Nārāyaṇa Bali
Nārāyaṇa Bali, “the offering to Nārāyaṇa”
Nārāyaṇa Bali is a rite taught in the Dharma Khaṇḍa of the Garuḍa Purāṇa (Chapters 4 and 22). It is done for those who died without proper antya karma (final rites), who died in inauspicious ways (by violence, by their own hand, or in the pañcaka), or who are known to suffer as pretas (departed ones without a body). The signs of such suffering are dream appearances or troubles in the house. The ordinary śrāddha keeps well the pitṛs (ancestors) who have passed on properly. Nārāyaṇa Bali is aimed at the preta state itself. It calls on Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa to give moksha (liberation) to the suffering jīva, so that his grace takes the place of the rites that were missed.
The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 159) also teaches Nārāyaṇa Bali. There Pushkara says that for one who killed himself and for a patita (one fallen from dharma) there are no piṇḍa and water rites, but for the preta of a patita Nārāyaṇa Bali is to be given with a mind of great compassion, and by it he gains the grace of Nārāyaṇa.
When it is done
The Dharma Khaṇḍa teaches that Nārāyaṇa Bali is done in these cases:
- When a person died by violent or untimely means (weapons, drowning, an animal’s attack, burning, a fall) without prāyaścitta (atonement) before death.
- When a person died by his own hand, outside the ways that are permitted.
- When death came in the pañcaka and the pañcaka-śānti was not done in time.
- When death came far from home, in an unknown place or a foreign land, with no relatives present.
- When the line of a dead ancestor has ended and no regular śrāddha has been done for generations.
- When pretas appear in the dreams of family members and show distress.
- When unusual inauspicious events strike a household, such as repeated illness, ruin of wealth or quarrels at home, and they are traced to a suffering preta.
The rite can be done for pretas who are known, when the name of the person and the manner of death are known. It can also be done for the whole line of unknown pretas. That form is called sarva-preta-śānti. (Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 4 and 22)
Who may do it
The Dharma Khaṇḍa gives Chapter 8 to the question of who has the right (adhikāra) to do apara karma (rites for the departed), Nārāyaṇa Bali included:
- The eldest son has the first right and duty.
- If he is not there, any other son, in order of age.
- If there are no sons, the grandson. A daughter’s son (dauhitra) is also fit to do it.
- The wife may do the rite if there are no male descendants.
- A brother of the same gotra (sagotra) may do it if the dead left no child.
- If there are no relatives at all, a learned brāhmaṇa who knew the dead person may do the rite for him.
The Dharma Khaṇḍa also allows a living person to do jīvita-śrāddha, his own śrāddha done while he is alive. This gathers puṇya (merit) and makes sure the rite is done even if no descendants remain. In the jīvita-śrāddha seven names of Yama are recited. Each name belongs to one of Yama’s aspects as judge of all. (Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8)
The vidhi
What is needed first
Nārāyaṇa Bali needs a qualified brāhmaṇa who knows the mantras and the order of the Yajurveda. The best place is a tīrtha: the banks of the Gaṅgā, the Godāvarī or the Kāverī, or any mahā-tīrtha. It may also be done at the śmaśāna (cremation ground) itself. The performer fasts on the day before.
The bali
A figure of clay or of darbha grass stands for the preta. It is laid on a mat of kuśa grass. This effigy (called pratimaṇḍal) stands in for the body of the preta and receives every act the real body should have received. The steps are these:
- Prāṇa-pratishṭhā. The consciousness of the preta is called into the effigy.
- Snāna. The effigy is bathed with pañcāmṛta (milk, curd, honey, ghee and sugar) and with pure water.
- Vastra-dāna. The effigy is clothed.
- Piṇḍa-dāna. Ten piṇḍas are offered one after another, matching the daśagātra order. They build the symbolic body of the preta.
- Nārāyaṇa-āvāhana. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa is called into the place of the rite with the Purusha Sūkta and the Ashṭākshara mantra.
