Talk:Pitru Paksha

Who and for whom
It is wrong to say that only the eldest son may perform shraddha ritual. As per the Vedic tradition, which has now been largely forgotten, women can perform shraddha.

1) Son (even one whose thread ceremony has not been done), daughter, grandson, great grandson, wife, daughter’s son (if he is one of the heirs), brother, nephew, first cousin’s son, father, mother, daughter-in-law, son of sister, maternal uncle, anyone in the seven generations and from the same lineage (sapinda), anyone after the seven generations and belonging to the same family domain (samanodak), disciple, priests (upadhyay), friend, son-in-law of the deceased person can perform Shraddha in that order. In case of a joint family, the eldest and earning male person should perform Shraddha. Where the family is living apart, each unit head should perform shraddha independently. Hindu Dharma has made arrangement so that for each and every dead person the shraddha can be performed so as to give momentum to that person to progress to a higher sub-plane. Holy text Dharma Sindhu mentions that, ‘If a particular dead person does not have any relative or a close person, then it is the duty of the king to perform Shraddha for that person’.

Daughters, wife, mother and daughters-in-law of the deceased person have the authority to perform Shraddha. In spite of this, in the current era, priests who conduct Shraddha deny their consent for females to perform Shraddha. This could be because in the earlier days the thread ceremony was performed for females, and in current era, this practice has been discontinued in all classes. Therefore, in accordance to that, even performing of Shraddha has been disallowed for females. However, this is due to ignorance and is not as per the Scriptures. In emergency conditions, however, if no one is available for performing Shraddha, then it is better for it to be performed by females instead of not performing it at all. There is a recommendation taht the female performing shraddha should place a clean cotton cloth on her shoulder while performing ‘Savya-Apasavya’

In the Shiva Purana, Sita is said to have performed Shraddha ceremony for her father-in-law out of desperation when noon was fast approaching and the ceremony had to be performed before that time and neither Rama nor Lakshmana had returned from their errands.

Please incorporate the above so that wrong practices and beliefs will not be furthered due to ignorance or for being repeated in Wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by VIJAYA59.182.151.105 (talk) 10:18, 13 September 2011 (UTC)


 * what is your pramana?106.51.106.129 (talk) 11:20, 13 May 2018 (UTC)

misinformation
It seems contradictory given Hinduisms teachings of rebirth and moksha. Possibly not accepted by all branches of hinduism. Hindus do not worship ancestors neither believe in spirit worship as death rituals clearly require to cut all ties with the departed soul when all ceremonies have concluded. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 186.179.180.28 (talk) 03:01, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

Poorly sourced
This article is very sloppy. In Vedic circles, evidence from sacred texts must be given to providing authenticity. No evidence is provided whatsoever. It should also be noted that Vaisnavas do not follow this practice for the reason that there is no scriptual authority to support it. 49.207.61.24 (talk) 06:35, 19 September 2017 (UTC)
 * You are right it is very poorly sourced. But you may be wrong regarding whether or not Vaisnavas do it. It is directly mentione din Srimad Bhagavatam 7.14.19 http://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/7/14/19 106.51.106.129 (talk) 11:25, 13 May 2018 (UTC)and some Vaisnava Sampradayas like the Sri Sampradaya do these ceremonies as part of Daivi Varnashrama.106.51.106.129 (talk) 11:25, 13 May 2018 (UTC)