Shraddha pata- Simple Commemorative Service for the departed souls:
SB 1.8.1 AFTER DEATH.

PRABHUPAD NECTAR 2. pg 107.FEAST AFTER 3 DAYS. (for a devotee)

SB 4.21.41. FEEDING VAISNAVAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YAJNA.

SB 3.20.43. FOR DEVOTEES NOT DONE.

SB 4.18.18.

SB 1.8.1. AFTER DEATH POUR POTS OF GANGES WATER FOR DEPARTED SOUL.

SB 7.14.23. NOT TO BE DONE ON EKADASI.

SB 7.8.44.

CC ANTYA 4.11.30.

PRABHUPADA LILAMRTA VOL6.pg310.

 

Usually around 13 the Shraddha pata for the departed souls is performed. In front of Srila Prabhupada set up what you need for the puja: Remember as this offering involves the offering of GRAINS, this should never be done on Ekadasi as all involved will go to Hell.(Sripad Jiva Goswami. SB 7:14:23.)

 

Sitting mat for you (facing north), and some sitting mats for the family (facing either east or the Deity.)

Low table.

Mahaprasad garland.

A plate of Maha prasadam (not just offered to guru – maha from the Deity) this must be grains - usually it is just boiled rice with ghee.

Acaman cup and spoon. Insence, lamp and flowers.

 

A picture of the deceased.

On the small table on which you can place a Kumbha (pot and cocnut), call Vishvakshena into pot.

 

Om Vishvakshena namah ahavami, sthapahami pujahami

Offer incense, lamp and flowers to Him.

(Offer to Vishvakshena to remove all obstacles, then the Deities, Then to Prabhupada then to the people – then send the flame around so that everyone may honour it – when it returns place it in front of the picture of the deceased so that they can partake of the maha-jyoti. (no-one else should now touch the flame least they take the deceased’s remnants)

Perform all normal Pratiprokshanas

Acaman (om keshavaya namah, om narayanaya namah, om madhavaya namah)

GET EVERYONE TO RECITE WORD BY WORD:--
 

OM ....APAVITRO PAVITRO VA, SARVA VASTHAM GATO 'PI VA

YAH SMARET PUNDARIK AKSAM, SA BAHYA ABHYANTAR SUCIH.

SRI VISNU, SRI VISNU, SRI VISNU. And give summary of translation.

"Whether one is purified or unpurified, or been through all manner of walks in life, if one remembers the lotus eyed Lord one is automatically purified both within and without."
 

Perform acaman:Om Keshavaya namah, Om Narayana namah, Om Madhavaya namah;

om tad visnoh paramam padam

sada pasyanti surayah

diviva caksur atatam
 

Om madhavo madhavo vaci

madhavo madhavo hrdi

smarantisadave sarve

sarva karashu madhavam
 

om krsno vai saccidananda ghanah

krsnah adi purusah krsnah purusottamah

krsnah ha u karmadi mulam

krsnah sa ha sarvaikaryah

krsnah kasam krt adisa mukha prabhu pujyah

krsno'nadis tasmin ajandantar bahye

yan mangalam tal labhate krti
 

 

Swasti Vacanam:

om asya karmanah punyaham bhavanto bruvantu

Let there be good fortune in this ceremony we are about to perform.

Three (or the rest) brahmanas should throw akshata or flower petals from their right hands saying:

om punyaham om punyaham om punyaham

Priest says:

om asya karmanah svasti bhavanto bruvantu ayusmate svasti

Let there be all prosperity in this ceremony we are about to perform.

Three (or the rest) brahmanas should throw akshata or flower petals from their right hands saying:

om svasti om svasti om svasti

Priest says:

om asya karmano rddhim bhavanto bruvantu

Let there be great praise in this ceremony we are about to perform.

Three (or the rest) brahmanas should throw akshata or flower petals from their right hands saying:

om rdhyatam om rdhyatam om rdhyatam

om svasti no govindah

svasti no acyutanantau

svasti no vasudevo visnur dadhatu

svasti no narayana naro vai

svasti na padmanabha purusottama dadhatu

svasti no visvakseno visvaresvarah

svasti no hrsikeso harir dadhatu

svasti no vainateyo harih

svasti no anjana suto hanur bhagavato dadhatu

svasti svasti sumangalaih keso mahan

sri krsna sac-cid ananda ganah sarvesvaresvaro dadhatu

On the last line, throw the remaining akshata or flower petals all around in a circular motion above the head, or throw over the right shoulder.
 

jaya sri krsna caitanya

prabhu nityananda

sri advaita gadadhara

srivasadi gaura-bhakta vrnda
 

hare krsna hare krsna

krsna krsna hare hare

hare rama hare rama

rama rama hare hare
 

Now untie your sikha, and let it hang loose, also for shraddhas move your brahmin thread from being over your left shoulder to being over your right shoulder.