- Bali. The main offering is made to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, with the prayer that He receive the preta and grant moksha.
- Viśedana. The effigy is dissolved in water, in a river, a tank or the sea. This stands for the dissolving of the preta body.
The central mantra of the bali calls Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa the master of all life and death. It means: “Just as all rivers merge into the ocean, so may this jīva merge into You, O Nārāyaṇa. Just as fire burns up fuel, may You burn up all the karma that binds this preta.” (Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 4)
Feeding the brāhmaṇas
The rite ends with the feeding of brāhmaṇas. Thirteen is best: twelve for the months and one for the presiding deva. Each brāhmaṇa stands for a pitṛ or for a direction of space. The brāhmaṇas are given new clothing (vāsa-dāna) and dakshiṇā (a gift of money). Their satisfaction after the meal is understood to be the satisfaction of the preta itself. (Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 4)
Accounts of pretas set free
The five pretas of Samtaptaka
In Chapter 7 a brāhmaṇa named Samtaptaka meets five ugly pretas at a śmaśāna. He learns their names and the pāpa (sin) that brought each to this state. He does Nārāyaṇa Bali and śrāddha for them. All five are set free at once, and their preta forms dissolve as the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu reaches them. This account shows that Nārāyaṇa Bali works even for strangers. The one who does it need not be a blood relative. (Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 7)
The hundred pretas of Babhruvāhana
In Chapter 9 King Babhruvāhana meets one hundred pretas at a tīrtha. Their leader is Pretavāhaṇa, who was once the Vaiśya Devagupta. Bhagavān Vishṇu tells Babhruvāhana to do Nārāyaṇa Bali for all of them. When the rite is complete, all one hundred pretas are freed together. They rise in shining forms towards Vaikuṇṭha. (Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 9)
How the rite works
The Dharma Khaṇḍa makes clear that Nārāyaṇa Bali does not get round karma. It calls on the grace of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, which goes beyond the ordinary working of karma. A great river can wash away gathered dust, and in the same way the grace of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa can dissolve the bonds of the preta. The rite must be done with true devotion (bhakti), the right procedure (vidhi) and a pure mind (bhāva). A Nārāyaṇa Bali done only by rote, without sincere calling on Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, will not bring the same moksha.
The Dharma Khaṇḍa also stresses the greatness of the name of Nārāyaṇa. Even one sincere repetition of “Nārāyaṇa” at the time of the bali is worth more than long rites done without understanding. (Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 22)
Per Agni Purāṇa
In the Agni Purāṇa, Pushkara teaches the purification for those who did not receive the last rites. Whether the last saṃskāra was done for the dead or not, if Śrī Hari’s name is remembered for him, he obtains both svarga and moksha. By casting the bones of the dead into the Gaṅgā he gains welfare: as long as a man’s bones remain in the Gaṅgā, so long he dwells in svarga.
For one who killed himself and for a patita there are no piṇḍa and water rites; the food and water offered for him dissolve in the sky. Yet if his bones are cast into the Gaṅgā, good comes to him. And for the preta of one who is patita, Nārāyaṇa Bali is to be given with a mind of great compassion. He then gains the anugraha (grace) of Nārāyaṇa.
Pushkara gives the reason. Śrī Hari, the lotus-eyed, is free from destruction; therefore what is done for him is also imperishable. Janārdana protects the jīva from falling; therefore he alone is the best recipient (pātra) of the offering. Śrī Mahāvishṇu is the one master (prabhu) who gives bhoga and moksha to jīvas who are about to fall.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 159
Sources
- Garuḍa Purāṇa, Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 4 and 22
- Garuḍa Purāṇa, Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 7 (the five pretas of Samtaptaka)
- Garuḍa Purāṇa, Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8 (who has the right to do apara karma; jīvita-śrāddha)
- Garuḍa Purāṇa, Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 9 (the hundred pretas of Babhruvāhana)
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 159