Talk- Mahalayam or Pitru Paksha (M. Venkataraman)

Glimpses from Indian spirituality, mythology and way of life.

Mahalayam or Pitru Paksha

The period from 21stSeptember to 6th October of this year is one of the important one in the Hindu way of life. It is known as Mahalaya Paksha or Pitru Paksha. The Taitriya Upanishad says that the universe evolved out of Brahman, the ultimate reality. Although Brahman is a man’s innermost self, man is not conscious of it because the Self is hidden by various sheaths called koshas. These sheaths are five in number. The first is annamaya kosha – the outermost sheath which is gross physical sheath produced from food which we eat. Next is pranamaya kosha – the vital breath (prana) which pervades the physical sheath. Then the manomaya kosha – of the mind. Thereafter the vijnanamaya kosha – of the intellect or wisdom and lastly, the innermost ananda maya kosha – the sheet of bliss or Ananda.

An individual is considered to be composed of three bodies. The gross body (Karya sharira) is the first outermost sheath. The next three sheaths form the Sukshma Sharira and the final sheath is the causal body (Karana Sharira). The Sukshma sharira and the Karana sharira are subtle in nature. They contain all the vital functions and keep the gross body alive. After the death of a human being, the gross body dissolves into the gross elements of the earth, which are basically the earth, fire, water and air. The scriptures say that the subtle bodies still remain even after death and go to the subtle or ethereal realm along with the soul. In other words, our ancestors are living in a subtle form in another realm of this universe. This realm is called as Pitru Loka. The scriptures say that when the sun enters the zodiac sign of Virgo, these ancestors who are in their subtle form would leave this subtle and ethereal realm and come and reside in their descendants' homes on earth for a fortnight.

Since the elements like earth and water is absent from their body, the subtle body of the ancestors is not materially tangible. Those who have faith in the scriptures believe that the ancestors would come invisible to their houses. The scriptures advise us to offer oblations to them and propitiate them. Certain procedures have been prescribed in this regard. That is what the Hindus follow and do. The ceremonies performed indicate the love, affection and gratitude that the descendants have for their ancestors.

I have also published an audio book titled ‘Paradise comes to Mylapore’. Though primarily the book talks about the area of Mylapore in the city of Chennai in Tamilnadu, the story is based on Mahalayam. The link for this book is given below.

https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/VENKATARAMAN_M_Paradise_comes_to_Mylapore?id=AQAAAECc32uf5M

https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/485863452/Paradise-comes-to-Mylapore

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/paradise-comes-to-mylapore-1

https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/paradise-comes-to-mylapore-by-venkataraman-m

https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/paradise-comes-to-mylapore/489945

https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/id1542016343

https://www.nookaudiobooks.com/audiobook/1024788/Paradise-comes-to-Mylapore

https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781664959897

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