SAMKALPAH;

harih om tat sat

govinda govinda govinda

adya .........……….......... gotrasya ...................…………....... pretasya durmarana nimittaka

shraddha pata purvanga bhutam, para loke maha trsa nivarana artham

vaisnavi suktaih visno tarpanam aham karisye

STATEMENT OF INTENT.

Now, as an ancilliary procedure to the shraddha pata rite, in order to quench the (spiritual) thirst of the deceased name ...........……………..... of the clan of ........………………....... I now offer libations with the various vaishnava (vaidic) hymns.

krsna krsna krpalo tvam agatinam gatir bhava

samsara arnava magnanam prasida purusottama

O Most merciful Lord Krsna who art the saviour of the helpless. Have mercy upon those who are drowning in this ocean of birth and death.

Sri Ishopanishad Mantra Seventeen

TEXT

väyur anilam amåtam
athedaà bhasmäntaà çaréram

oà krato smara kåtaà smara

krato smara kåtaà smara

SYNONYMS

väyuù—air of life; anilam—total reservoir of air; amåtam—indestructible; atha—now; idam—this; bhasmäntam—after being turned to ashes; çaréram—body; oà—O Lord; krato—O enjoyer of all sacrifices; smara—please remember; kåtam—all that has been done by me; smara—please remember; krato—O supreme beneficiary; smara—please remember; kåtam—all that I have done for You; smara—please remember.

TRANSLATION

“Let this temporary body be burnt to ashes, and let the air of life be merged with the totality of air. Now, O my Lord, please remember all my sacrifices, and because You are the ultimate beneficiary, please remember all that I have done for You.”

PURPORT

“The temporary material body is certainly a foreign dress. The Bhagavad-gétä (2.20) clearly says that after the destruction of the material body the living entity is not annihilated, nor does he lose his identity. The identity of the living entity is never impersonal or formless; on the contrary, it is the material dress that is formless and that takes a shape according to the form of the indestructible person. No living entity is originally formless, as is wrongly thought by those with a poor fund of knowledge. This mantra verifies the fact that the living entity exists after the annihilation of the material body.

In the material world, material nature displays wonderful workmanship by creating varieties of bodies for the living beings according to their propensities for sense gratification. The living entity who wants to taste stool is given a material body that is quite suitable for eating stool—that of a hog. Similarly, one who wants to eat the flesh and blood of other animals may be given a tiger’s body equipped with suitable teeth and claws. But the human being is not meant for eating flesh, nor does he have any desire to taste stool, even in the most aboriginal state. Human teeth are so made that they can chew and cut fruit and vegetables, although there are two canine teeth so that primitive humans can eat flesh if they so desire.

But in any case, the material bodies of all animals and men are foreign to the living entity. They change according to the living entity’s desire for sense gratification. In the cycle of evolution, the living entity changes bodies one after another. When the world was full of water, the living entity took an aquatic form. Then he passed to vegetable life, from vegetable life to worm life, from worm life to bird life, from bird life to animal life, and from animal life to the human form. The highest developed form is this human form when it is possessed of a full sense of spiritual knowledge. The highest development of one’s spiritual sense is described in this mantra: One should give up the material body, which will be turned to ashes, and allow the air of life to merge into the eternal reservoir of air. The living being’s activities are performed within the body through the movements of different kinds of air, known in summary as präëa-väyu. The yogés generally study how to control the airs of the body. The soul is supposed to rise from one circle of air to another until it rises to the brahma-randhra, the highest circle. From that point the perfect yogé can transfer himself to any planet he likes. The process is to give up one material body and then enter into another. But the highest perfection of such changes occurs only when the living entity is able to give up the material body altogether, as suggested in this mantra, and enter into the spiritual atmosphere, where he can develop a completely different type of body—a spiritual body, which never has to meet death or change.(A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad. Sri Ishopanishad mantra 17. Purport.)
 

Explain that it is much more important for the departed soul to receive the blessings of the Deity, the blessings of the Devotees, and the blessings of the Brahmins to help them on their way, than it is to perform the ritualistic offering of pindas. (SB 4.21.41. FEEDING VAISNAVAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YAJNA)

SAMKALPAH;

om adya ............................. gotrasya............................ pretasya prarloke maha ksudha nivarana artham visnu puja karmanah sangata siddhyartham sri maha visnu prityartham yatha sampanne yatha sankhyan brahmanan (eka brahmanam) bhojayisye tena sri mahavisnuh priyatam sri mahavisnu tarpana karmani nyuna atiriktam sarvam paripurnam astu
 

STATEMENT OF INTENT TO FEED THE BRAHMINS.

