Pitṛ Devatās
Pitṛ Devatā, “the ancestors as deities”
The Pitṛ Devatās are the divine ancestors. They receive the offerings of their living descendants and sustain their family lines. They also welcome the newly departed, when a preta (a departed being not yet among the ancestors) becomes one of them. They live in their own lokas, arranged in a fixed order. The Agnishvātta and Barhishad groups receive the most pūjā.
The Varāha Purāṇa tells how the Pitṛ Devatās came to be, what kinds there are, and what they ask of their descendants. The Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa adds how a preta becomes a pitṛ through the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa rite, and why the pitṛ-pūjā (worship of the ancestors) must be kept up.
The Vāmana Purāṇa names the dharma of the Pitṛ Devatās and tells how one class of them, the Agnishvāttas, became the mothers’ line of Devī Pārvatī: Indra‘s offering of piṇḍas (rice balls) at Kurukshetra pleased them, and they gave their mind-born daughter Menā in marriage to Himavān, so that Pārvatī is the dauhitrī (daughter’s daughter) of the Pitṛ Devatās. It tells how the pitṛs of Bhārgava Rāma appeared in the sky and blessed him, how a son saves his pitṛs from the naraka called Put, and how the Pitṛ Devatās wait on the bank of the Āpagā for a son or grandson of their line to bring them tila-tarpaṇa (water with sesame). Its Saro Māhātmya names the tīrthas of Kurukshetra where śrāddha and tarpaṇa please the pitṛs, and what each gives.
Origin
From Brahmā’s tapas (Chapter 34)
During creation, Brahmā meditated deeply on the Paramātmā and reached a state of union in yoga. Subtle essences (tanmātrāḥ) came out of his body like wisps of smoke (dhūmra). These beings wished to rise to the upper worlds and drink Soma. They stood in the sky with their faces raised upward.
Brahmā told them:
“You are the Pitṛ Devatās of all householders.”
Those with faces tilted upward became the Nāndīmukha Pitṛs. They are worshipped in the vṛddhi-śrāddha (the rite for an auspicious event).
From the Saptarshis (Chapter 13)
Brahmā had seven sons born from his mind, the Saptarshis. They tried to worship themselves instead of Brahmā, as he had commanded. Brahmā gave them a śāpa (a curse):
“You will lose all your jñāna.”
At once the cursed ṛshis had sons. They reached a higher birth through the śrāddha offerings of their sons, and they went to svarga (heaven). This chain of pitṛ-pūjā gave rise to the Pitṛ system.
Kinds of Pitṛ Devatās
With form and without form
| Kind | Nature | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Sāntānaka (Prājāpatya) | Without physical form; they live in the Sāntānaka worlds | Born from Prajāpati (Brahmā) |
| Vairāja | Without form; they came before the devas and are worshipped by the devas | Descendants of Virāj |
| Agnishvātta | With form | Descendants of Marīci (from the line of agni, fire) |
| Barhishad | With form | Descendants of Vasishṭha (they sit on barhi, which is kuśa grass) |
The Pitṛ Devatās in each loka (Chapter 13)
| Loka | Pitṛ group | Worshipped by |
|---|---|---|
| Bhūloka | Brāhmaṇas and others | — |
| Svarloka | Marīci group (Saptarshis) | Brāhmaṇas of Bhūloka |
| Maharloka | Kalpa-vāsins | Saptarshis |
| Janaloka | Sanaka and the others | Residents of Maharloka |
| Tapoloka | Vairājas | Residents of Janaloka |
| Satyaloka | Mukta ātmās (liberated souls) | Residents of Tapoloka |
The Pitṛ Devatās for each varṇa (Chapter 13)
| Varṇa | Pitṛ group |
|---|---|
| Brāhmaṇa | Agnishvātta |
| Kshatriya | Barhishad (Virāj’s descendants) |
| Vaiśya | Sukāleya (descendants of Vasishṭha) |
| Śūdra | No separate pitṛs. They must get permission from the upper three varṇas to worship the same group |
“Śūdras have no separate Pitṛ Devatās. With the permission of the three upper varṇas, they should worship those same ancestors — using their parents’ names, but without specific mantra or procedure.”
