Guiding Light: Sarva Pitru Amavasya

On the new moon day of Amanta Bhadrapada, Sarva Pitru Amavasya is reverentially observed. Sarva means all and Pitru means departed souls with whom we have lineage relation. The lineage happens from both father and mother sides. For the practical considerations families maintain lineage diary in which the order of generations, members, and their spouse details are given. Below that shall be the nextgen information. There are teertha sthalas and punya kshetras where the family lineage diaries are maintained by priests. Individual families often maintain details upto seven generations. Beyond the ‘sankalpa’ during the shraddha ceremony, it is our duty to remember the ancestors and offer gratitude to them. We owe them.

Every month Amavasya or the new moon day reminds us of the Pitrus. We are supposed to offer tarpanas (offering of water and sesame seeds) and feed the needy on the day, in memory of departed ancestors. Vasu, Rudra, Aditya are the three previous generational elders to us. For the person offering the tarpana, the departed father is the Vasu. The grandfather is the Rudra. Aditya is the third generational ancestor, whom probably we had not seen but heard of. On the mother’s occasion, we take the name and details of our own mother, our paternal grandmother, and our paternal great-grandmother. In other words, we offer our gratitude to the daughters of different houses who became the mothers of this house and contributed to its sustenance and expansion of the clan.

Carrying the gratitude for one’s own parents and grandparents for the struggles they had undergone for helping the nextgen’s survive, and succeed is the real offering by any person. As a child innocently assumed that as she grows up her father shall become a child, and she should nourish him, it is not far from truth. As the parents age, and they become more childlike. Their needs become limited. They shall no longer be in a state of ability to contribute physically to any task. However, they shall be treasure house of experience, and wisdom. The earlier generation carry the culture, contextual and practices’ knowledge. This has to be transferred to the nextgen to help them grow without identity crisis. Sarva Pitru Amavasya reminds us of responsibilities and the need for cultural continuity.

Dr S Ainavolu is a Mumbai-based teacher of Management and Tradition. Intent is nextgen’s learning and cultural education