Om today in order the assuage the great hunger for sense gratification that the deceased .............…………..... of the ..............……………....... clan may be experiencing in an earth-bound state, and in order to complete this rite which is intended to slake the spiritual thirst, and in order to invoke the grace of the Supreme Lord, I undertake to feed .........……………............. brahmins. By this act of charity may the Supreme Lord be pleased and rectify all the faults and short-comings of these rites.
 

Ask them how many they will feed over the next three days.

Take the Maha-prasadam and place it in front of the picture of the deceased. Perform Grasa mudra and then prana-hutis:
 

Om pranaya swaha

Om apanaya swaha

Om vyanaya swaha

Om udanaya swaha

Om samanaya swaha

Om brahmane swaha

PURUSHA SUKTA can be chanted now.

Remove the maha-prasadam and give them a plastic bag to put it in. This may be given to a lower animal, such as a dog, or disposed of in the garden in the N.E. corner. IT SHOULD NOT BE EATEN BY A HUMAN, AND CERTAINLY NOT GIVEN TO A COW OR BULL.

SHANTI PRAKARANAM.

Harih om

saha na vavatu / saha nau bhunaktu /

saha viryankaravavahai / tejasvi navadhitamastu /
mavidvi sa vahai /

om shanti shanti shantih.

from sweteshwar upanishad.

SHANTI DANAM.

om dhyauh shanti

urvantariksham shanti

prithivis shanti

apaha shanti

vayuh shanti

tejah shanti

oshadhayah shanti

loka shanti

brahmana shanti

vaishnava shanti
 

shanti astu dhrtir astu, om shanti shanti shantih

harih om

jaya sri krsna caitanya

prabhu nityananda

sri advaita gadadhara

srivasadi gaura-bhakta vrnda

hare krsna hare krsna

krsna krsna hare hare

hare rama hare rama

rama rama hare hare

Ref:-Srimad Bhagavatam.8.23.31

"Whenever the activities of Vamandeva are described in the course of a ritualistic ceremony, whether the ceremony be performed to please the demigods, to please one's forefathers in the Pitrloka, or to celebrate a social event like a marriage, that ceremony should be understood to be extremely auspicious."

Srila Prabhupada's purport:

"There are three kinds of ceremonies -- specifically, ceremonies to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead or the Demigods, those performed for social celebrations like marriages and birthdays, and those meant to please the forefathers like the sraddha ceremony. In all these ceremonies, large amounts of money are spent for various activities, but here it is suggested that if along with this there is recitation of the wonderful activities of Vamanadeva, certainly the ceremony will be caried out successfully and will be free of all discreapancies."

Vamadev Gam in Krishna Yajurved / in anusthup:

om bhuh bhuvah svah

kaya nah citre abhuvat

uti sada vrdhah sakha

kaya sacisthaya vrta
 

 

om bhuh bhuvha svah

kah tva satyo madanam

mamnistho matsat andhasah

drdha cid aruse vasu
 

om bhuh bhuvah svah

a bhi yunah sakhinam

avita jaritrnam

satam bhavasi utaye
 

The Lord is worshippable. He is our helper, constantly expanding. He is our eternal friend. He displays this through his wonderful activites.

You are the worshippable absolute truth and the source of all pleasureable experience. Being strong, you break the opposition of the foes.
 

You are the protector of those who sing your praises. You are affectionate to those who accept you as a friend. Be with us a hundred times, to give us protection.
 

Samaveda: Harih Om

ka'5ya - nasca'3itra'3abhuvat // u-ti sadavrdhassa -kha-ou'3ho ha yi

-kaya'23sacayi// stayouho'3 - himma'2 // va '2rto'35 kayi //
 

ka'5 stva - satyo '3ma'3 danam // ma-histomatsadndha- sa ou'3-

hohayi - drda '23cida //rujouho'3 - himma'2 //va'2 ho'35 hayi //

a'5bhi- suna'3 ssa'3khinas // a-vitajarayiti - nam -ou'23hohayi -

sata'23mbhava // siyouho'3-himma '2 // ta '2yo'35 ha yi //

"The Lord is worshippable, He is our helper, constantly expanding and He is our mutual friend. He displays this through His wonderful activities.

You are the worshippable Absolute Truth and the source of all pleasurable experience. Being strong You break the opposition, the demon-like foes. You are the protector of those who constantly sing Your praises, and You are affectionate to those who accept You as a friend. Please be with us."
 

Dakshina should be given, some prasadam should be distributed, and Harinam Sankirtan.

Priest should later bathe, change cloth, re-tie sikha and change over brahmin thread back to the normal shoulder, and remember Lord Vishnu and recite one japa mala of Gayatri mantras (108 x om bhur ….etc) or some interesting dreams may be experienced.