The song of the Pitṛs: what they want from their descendants
The Pitṛ Devatās made gītas (songs) that say what they wish for. The main requests are these (Chapter 13).
- May a noble son be born in our family who gives us piṇḍa (funeral rice balls) and is not greedy for money.
- May he offer us water, gems, clothes, fine vehicles and wealth, as far as his means allow.
- At the time of śrāddha, may he offer food with a devoted mind, in proportion to his means.
- If he cannot afford food, he should offer forest greens to a brāhmaṇa.
- If he cannot afford that, he should hold a handful of sesame seeds (nuvvulu in Telugu) and offer them to a brāhmaṇa with a bow.
- If he has nothing, he should fill his palms with water and give it with full devotion.
- If he has no water, he should go to a forest, raise both hands toward the sun and say aloud:
“I have no money, no wealth, nothing appropriate for śrāddha. I offer my Pitṛ Devatās a single namaskāra. May they be satisfied. I hold out my hands on the path of the wind.”
Amāvāsyā, the special day of the Pitṛs
Brahmā declared Amāvāsyā (the new moon) to be the special day of the Pitṛs. On this day the descendant offers water with sesame seeds (nuvvulu kalasina nīru in Telugu). This one offering gives the Pitṛs satisfaction for a thousand years.
The best times for śrāddha
The Varāha Purāṇa names the lunar tithis and nakshatras that are most powerful for rites for the ancestors (Chapter 13).
| Nakshatra with Amāvāsyā | How long the Pitṛs are satisfied |
|---|---|
| Ārdrā, Viśākhā, Svāti | 8 years |
| Pushyamī, Maghā, Punarvasu | 12 years |
| Dhanishṭhā, Pūrvābhādra, Śatabhishā | Very rare, deva-durlabha (hard to get even for the devas) |
These Amāvāsyā dates carry special puṇya (merit):
- Māgha Kṛshṇa Amāvāsyā with Śatabhishā: very rare, with great puṇya.
- Māgha Kṛshṇa Amāvāsyā with Dhanishṭhā: 10,000 years of satisfaction.
- Māgha Kṛshṇa Amāvāsyā with Pūrvābhādra: the Pitṛs sleep in comfort for a whole yuga.
From preta to pitṛ: the Garuḍa Purāṇa teaching (Chapter 5)
The Dharma Khaṇḍa teaches that a person who has just died is not at once a pitṛ. The jīva (the living being) is a preta. A preta wanders, is building a body and suffers, until the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa rite joins it to the company of the pitṛs. To go from preta to pitṛ, these steps are needed:
- The ten-day sequence of daśagātra piṇḍa offerings, which builds the subtle body of the preta.
- The eleven-day śrāddha, which gives provisions for the journey on the Yama-mārga (the road of Yama).
- The twelve monthly śrāddhas, which sustain the preta through the journey of sixteen cities.
- The sapiṇḍīkaraṇa on the twelfth day (or at the one-year mark), in which the preta-piṇḍa is merged into the three pitṛ piṇḍas.
Only after sapiṇḍīkaraṇa does the departed one join the Pitṛ Devatās. They are the ancestors who receive the amāvāsyā tarpaṇa, the pitṛ-paksha śrāddha and all later offerings. Before that, the preta is in a middle state, neither fully living nor fully an ancestor. (Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 5)
The Dharma Khaṇḍa also teaches (Chapter 8) that the pitṛs feel deep satisfaction (tṛpti) when their descendants keep up śrāddha and śuddha-āhāra (pure food and conduct). When a family gives up śrāddha completely, the pitṛs fall from their loka. In the end they must be born again in human form, to seek their own moksha (liberation) through karma. So a person’s dead ancestors may be born again in the same family as younger relatives. They seek in new lives the moksha that they could not gain in the pitṛ state.
