordance with the merits or “puṇya” earned by performing the various sacrificial rituals while on this earth.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Essentially, the ṛgvedic people, had not come to believe in transmigration of souls or rebirth. Their belief was that the people who die, go to another world and exist there for ever as pitṝs.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The belief in rebirth was a later import into Hinduism. In the present context when Hindus believe in rebirth, the following extract from the book “History of the Dharmasastras, Vol IV” by Bharat Ratna, Mahamahopadhyaya, Pandurang Vaman Kane, on the topic of śrāddha(which will apply also to [/FONT] [FONT="]tarpa[/FONT][FONT="]ṇ[/FONT][FONT="]a)[/FONT][FONT="]seems appropriate:-[/FONT]
[FONT="]“A firm believer in the doctrine of karma, punarjanma (re-incarnation) and karma-vipaka (explained above) may find it difficult to reconcile that doctrine with the belief that by offering balls of rice to his three deceased paternal ancestors a man brings gratification to the souls of the latter. According to the [/FONT] [FONT="]doctrine of punarjanma (as very clearly and succinctly put in Br. Up IV. 4.4 and Bhagavad-gita 2.22) the spirit leaving one body enters into another and a new one. But the doctrine of offering balls of rice to three ancestors requires that the spirits of the three ancestors even after the lapse of 50 or 100 years are still capable of enjoying in an ethereal body the flavour or essence of the rice balls wafted by the wind. Further, Yaj. I. 269 (which is the same as Mark. 29. 38, Matsya-[/FONT] [FONT="]purāṇa 19.11-12, Agni[/FONT] [FONT="]purāṇa 163. 41-42) provides that the grand- [/FONT]
[FONT="]fathers (i. e. pitrs) being themselves gratified (by the offerings of food in śrāddha) bestow on men (their descendants) long life, progeny, wealth, learning, heaven, mokṣa (final beatitude), all happiness and kingdom. In the Matsya-purāṇa (chap 19 verse a) a question is asked by the sages how food which a brahmana (invited at a sraddha) eats or which is offered into [/FONT]
[FONT="]fire is enjoyed by departed spirits that might have assumed (after death) good or evil forms of bodies. The answer given (verses 3-9) is that fathers, grand-fathers and great-grand- fathers are identified with Vasus, Rudras and Ādityas [/FONT]
[FONT="]respectively according to Vedic passages, that the name and gotra (mentioned at the time of śrāddha), the mantras uttered and faith carry to the pitṝs the offerings made, that if one's[/FONT] [FONT="]father has become a god (by his good deeds) the food offered in śrāddha becomes nectar and follows him in his state of godhood, if he has become a daitya (an asura) then (the food) reaches him in the form of various enjoyments, if he has become a beast then it becomes grass for him and if he has become a snake the sraddha food waits on him as wind (serpents are supposed to subsist on wind) and so on. Verses 5-9 of the Matsya, chap, 19 are quoted as from Markandeyapurāṇa by the śrāddha-kalpalata p. 5. viśvarūpa on Yaj. I 265 (p. 171 of Tri. ed.) also raises the same objection and gives several replies. One is that this is a matter entirely based on śāstra and so when śāstra says that pitrs are gratified and the performer gets desired objects no objection should be raised. Another reply is that the gods Vasus and others that have access everywhere have the power to gratify pitrs wherever they may be situated. He does not call the questioners( nāstika) as some other and later [/FONT][FONT="]writers do. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The śrāddhakalpalatā of Nandapandita (about 1600 A. D.) enters upon an elaborate reply to these persons (whom he dubs atheists) that aver that the performance of sraddhas for departed fathers and the rest, who according to the particular actions of each go to heaven or hell or to other forms of exist[/FONT] [FONT="]ence serves no purpose. He asks: why is śrāddha useless? Is it because there is no prescriptive text laying down an obligation to perform it or is it because śrāddha produces no consequences or is it that it is not proved that pitṝs and the rest are gratified by śrāddha? To the first he replies that there are such passages as 'therefore a wise man must perform śrāddha with all his [/FONT][FONT="]efforts’ that lay down the obligation; nor is the 2nd objection proper, since Yaj. I 269 does declare the rewards ( of śrāddha ) viz. long life etc. Nor is the third alternative acceptable. In the śrāddha rites it is not that the mere ancestors named Devadatta and the like are the recipients and that they are denoted [/FONT]
[FONT="]by the words pitr, pitāmaha and prapitāmaha, but that those words denote them, as accompanied by the superintending deities viz. Vasus, Rudras and Adityas. Just as by the words Devadatta and the like what is denoted is not merely the bodies ( so named ) nor merely the souls, but what is denoted by the words is individual souls as particularised by the bodies; in the same way the words pitṝ and the like denote Devadatta and others together with the superintending deities (viz. Vasus, Rudras and Ādityas ). Therefore, the superintending deities viz, the Vasus and the rest, being gratified by the food and drink offered by the sons and the rest, gratify those also viz. Devadatta and the rest and endow the performers (of sraddha ) with such rewards as male progeny and the rest. Just as a woman expecting to be a mother becomes gratified by partaking of the food and drink for which she has a longing in pregnancy and which is given to her by another person for the sustenance [/FONT] [FONT="]of the child in the womb, she satiates also the child in her womb and endows those that offer her the food and drink for which she has longings by bestowing on them some reward in return. Thus the pitrs denoted by the words father, grand-father and great-grand-father are the deities Vasus, Rudras and [/FONT]
[FONT="]Ādityas, and not merely (human beings called ) Devadatta and the rest.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Hence these deities of śrāddha become the recipients (of gifts) in the śrāddha[/FONT]
[FONT="]rite, are gratified by the śrāddha and gratify in their turn the ancestors of human beings. The śrāddha-kalpalatā then quotes 18 verses from the mārkaṇḍeya purāṇa many of which are found in chap. 28 (verses 3 ff) of the printed text. It is said that just as a calf finds its own mother from among many cows that are scattered about, so the mantras repeated in śrāddha carry the food to the[/FONT] [FONT="]pitṝs.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The explanation offered by the śrāddhakalpalatā relying on passages of the mārkaṇḍeya purāṇa is not satisfactory and is rather far-fetched. The mārkaṇḍeya and the Matsya appear to agree with the doctrine of vedānta that immediately on leaving one body the soul has recourse to another body, either as a god or a man or a beast or a snake &c . The hypothesis propounded is that the food and drink offered in śrāddhas becomes transformed into various substances for the use of the ancestors (Matsya 141. 74-75). But the great difficulty in accepting this explanation is that the ancestors might die at different places, while śrāddha may very often be performed at one place far [/FONT] [FONT="]away from those places. It is difficult to believe that the grass growing in one place where the ancestor has been transformed into a beast as a result of his[/FONT]
[FONT="]evil actions is the same that might have been produced from the substances offered in śrāddha at a place hundreds of miles away. Further, if one or all the three ancestors have been transformed into beasts or the like how can they recognise their offspring- and bestow on them long life, wealth &c ? [/FONT]
(emphasis mine)
... to be continued
