Pitṛgāthā

Pitṛgāthā, simply known as Pitrigatha, Sanskrit: पितृगाथा, Telugu: పితృగాథ, Hindi: पितृगाथा.

The Pitṛgāthā means “the songs of the ancestors”. It is a set of verses sung by the pitṛs (departed ancestors) from their own loka (world). These verses are given in Chapter 203 of the Matsya Mahā Purāṇa. In them the pitṛs describe which offerings satisfy them at the śrāddha (the rite of offering food and water to the ancestors), and which qualities they hope to see in the descendants born into their family line.

The chapter closes the Gotra-Pravara Anukīrtana, the section of the Matsya Purāṇa that lists family lines and their founding ṛshis. It ties that long list of families to a practical teaching on śrāddha and on the ideals of right living.

Setting

When the Gotra-Pravara Anukīrtana (Chapters 194–202) is complete, Bhagavān Matsya (the fish avatāra of Vishṇu) says to Manu: “Now I shall tell you the gāthās (songs) that the pitṛs once sang about this matter from their own svapura (their own world).” Because the pitṛs themselves are singing about what they want, the teaching carries the highest authority. It is not the command of a ṛshi or the rule of a ritual manual. It is the stated wish of the ancestors themselves.

Foods and Acts That Satisfy the Pitṛs

The pitṛs declare that these offerings give them lasting satisfaction:

  • Water offerings (jalāñjali, water offered from cupped hands) given with a steady mind in cool rivers full of water
  • Sesame and water mixed together as an offering
  • Milk, roots, fruits, bhakshyas (prepared foods), tila-jala (sesame water) and the flesh of the khaḍga-mṛga (rhinoceros)
  • Offerings of black śāka (a particular leafy vegetable) on the Trayodaśī tithi (13th day of the lunar fortnight), mixed with honey and ghee
  • Pāyasa (rice cooked in milk) in the rainy season, on the day of the Maghā nakshatra (lunar mansion)
  • Nīvāra rice (wild rice) and khaḍga-mṛga flesh
  • Honey, ghee, kālaśāka and mahāśāka (kinds of leafy greens, including puṇḍarīka-śāka, a type of white greens)
  • Offerings made at Gayā during a grahaṇa (eclipse) to yogīs, who are the pitṛs in visible form, especially khaḍga flesh, and also on the day of Gajacchāyā

The pitṛs sing: “If someone born in our line offers us śrāddha in this way, how fortunate we are! And if all of these are offered together, what more need be said?”

The Descendant the Pitṛs Hope For

The pitṛs go on with a prārthanā for the kind of person they wish to see born in their family:

May there be born in our line one who:

  • Gives kṛshṇājina (the skin of the black antelope) as dāna (a sacred gift)
  • Gives cows that are about to calve (prasūyamāna-dhenu)
  • Performs vṛshotsarga (the ceremonial release of a bull)
  • With śraddhā (faith) gives suvarṇa-dāna, go-dāna and pṛthivī-dāna (gifts of gold, cows and land)
  • Builds kūpas (wells), ārāmas (groves), taṭākas (tanks) and vāpīs (step-wells)
  • With full feeling takes refuge in Vishṇu, the Sarvāntaryāmī (who dwells within all), the Deveśa (master of the devas), the Madhusūdana, as the highest shelter
  • Is a vidvān and vicakshaṇa (learned and wise in judgement)
  • Gives the knowledge of the Dharmaśāstras as a gift to the learned in the proper way

Phalaśruti (The Fruit of Hearing)

Bhagavān Matsya concludes: “O King Manu! This is the śrāddha-kalpa (the method of śrāddha) taught by the munis. It destroys all pāpa (wrongdoing), gathers puṇya (merit), and gives greatness in all the worlds.”

So the Pitṛgāthā is both a practical guide to śrāddha and a statement of what the ancestors desire. The ancestors themselves confirm which acts truly reach them and what kind of children they hope for in their line.

Sources

  • Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 203 (with Chapters 194–202, the Gotra-Pravara Anukīrtana)