The teaching ends with the three debts (ṛṇa-traya) of a human being: to the devas (paid through yajña), to the ṛshis (paid through svādhyāya, study of the Veda) and to the pitṛs (paid through śrāddha and piṇḍa). All three must be honoured for a householder’s dharma to be fully discharged. The debt to the pitṛs is paid through faithful śrāddha over many generations. It is what makes the jīva‘s own moksha possible. Having met all its debts, the jīva is free to seek moksha, without the pull of ancestral duty left undone. (Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8)
Per Vāmana Purāṇa
The dharma of the Pitṛ Devatās
The maharshis of the Magadha forest taught the rākshasa king Sukeśī the dharma of the twelve classes of beings. For the Pitṛ Devatās they named four marks: brahmacarya (a life of restraint), amānitva (freedom from pride), firm devotion to the practice of yoga, and kāma-gamana, the power to go wherever they wish.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 11
From preta to pitṛ, and gifts for the pitṛs
Continuing their teaching to Sukeśī, the maharshis said that for the dead the ekoddishṭa rite is done according to the vidhi, and at the end of the year the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa. Once the departed one is freed from the state of a preta and has become a pitṛ, the descendant should perform the rites the Veda enjoins and offer him tarpaṇa. “O Rākshaseśvara! For the pitṛs to gain ever higher good states, one should make gifts such as cows and gold. Whatever things the pitṛs liked in their lifetime, if those very things are given in dāna (gift), the pitṛs gain imperishable worlds.”
The same teaching names those who fail the pitṛs. One who touches or speaks with those who revile the devas and pitṛs becomes pure again by looking at the Sun. The shaṇḍha is one who does not keep at their proper time the bath, japa, sandhyā, homa, the rites to the devas and pitṛs, dāna and dharma; the apaviddha, “the one cast out”, is the wicked one who abandons the rites to the devas and pitṛs. Food is not to be taken from either. The vānaprastha who lives in the forest worships the pitṛs and the devatās.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 15
The son who saves the pitṛs
Teaching Sanatkumāra, Pitāmaha Brahmā names sixteen narakas and the pāpas that lead to each, and says that this whole group of pāpas is called the naraka named Put. To escape them, one should beget a son and be protected through him: a good son (satputra) is granted by divine grace, and that son frees the pitṛs from naraka. That is why a son is called putra, the one who saves from Put. Among the śesha-pāpas, the remaining pāpas that also lead to naraka, Brahmā then names being in debt to the devas, to the ṛshis, to the pitṛs and especially to men.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 35
The Agnishvāttas and Menā
When the devas, defeated by Mahishāsura, took refuge in Śrī Hari in Śvetadvīpa, he told them: “There are the pitṛdevatās called the Agnishvāttas. Their mind-born daughter (mānasa-putrī) is the maiden Menā.” On the holy Mahātithi, he said, they should worship her with śraddhā and bhakti, so that she would marry Himavān; from her womb the Devī who had given up her body born of Daksha would be born again as Pārvatī, and Pārvatī’s son, bearing a share of Śaṅkara’s tejas, would slay Mahisha with all his followers. “So go, all of you, to Kurukshetra, which gives great fruit, and at the Pṛthūdaka tīrtha, on the holy Mahātithi, worship the pitaras. If you wish to defeat all your enemies and live in happiness, do this. There is no other way.”
Bhagavān Vishṇu told them which tithi this was: the holy tithi on which Sūrya, Candra and Bṛhaspati are together in the Mṛgaśira nakshatra is called akshaya, imperishable. “Go there, to the bank of the ancient Sarasvatī, perform śrāddha with bhakti, and worship the pitaras.” The devas, with Indra at their head, went to Pṛthūdaka and bathed. Sūrya and Candra had already entered Mṛgaśira, and the devas prayed to Bṛhaspati to enter it too and make the tithi holy. Bṛhaspati asked for the lordship of that year; the devas agreed, and he entered Mṛgaśira. Then, on the amāvāsyā (new moon) of Āshāḍha joined with the Mṛgaśira nakshatra, Devendra lovingly offered the pitaras in Kurukshetra piṇḍas made of sesame, honey and havishya food. Pleased with that offering, the Pitṛ Devatās gave their daughter Menā Devī in marriage to Himavān, and Himavān received her as the prasāda (gift of grace) of the devas. Menā bore the lord of the mountains three beautiful daughters.
