In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the important discussion between Sage Naarada and Bhagawan Krishna, in terms of executing all important aspects of “Dharma” meticulously. Here, Sage Naarada explains that Bhagawan Krishna is meticulously following all procedures that are involved in respecting elderly people and guests who come to see Him. Whenever a guest comes to meet Him, Bhagawan runs forward towards them, washes their feet with water, offers eight pieces of sesame, holds their hands and takes them inside His dwelling place. As an offshoot discussion, we had also witnessed why we should stand up and prostrate fully in front of elderly people, inclusive of our parents, “Guru”, etc. We witnessed the science behind it as well. As such, our “Sanaatana Dharma” is more scientific than any other religion in this world, we clearly see here that every principle or aspect of Dharma that it talks about, has both the “respect” and the “Scientific” factors attached to it. Thus, we should understand here that whatever we’re doing as part of our everyday life routine as per our “Sanaatana Dharma” principles, has enormous scientific meanings, which many scientists and researchers today are acknowledging across the world.
Subsequently, we also witnessed yesterday, the importance of performing our “Shraadha Karma” perfectly and regularly. Sage Naarada is adding a point here that Bhagawan Krishna is an epitome for doing this meticulously as well. We might wonder here as to why should Bhagawan do all of these! Again, as I had mentioned earlier, only if Bhagawan performs all the duties correctly, will we be able to follow His footsteps. Having said thus, we’ve to now witness why is it important for us to perform our “Shraadha Karma” properly. As the name itself suggests – “Shraadha” means, “Perfection” or “Shraddha”. It simply means “Performing our actions with utmost “Shraddha” or Perfection”. This “Shraadha Karma” is normally performed for our parents when they depart from this world and reach Vaikunta. Of course, as we do it for our parents, we also offer the “Shraadha” for three previous generations before our parents – Our grandfathers and great grandfathers. By doing so, we are releasing them from the clutches of this “Samsaara” (Worldly materialistic life) completely and sending them off to “Moksha”.
Many of us might have some of these questions lingering in our minds for a while now:
1. Why at all should I perform this “Shraadha Karma”?
2. How important is this? Will my parents attain “Moksha” only if I perform the “Shraadha Karma” for them?
3. Will my grandfathers and parents curse me if I don’t do the “Shraadha Karma” properly?
Let us witness the answers for these questions one by one. Let’s go in the reverse order. For the question whether our parents and grandparents might curse us if we don’t perform the “Shraadha Karma” – No parent or grandparent would ever curse us for anything. Afterall they’re the people who love us a lot and who’ve given us all possible things in our lives, isn’t it? If that’s the case, why should they curse us? Of course, they would forgive us even if we fail to do our “Karma”. But, the point here is that, if we’re not performing the “Shraadha Karma” regularly, their hearts would start weeping and eventually they would feel sad thinking thus, “Oh! I had dedicated my life for the upliftment for this child, but after my departure, my child has completely forgotten me and all the sacrifices that I did for him!” This “heavy feeling” of our parents and grandparents is what is going to impact us a lot! This is what we call as “Pitru-Shaapa” or “Curse of the Pitru Devatas”. This is what all astrologers would tell us when we go to them with all our life problems. They would advice us to restart our “Shraadha karma” and to continue it without a break.
Secondly, for the question – Will my parents / grandparents attain “Moksha” only if I do the “Shraadha Karma” – The answer is “No”! Each person attains “Moksha” on account of his / her “Paapa” (Sins) and “Punya” (Good deeds) accounts. It is not going to be with the “Shraadha Karma” that we do. But then, the first question assumes lot of significance here – If our parents and grandparents are going to attain “Moksha” through their “Paapa” and “Punya”, why at all should we take so much of pains to do all of these? The important answer here is that, we perform the “Shraadha Karma” properly today so that, we would qualify ourselves tomorrow to attain “Moksha”! If we’re performing our “Shraadha Karma” properly, Bhagawan gets pleased with our actions. He puts the “tick mark” at the correct places, saying that we’ve fulfilled the duties that we’re supposed to perform as a human being. Eventually Bhagawan gets happy with us thus, “Oh! This child is meticulously performing all the duties and responsibilities as a human being, despite so many hiccups that he undergoes. Hence, I should grant him “Moksha” for sure!” This is what we’ve to understand from this entire discussion.
Thus, the point here is that, when Sage Naarada explains that Bhagawan Krishna is performing all the “Shraadha Karma” properly, it is a way to indicate to all of us that we too should perform all of it inn the proper prescribed way. If we do it meticulously, we are making a clear case for both ourselves and our parents / grandparents to attain “Moksha” by pleasing Bhagawan’s heart! So for today, let us understand this important point, and let us wait for the next episode to witness further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 