Sindhi Brahmin - Rites & Rituals

RITES & RITUALS

Where does the soul go?
There is no certainty where a person goes after death. But according to our vedas and shastras there are two categories. In the first one, the dead person gets free from the birth and death chakra and attains moksha, in the second one a dead person goes to hell or heaven according to his bad and good karmas respectively.
Again in the second category, there are two ways : (i) light, day, shuklapaksha and uttrayane - dead person attains first category and after leaving this body gets free from birth and death vicious cycle and attains moksha and (ii) dhoom, night, krishnapaksha and dakshanayane - dead person according to his karmas again gets birth and gets death and so on and remains in the cycle of birth and death.

Is it essential to feed shradh (manes) to a Brahmin only?
When we sow a seed along with other necessary ingredients, it gets hundred times, nay thousand times bigger, one grain of (heeng) afoetida called tadka gives its effect to hundreds of people, similarly a word spoken on a radio reaches thousands of kilometers away to other place, when a particular wavelength is placed we get the same word any where in the univers, thus whatever it puts in the agni (fire) gets amplified and reaches to umpteen number of people. Anything when put in fire (agni) gets purified. Similarly Brahmin when he gets the shradh (food read people) it reaches to the concerned pitra up above in the welkin and empyrean.

Why but the Brahmin?
It is given in Vedas and shastras that as the agni is produced from the mouth of the virat (brahma) so also a Brahmin is born from the mouth of the Lord. Hence as we put matter in the agni and say "Swaha". Similarly when we feed shradh (manes) to a Brahmin it reaches the "Pitra" - there is no exaggeration in it. But again if a Brahmin eats suppose ten shradhs in a day, then his weight should correspondingly increase, but it is seen that at the end of the day and at the end of shradspaksha (15 days) his (Brahmin's) weight is more or less the same, where does that food go then? The said food (shradh) reaches to the "pitras"! the Brahmin is just the medium through whom the food reaches the pitra. Hence shradh should be fed to Brahmin only.

Why to give a Brahmin Dakhna=Dakshna (i.e. charity/alms)?
It seems strange that first of all the Brahmin eats the shradh of a pitra, then over that it is imperative to give Dakhna=Dakshna to him! Some people envy and object upon this ritual and custom. Cant understand that why they cannot digest this dakhna giving practice?!

When in their house, a sacred act is performed like naming ceremony, engagement, marriage or tonsure ceremony at that time, they willingly give the purohit the charity or when the social obligations are performed and for that they give "chanda" to them or give fees to institutions and schools, why then they object to give dakshna to a Brahmin?

Actually no sacred act is complete without giving dakshna. According to Vedas also: In the welkin the stars that are shining are the ones who gave dakshna to Brahmins. Those who give dakshna only shone like a sun.He only gets immortality. He only lives for a longer life.

In religious books a "Yagya" well performed but without dakshna is regarded useless and meaningless.

A purohit (priest, Brahmin) who is well versed in Vedas and has done according to "Vidhis" the Pooja, yagya, tarpan, havan with full devotion without dakshna then it is not ethical and tentamonts to insult of that Brahmin. He should be well honoured and should be given deserving dakshna with full respect and "Shradha".


	RITES & RITUALS Where does the soul go? There is no certainty where a person goes after death. But according to our vedas and shastras there are two categories. In the first one, the dead person gets free from the birth and death chakra and attains moksha, in the second one a dead person goes to hell or heaven according to his bad and good karmas respectively. Again in the second category, there are two ways : (i) light, day, shuklapaksha and uttrayane - dead person attains first category and after leaving this body gets free from birth and death vicious cycle and attains moksha and (ii) dhoom, night, krishnapaksha and dakshanayane - dead person according to his karmas again gets birth and gets death and so on and remains in the cycle of birth and death. Is it essential to feed shradh (manes) to a Brahmin only? When we sow a seed along with other necessary ingredients, it gets hundred times, nay thousand times bigger, one grain of (heeng) afoetida called tadka gives its effect to hundreds of people, similarly a word spoken on a radio reaches thousands of kilometers away to other place, when a particular wavelength is placed we get the same word any where in the univers, thus whatever it puts in the agni (fire) gets amplified and reaches to umpteen number of people. Anything when put in fire (agni) gets purified. Similarly Brahmin when he gets the shradh (food read people) it reaches to the concerned pitra up above in the welkin and empyrean. Why but the Brahmin? It is given in Vedas and shastras that as the agni is produced from the mouth of the virat (brahma) so also a Brahmin is born from the mouth of the Lord. Hence as we put matter in the agni and say "Swaha". Similarly when we feed shradh (manes) to a Brahmin it reaches the "Pitra" - there is no exaggeration in it. But again if a Brahmin eats suppose ten shradhs in a day, then his weight should correspondingly increase, but it is seen that at the end of the day and at the end of shradspaksha (15 days) his (Brahmin's) weight is more or less the same, where does that food go then? The said food (shradh) reaches to the "pitras"! the Brahmin is just the medium through whom the food reaches the pitra. Hence shradh should be fed to Brahmin only. Why to give a Brahmin Dakhna=Dakshna (i.e. charity/alms)? It seems strange that first of all the Brahmin eats the shradh of a pitra, then over that it is imperative to give Dakhna=Dakshna to him! Some people envy and object upon this ritual and custom. Cant understand that why they cannot digest this dakhna giving practice?! When in their house, a sacred act is performed like naming ceremony, engagement, marriage or tonsure ceremony at that time, they willingly give the purohit the charity or when the social obligations are performed and for that they give "chanda" to them or give fees to institutions and schools, why then they object to give dakshna to a Brahmin? Actually no sacred act is complete without giving dakshna. According to Vedas also: In the welkin the stars that are shining are the ones who gave dakshna to Brahmins. Those who give dakshna only shone like a sun.He only gets immortality. He only lives for a longer life. In religious books a "Yagya" well performed but without dakshna is regarded useless and meaningless. A purohit (priest, Brahmin) who is well versed in Vedas and has done according to "Vidhis" the Pooja, yagya, tarpan, havan with full devotion without dakshna then it is not ethical and tentamonts to insult of that Brahmin. He should be well honoured and should be given deserving dakshna with full respect and "Shradha".