When the Saptarshis came to ask for Kālī (Pārvatī) on behalf of Bhagavān Śiva, Menā said to Himavān: “It was for this holy alliance that the Pitṛ Devatās, honouring the wish, granted me this daughter. The son born to her from Tripurahara will slay the wicked asuras Mahisha and Tāraka.” At the wedding Himavān, with joined palms, gave his daughter to Śiva with these words: “O Deva! My daughter, the anna-pautrī of Pulaha, the dauhitrī of the Pitṛ Devatās, this maiden Kālī I give to you. Accept her and bless me.” Later, when Gajānana was born, Bhagavān Śiva bathed and performed with sacred mantras the pūjā of the devas and the pitṛs.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 22, 24, 26–28
The pitṛs and Bhagavān Vishṇu
In the Vishṇu Sārasvata stotra, which Sarasvatī Devī spoke through the tongue of a brāhmaṇa boy, Bhagavān Vishṇu is praised as the all-pervading Sanātana from whom the suras, the asuras, the pitṛ-gaṇas, the devas, the gandharvas, the yakshas and the rākshasas come forth. The same chapter tells of the lowest of kshatriyas, cruel by nature, who always hated and harmed the Pitṛ Devatās and the brāhmaṇas: when he died, he became a fearsome rākshasa and a man-eater.
When Kaśyapa and Aditi asked Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa to be born as Aditi’s son, he promised to destroy the devas’ enemies and once again to see that the havyas were given to the devas who share in the yajña and the kavyas (offerings for the ancestors) to the Pitṛ Devatās. In Aditi’s stotra she bows to Śrī Kṛshṇa, the first of all, Prajāpati, the supreme lord of the pitṛs, Devanātha.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 59; Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 6
The pitṛs of Bhārgava Rāma
At Rāmahrada in Kurukshetra, Bhārgava Rāma slew the kshatriyas and filled five lakes with their blood, and with those waters he gave tarpaṇa to his fathers and grandfathers. Then Rāma’s pitṛs, supremely pleased, said to him: “Rāma of great valour! We are pleased with your valour and with your bhakti towards the pitṛs. Ask what vara (blessing) you want. May good come to you.” Bhārgava Rāma raised his hands, bowed to the Pitṛ Devatās standing in the sky, and asked three things: that by their grace he might again gain the siddhi of tapas; that the pāpa that had come to him from slaying the kshatriyas in an excess of rage be destroyed; and that by their power the five lakes become famous as holy tīrthas.
His pitṛs, with joy, gave him abhaya (freedom from fear) with love and said: “Son! By your special pitṛ-bhakti your tapas will grow. The pāpa of slaying the kshatriyas that came upon you through anger has gone. Those kshatriyas were slain by their own evil deeds. Without doubt, these lakes you made will become tīrthas. Whoever plunges in these lakes and offers tarpaṇa to his pitṛs, his pitṛs will fulfil his desires, and he will gain eternal svarga.” Having given these varas, the Pitṛ Devatās vanished.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 14
Rites for the pitṛs at the tīrthas of Kurukshetra
The Saro Māhātmya names many places in Kurukshetra where the pitṛs are honoured, and what each gives:
| Tīrtha | The rite | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| Vishṇupada lake at the Jyeshṭhāśrama | śrāddha performed with niyama (rule) | imperishable fruit |
| Pushkara, made by Paraśurāma | the pūjā of the Pitṛ Devatās, who are worshipped there | a king who does it gains the fruit of an aśvamedha and is blessed |
| Rāmahrada, the five lakes of Bhārgava Rāma | plunging in the lakes and offering tarpaṇa to one’s pitṛs | the pitṛs fulfil one’s desires; eternal svarga |
