Chapter 1 Shloka 42

संकरो नरकायैव कुलघ्नानां कुलस्य च।

पतन्ति पितरो ह्येषां लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रिया:।।४२।।

Arjuna continues:

The varna sankar lead to hell those who are injurious to the family and the family itself; because these illegitimate progeny cannot perform the traditional ‘pindodak’ ceremony for their dead ancestors – who consequently fall.

Chapter 1 Shloka 42

संकरो नरकायैव कुलघ्नानां कुलस्य च।

पतन्ति पितरो ह्येषां लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रिया:।।४२।।

Arjuna continues:

The varna sankar lead to hell those who are injurious to the family and the family itself; because these illegitimate progeny cannot perform the traditional ‘pindodak’ ceremony for their dead ancestors – who consequently fall.

Varna can indicate the family unit, a clan, a caste, a sect following a certain dharma.

Sankar means an intermixture or fusion.

Varna sankar are children born out of the bonding of two persons belonging to families of opposite creeds and dharma. Arjuna states here that when women of the house become degraded, they give birth to varna sankars.

The merit of familial traditions

When a person upholds his family honour with pride:

a) he will renounce all degrading actions;

b) he will look after and serve others;

c) he will fulfil his duty towards others;

d) he will protect and ensure the livelihood and happiness of the aged.

In doing all this, he will automatically practice divine qualities in his daily life. However, if there is no family tradition to look up to, he will not even respect his father, his grandparents and other elders of the family.

1. Then how will such children learn to respect noble qualities?

2. Which traditions will they observe?

3. Which noble family name will they venerate and uphold through their behaviour and deportment?

The children of promiscuous women will find themselves unable to accept the culture of any family. They will be devoid of the noble name, reputation and honour handed down in a family from generation to generation. They will be bereft of the blessings of their ancestors. Thus denied of any tradition to live upto, they will inherit several evil traits and become individualistic and lonesome orphans.

Traditions are extremely important in life. Children imbibe the divine principles prevalent in a family only when family traditions are intact. The family honour can be protected only if:

a) the family elders are served;

b) the children take the protection and preservation of their elders as their own personal responsibility and duty;

c) the protection of the honour of the family elders becomes the duty of the children;

d) the happiness of the family becomes the foremost and most important consideration of the child.

In this consideration lie the seeds of greatness, piety and selflessness. Also inherent in such an attitude are the seeds of familial duty. Any attitude or action opposed to this will ensure the downfall of one’s ancestors – a slur on the family name, in fact the very extinction of their name.

Now understand this from another point of view: illegitimate children have their own problems.

1. Such offspring harbour grudges against their parents;

2. They reject all, since they are rejected by others;

3. They feel vulnerable and unprotected;

4. How can one who does not accept anyone as his own kith and kin, practice dharma?

5. Such varna sankar are fettered with their own mental complexities and a strange sense of remorse.

It is said here that such varna sankar take the family, especially the element that is already injurious to the family, to hell. This is because the traditional obsequies or the ‘Pindodak Kriya’ is put to an end by such dishonourable progeny, leading to the degradation and downfall of their ancestors.

Let us understand the significance of the ‘Pindodak Kriya’ (पिण्डोदकक्रिया:).

Pind connotes the body, victuals or means of subsistence, or the offering to one’s ancestors.

Odak connotes food, preparations of milk, nourishment which is creamy and lends warmth and sustenance, which aids progress and regeneration; odak also means water.

Pitri connotes one’s parents, ancestors, elders and family.

Little one, now let us consider how one’s ancestral family can be uplifted, thus benefiting oneself also. It is in the service of your elders that you, too, can obtain the practice of service. You can augment your treasure of divine attributes through the observance of your familial traditions. If you do not imbibe the principles of your father, your grandparents and forefathers in your life, then the family name will be blemished and its honour will be destroyed. The virtuous and divine principles which they always upheld will diminish instead of increasing.

