MahAlaya paksham

Sunday, 24 August 2014

MahAlaya paksham

MahAlaya Paksham commences in about 15 days from to-day. To be precise, MahAlaya Paksham commences this year on Tuesday the 9th of September, 2014 and lasts upto Sept 24. MahAlayaAmAvAsya falls on Sept.24. In this context it will be beneficial to remind ourselves of the following SAstraic provisions:-

1. Performing SrAdham during this  Paksham  is a must. If not feasible to perform with homam and feeding of brahmanas according to   pArvana VidhAnam,  it should be performed at least as  hiranya srAdham.
2.Throught the  Paksham, daily Tarpanam must be done, failing which one renders himself liable for Pitr sApam.
3.If SrAdham is performed on either one of  MahAbhrani, MadhyAshtami and VyatIpAtam it is meritorious. One gets the benefit of performing srAdham at Gaya. On chaturdasi, srAdham  is performed only for those who met with unnatural death.
4. Only during MahAlayapaksham, tarpanam is performed for  kArunika pitrs.  Now, who all can be called asKArunika Pitr?   Father`s elder and younger brother, one`s elder brother, younger brother, father`s sisters, maternal uncles, mother`s elder and younger sisters, their sons, one`s deceased wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, father`s sister`s husband, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, guru, teacher, master and friend are all eligible for Tarpanam.
5.If one performs SrAdham during the paksham as ahiranya srAdham in one year, there is no bar for him to perform full-fleged srAdham(PArvana vidhAna) during MahAlaya paksham  of subsequent years.
6.SrAdham should be performed with ShraddhA. When thepitrs are pleased they bless the  karta  with progeny, wealth, vamsavridhi, good health, knowledge, liberation etc. Those who do not perform SrAdham will get adverse effects. Curse(sApam) is a weapon in the hands of the pitr-s. One should strive for blessings from pitrs and should not render themselves eligible for curse from pitrs.