| Kapila tīrtha | bathing and the pūjā of the devas and pitṛs | the fruit of giving a thousand kapilā (tawny) cows |
| Sūrya tīrtha | bathing, and, fasting, with a steady mind, the pūjā of the pitṛs and the devas | the fruit of the agnishṭoma; Sūryaloka |
| Sutīrthaka, the eternal dwelling of the devas and the pitṛs | the pūjā of the pitṛs and devas, and abhisheka | the fruit of an aśvamedha |
| The river Āpagā | śrāddha on its bank; tila-tarpaṇa; piṇḍa on the fourteenth of the dark half of Bhādrapada, at midday | all desires fulfilled; the pitṛs gain a good state for a hundred kalpas; moksha |
| Brahmodumbara | feeding a brāhmaṇa there for the pitṛs | the pitṛs, pleased with the gift, grant rare varas |
| Kapisthala | tarpaṇa, three ācamanas and a bow to Daṇḍi-deva; śrāddha on the fourteenth of the bright half of Caitra | the fruit of the pilgrimage to Kedāra; the supreme state |
| Iḍāspada | bathing and the pūjā of the devas and the pitṛ-gaṇas | one’s desires fulfilled; no evil state |
| Anyajanma | bathing and tarpaṇa to the pitṛs | Mahendra-jñāna |
| Phalakīvana, on the Dṛshadvatī | bathing and tarpaṇa to the devas and pitṛs; śrāddha on a Monday of the dark half; remembering the place with the whole heart | the fruit of the Agnishṭoma and Atirātra; the pitṛs satisfied as by a śrāddha at Gayā; one’s pitṛs fully satisfied |
| Pāṇikhāta | bathing and pitṛ-tarpaṇa | the fruit of a rājasūya; sāṅkhya and yoga accomplished |
| Madhuvaṭī, the Devī tīrtha | bathing, pure, and tarpaṇa to the devas and pitṛs | great siddhis by the Devī’s grace |
| Kulottāraṇa | serving the tīrtha | one’s maternal and paternal grandfathers and the rest cross over |
| Madhusrava | immersion and tarpaṇa to the pitṛs with honey | one crosses over |
| Ṛṇamocana | pilgrimage to the kshetra | freedom from the debts to the devas, the ṛshis and the pitṛs |
| Ojasa, the Kumārābhisheka tīrtha | śrāddha on the sixth of the bright half of Caitra; a bath on Caitra shashṭhī | the fruit of a śrāddha at Gayā and of a śrāddha at Sannihita in a solar eclipse; imperishable water for the pitṛs |
| The Sthāṇu liṅga and its vaṭa tree | śrāddha near the vaṭa and the liṅga; tarpaṇa; tarpaṇa with black sesame on the west side of the liṅga | the pitṛs give a fruit hard to obtain; every drop of the tarpaṇa water gives endless fruit; happiness for three yugas, and the pitṛs drink excellent water as long as the liṅga stands, to the end of the manvantara |
The Āpagā has a word from the Pitṛ Devatās themselves. They wait in hope, the Purāṇa says: “Will some one of our line, a son or a grandson, be born who will give us tila-tarpaṇa on the bank of that river, and so give us a good state for a hundred kalpas?” Of Ojasa, Vāyudeva said long ago that a śrāddha done there gives imperishable fruit.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 10, 13–16, 18, 20, 24
Honour of the pitṛs
When the Ātreya, Gautama, Kauśika and Āṅgirasa brāhmaṇas left Kurujāṅgala and went north from river to river, they bathed in the Vipāśā and worshipped the pitṛs there. And the phalaśruti of the Vāmana Purāṇa itself says that its reading gives the fruit that comes to those who worship the devas, Agni, the ṛshis, the brāhmaṇas and the Pitṛ Devatās.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 62, 69
Sources
- Varāha Purāṇa, Chapters 13, 34, 35
- Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Dharma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 5, 8
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 11, 15, 22, 24, 26–28, 35, 59, 62, 69
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 6, 10, 13–16, 18, 20, 24