Such offering of sustenance to one’s forefathers indicates one’s endeavour to uphold and nurture their principles in life. Offering food to the ancestors teaches one to respect them. Such traditions can be kept alive only by the progeny of that family.

Shraadh

Shraadh is giving food to one’s ancestors with deep faith in their traditions. Such an offering of nourishment encourages the sustenance and expansion of the noble qualities of those forefathers in your heart, aided by faith. Such a ‘Shraadh’ is observed in order to provide the entire family of the deceased with an opportunity to remember that venerated elder of the family and perpetuate his noble attributes through their inculcation in the practical lives of his whole family.

Collecting ‘flowers’ or the remains

Following the cremation of a senior family member, bones and ashes – the remains or the ‘flowers’ are collected with full sanctity and cast in a holy river such as the Ganga. This is normally done by the eldest son along with the immediate family.

Finally, the son dons the ‘turban’, symbolic of the responsibility of safeguarding the honourable traditions of the family. This ceremony indicates that he has accepted the responsibilities of the parent and he will live up to the ideals of the deceased.

Only he who has thus witnessed the burning of the inert body of a venerated elder and has, with death as his witness, recollected the life of that elder – his problems, his virtuous trend of thought, his remarkable deeds, his dreams and his adherence to duty, has in Truth collected the ‘flowers’ fragrant with the virtues of his ancestor. When the son places these flowers upon his head, symbolising his acknowledgement of their beauty and their superiority in comparison with his own intellect and understanding, he accepts the responsibility of fulfilling the dharma initiated by his ancestor as his first and foremost duty. He who thus venerates the traditions and dharma of his forefathers, is truly purified as one who has bathed in the Ganga.

Ganga is a purifier, that moulds Her children in the image of their Divine Father, Lord Shiva. Ganga is known to represent the Eternal Truth. She inundates the life of Her worshipper with pristine purity. Therefore, whosoever brings purity to your life, know that one to be the image of Ganga. In this manner, the knowledge that purifies you is also Ganga. Similarly, when a person collects the fragrant ‘flowers’ of divine and virtuous qualities from the pyre of his elders or forefathers, his life is touched by that virtue as well, rendering it more fragrant and beautiful.

1. The ‘Pindodak Kriya’ or shraadh is performed as a reminder of the noble qualities of one’s ancestors. This ceremony helps to inspire one to serve one’s elders.

2. The Shraadh gives one an opportunity to bow one’s head in humility before those virtuous attributes of one’s family.

The vanishing of the Pindodak Kriya

If the number of illegitimate offspring begins to rise:

a) those children will have no desire to protect the name and honour of family tradition;

b) individualism and selfishness will increase;

c) let alone living for the other, such children will have no qualms about ruining the other!

Such children will not be in the habit of bringing divine traits into their practical lives. Since they will not have any respect for their elders, they will certainly not respect anyone else in the family! They will serve only their own desires and will do as they wish. Thus divine qualities will completely vanish from the world.

The varna sankar and society

The varna sankar will not only degrade himself, but each person who comes in his contact. These days, most members of families are illegitimate insofar as:

a) They fritter away ancestral properties and wealth for personal selfish ends and desire fulfilment, instead of using it to further the family name.

b) They ask for rights and disregard duties.

c) They acquire evil qualities and are impervious to goodness.

d) They only know the language of money and believe that wealth enhances family prestige, not great deeds.

What Arjuna said was factually correct but he applied it to the wrong section of the family!

Little seeker! If you were to perform the Shraadh of your grandmother, Mrs. Saraswati Naubat Rai Bhandari, you would remember her greatness with love. In order to understand her great principles, hear her stories from your parents. Your grandmother was extremely pure and loving. She was tender and ever upheld family traditions. She possessed a lot of forbearance. She did not have within her even a trace of false pride or ego. She helped all who sought help from her and ever attempted to bring about friendship and peace between opposing factions. She had a generous heart. If you hear her stories with faith, you, too, will have deep respect for her and will want to become like her. You will never let her name be tarnished. If you have truly performed her Shraadh, her qualities will automatically flow through you.