Rameshwaram - Kashi - Prayagraj - Gaya Yatra (Part 5)

Day 6 - Gaya Shraddha

Gaya Shraddha (also known as Gaya Pind Daan) holds immense religious, spiritual, and cultural significance in Hinduism. Located in Bihar, India, the city of Gaya is considered the holiest destination (Moksha Puri) for performing ancestral rites (Shraddha). According to scriptures such as the Garuda Purana, Vayu Purana, and Mahabharata, performing Shraddha in Gaya frees the souls of ancestors from the cycle of rebirth and helps them attain ultimate liberation (Moksha). Gaya Shraddha also helps us fulfil / repay our debt to our ancestors (each of us are born with debt to Gods, Pitrus, Rishis etc. which are to be repaid in different ways) and to remove / reduce any Pitru dosha that may be affecting us.

While this can be performed by any of the sons / daughters, it is even performed by women for their departed husbands, parents, sons etc.using the help of vadhyars. Some people do Gaya shraddha multiple times (we heard of one person who does this annually) even though doing it once is sufficient.

Vishnupad temple, Gaya

Legend of Gayasura - The demon Gayasura performed intense penance, prompting Lord Vishnu to bless his body with pure sanctity. Anyone touching or offering rites over Gayasura's body would go straight to heaven. Lord Vishnu placed his foot on Gayasura to stabilize him, creating the sacred Vishnupad where part of the rituals are conducted as described below. The Vishnupad Temple at Gaya houses a 40 cm footprint of Lord Vishnu etched in basalt. Offering Pind Daan here is said to bring divine mercy and liberation for ancestors.

Our Day 6 started with morning bath and prayers in our room. We woke early as the day breaks early here (as in Kashi). By 5.30 am it was quite bright. At around 7.30, we moved along with a Vadhyar to the banks of the river Phalguni. There we had a washing of hands and feet from a tap water drawn from river Phalguni which flows under the river bed. Some people make shallow pits on the river banks to draw the water while others, like me, us the water that is pumped out. Legend has it that this river was cursed by Sita. The river flows with water only during monsoon - otherwise the water is below the river bed.

Rama, Sita & Lakshmana had come to Gaya to perform Pind Daan. When Rama & Lakshmana were away bathing in the river Phalguni, Raja Dasharatha's soul appeared in front of Sita and asked for the Pind daan. As rice was not available, she gave balls of sand as Pind. When the brothers returned, Sita told them about this. Rama had some doubt about this and Sita called five witnesses to corroborate her story - Phalguni river, a cow, local brahmin, Tulsi plant and a banyan tree (Akshay Vat). The first 4 witnesses denied the story (out of fear or greed) and only the Banyan tree confirmed it. The 4 who denied were cursed by Sita as follows - the river will only flow below the ground and not be visible, the cow would never be worshipped from the front side, the brahmins would always remain in poverty and remain greedy / unsatisfied, the Tulsi plant would never grow in Gaya. The Akshay Vat was blessed with immortality and Shraddha at Gaya would be incomplete without an offering under the tree and the ancestors will achieve Moksha when this is done.   

The dry river bed of Phalguni river

At the river bank, there was a Rama temple where we did our first set of Pinda danam. We did two rounds of Pinda danam. The first set was 17 in number and offerings were as described in the previous blog (part 1 of this yatra)

In the second set, we had to make 64 pindams. 17 goes to the usual list. 16 additional is offered to our mother who has undertaken so much of sacrifice (both pre & post natal) in our upbringing. The balance pindams are offered to specific individuals (relatives, friends, teachers, gurus, servants, pets etc.) who have obliged and served us / helped us in some form of or the other. It is essential to carry a list of such people (including names, gotras and relationship info.) and say their names etc. before offering the pindam.

The first set of 17 Pindams, which were earlier offered to our Pitrus, were collected in a container and fed to local cows to eat. Bulls do not eat this pindam but the cows eagerly ate it !!

Holy Vishnu Padam

The second set of 64 Pindams, which were earlier offered to mother and other deceased ancestors / Guru etc., were offered at the place where Vishnu Padam rests. It is believed that  Gayasura who gave his body for performing the rituals at Gaya is satisfied on receiving the Pindams.

We then returned to the Vadhyar's house and performed normal Shraddham etc. This included homam, tarpanam etc. This also included lunch for 3 brahmanas and danam like Veshti-Angavastram etc. In Gaya, it seems that even Bramhachaaris (bachelor Brahmins / students) are allowed to become bokhtas. We gave Rs. 100/- to each bhokta.

After this, we went by car to Akshay Vatam which is about 3-4 kms away. There we again did 64 pinda danam as described above. These pindams were then placed at the base of the Akshay Vatam tree. The significance of this is ritual is given above. Then we ritually gave up consumption of one leaf, one vegetable and one fruit of our choice. After this, we are not allowed to eat that particular leaf, vegetable or fruit for the rest of our lives.

After this we left Akshay Vatam. Here, the beggars are unusually aggressive in demanding alms. They physically pull you and try to grab whatever you have in your hand. One has to carry limited cash / coins to this place. All across in Gaya, we will come across people who ask for dakshina / alms. Everyone there expects you to give them something. Once you are seen to be giving, you will be in high demand as everyone will rush towards you like flies go towards honey.

Holy Akshay Vatam

We gave Rs. 300/- to Vadhyar (basically this was a compensation for use of room) and another Rs. 100/- to the vadhyar who came with us to Akshay Vatam. We also gave miscellaneous tips to various people totalling to about Rs. 250/- The overall vadhyar fees was about Rs. 4-5000 which was paid directly by Kashi Vadhyar and collected from us as part of the overall 'package'.

After this, we returned to the Vadhyar's house in Gaya and had Pitru sesham lunch.  We paid Rs. 200/- per person for lunch (3 vadhyars and 2 of us). We had to carry banana leaves from Kashi as it is not available in Gaya.

After this, we returned to Kashi by car and check into hotel Sunshine again. Later, in the evening, we did miscellaneous shopping. For dinner, we had tiffin from the local lady. This time she gave us thick soft dosas with sambhar & chutney. It was delicious as always. Then we had hot milk from a roadside vendor outside our hotel before retiring for the night.

To be concluded...