Purūravas and the Pitṛs
The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, in the twenty-eighth chapter of its Pūrva Bhāga, tells how the great king Purūravas, son of Ilā, went to the world of the pitṛs (ancestors) on every amāvāsyā (new moon day). He offered them their share of the moon’s amṛta (nectar). Sūta uses this account to teach how the moon feeds the devas and the pitṛs, who the pitṛs are, and how offerings reach them.
How Purūravas met his ancestors
The ṛshis asked Sūta: “O Sūta! Purūravas, the son of Ilā, the great king, went to the dyuloka (heaven) on every amāvāsyā. How? How did he offer tarpaṇa (water offering) to the pitṛs?”
Sūta replied that on every amāvāsyā Sūrya and Candra stay together in the same nakshatra (star group). Their orbs come close to each other. This meeting is the amāvāsyā.
Purūravas is the son of Ilā. Ilā, also called Sudyumna, was connected to the line of Sūrya through Vaivasvata Manu, and to Candra through Budha. So Sūrya and Candra were his ancestors on his mother’s side. Every amāvāsyā he went to the dyuloka, saluted them both, waited for their permission, and offered the pitṛs their portion of the moon’s amṛta.
The moon’s kalās and the devas
During the śuklapaksha (bright fortnight), the thirty-three great devas, called the Candana devas, drink the moon’s amṛta one kalā (part) at a time. They drink one kalā each day for fifteen days. By caturdaśī (the fourteenth day) the devas have drunk fourteen kalās. On amāvāsyā itself, one kalā remains.
The last kalā and the pitṛs
This fifteenth kalā is the share of the pitṛs. On amāvāsyā the pitṛs drink it through the sūshumnā ray. This is the single thread of light that joins Soma, the moon, to the pitṛloka.
After the pitṛs drink, the moon’s body is empty for a time. Then Bhagavān Sūrya fills it again with his own vīrya (radiance). He restores it day by day through the kṛshṇapaksha (dark fortnight), until it is full on pūrṇimā (full moon day).
The five-year cycle
The pañcābda yuga is a cycle of five years. Each year belongs to a deva:
- Saṃvatsara, year 1: Agni
- Parivatsara, year 2: Sūrya
- Idvatsara, year 3: Soma (Candra)
- Anuvatsara, year 4: Vāyu
- Vatsara, year 5: Rudra
These five years make one cycle. The pitṛs are called the children of the ṛtus (seasons), and the ṛtus are the children of the years. So the pitṛs belong to the order of the year and the seasons.
The four sacred parvans of the lunar month
The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa names four sacred moments of the lunar month.
| Parvan | Description |
|---|---|
| Kuhū | The amāvāsyā when the moon cannot be seen at all. It is the two-lava (eye-blink) period between the end of the kṛshṇapaksha and the start of the śuklapaksha. It is named after the “ku-hū” cry of the koel, and lasts as long as that cry. |
| Sīnīvālī | The amāvāsyā when only the thinnest crescent of the moon can still be seen. Sūrya enters amāvāsyā, and this is why it is called sīnīvālī. |
| Anumati | The night before pūrṇimā, when caturdaśī joins the pūrṇimā tithi (lunar day). The devas and pitṛs together give their assent (anumati) to the full showing of the moon. |
| Rākā | Pūrṇimā itself. On this night the moon shines with its full light (rāka means a bright night). |
On amāvāsyā, Sūrya and Candra stay together in the same nakshatra for one full day and night. The brāhmaṇa must then give special care to yoga-kriyā and keep the right rites for the pitṛs. The two-lava period of kuhū is the exact moment for the rites.
The three classes of pitṛs
The Purāṇa sorts the pitṛs into three groups. Each group is known by the conduct of its members in life.
1. Kāvyas
The Kāvyas are the sons of Śukra, who is also called Uśanas or Kāvya. They are fire-worshippers, who kept the sacred agni (fire) all through their lives. They are descended from the ācārya of the asuras, and so the Kāvya pitṛs have a station of their own. They are also called ājyapas (drinkers of the offerings of ghṛta, clarified butter).
2. Barhishads
The Barhishads are the pitṛs of householders (gṛhasthas) who performed yajñas. They kept the sacred fires and did the Vedic rites through their whole life as householders. Barhis is the darbha grass, the sacred mat of the yajña. These pitṛs lived and died in close bond with the sacrificial fire. They are called Sāma-chanters and Havir-yajñikas.
3. Agnishvātthas
The Agnishvātthas are the pitṛs of righteous householders who did not perform formal yajñas. They were ayājya (not offering yajña), but they were still dharmic and virtuous. Agni “tasted” them (svatta) even without formal yajña, and this is why they are called Agnishvāttha. They are also called Saumyas, who belong to Soma.
Time for the pitṛs
The Purāṇa gives an exact account of how beings at different levels count time.
| Being | Day and night | Month | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human | 1 day | 1 month | 1 year |
| Pitṛs | 1 human month (kṛshṇapaksha is the day, śuklapaksha is the night) | 30 human months | 360 human months |
| Devas | 1 human year (uttarāyaṇa is the day, dakshiṇāyana is the night) | 30 human years | 360 human years |
The kṛshṇapaksha is the daytime of the pitṛs, when they are awake and receive offerings. The śuklapaksha is their night, when they rest. This is why śrāddhas (rites for ancestors) are usually done in the kṛshṇapaksha, which is the daytime of the pitṛs.
The power of the three piṇḍas
The chapter ends with a teaching of great weight:
Even those pitṛs who are in naraka, or who have taken birth in any of countless births and wombs: if their descendants on earth, knowing their name and gotra, offer three piṇḍas on darbha grass with mantra, those piṇḍas will reach the pitṛs wherever they are, in whatever birth.
A calf that is parted from its mother always finds its way back to her. In the same way, a piṇḍa filled with mantra reaches the pitṛ it is meant for, by whatever path is needed. This is the sure promise of the śrāddha-śāstra: the rite reaches beyond the limits of saṃsāra (the cycle of births).
Pitṛs who kept dharma and pitṛs who suffer
The chapter also speaks of two conditions among the pitṛs in the worlds above.
Pitṛs who kept dharma are those who did tapas, kept brahmacarya, performed yajña, raised children faithfully, gave vidyā (knowledge), and performed śrāddha all through their lives. They go to svarga and live in joy with the devas, the pitṛs, the sūkshmajīvas and the somayājins. The śrāddhas of their descendants reach them in svarga and give them deep contentment.
Pitṛs who suffer are those who were dharma-bhrashṭas (fallen from their āśrama), who did evil, and who are in naraka or the lower worlds. They are described as thin, naked and thirsty, with matted hair, wandering and desperate for water and food. The narrative shows them in the yātanā-sthānas (places of torment), longing for tarpaṇa. Even for these pitṛs, the three piṇḍas offered with name and gotra on darbha grass by their living descendants bring tṛpti (satisfaction).
Who revealed this teaching
Sūta says: “The divine-eyed Skanda (Kārttikeya) himself revealed this directly. He knows the comings and goings (gati and āgati) of the pitṛs, and how śrāddha reaches the preta.” So this whole account of soma, the pitṛs and the way tarpaṇa works comes from Skanda himself, who sees the pitṛloka with divine sight.
Sources
- Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga, Chapter 28