Posted on: 18 Apr 2023
(Divine Satsang On 15-04-2023: Shri Kunal Chatterjee, Smt. Suchandra Chatterjee, Ms. Noishadha Chatterjee from Mumbai, Prof. JSR Prasad, Ms. Thrylokya, Smt. Anita R, Ms. Bhanu Samykya, Mr. Abhiram, Mr. Hrushikesh and Prof. Annapurna attended this Satsanga and the flashes of spiritual knowledge radiated from Shri Datta Swami are given below in a condensed way.)
Shri Kunal Chatterjee asked: Regarding the rituals related to departed parents, are they to be done every year?
Swami Replied:- Even though you have done once, they are not related to your departed parents. The food given by you to a priest cannot reach your parents. The reason is that your departed parents are in energetic bodies and their food is the cosmic energy supplied to them by God. Hence, the food offered by you to priests has no connection with your departed parents. Then, why our tradition has introduced this offering of food to priests by telling a lie that the food offered is eaten by the departed parents? First of all, you must know that you are offering food to a deserving devoted human being so that it is a meritorious deed (Punya Karma) that yields good fruit for you. Therefore, your offering of the food to your departed parents is giving good result to you and your alive family only and the reason for you and your family in getting good fruit is not your departed parents, but the deserving receiver. Giving food, clothes and some dakshina (offering of money) to a deserving receiver is giving good fruit to you and your family. The scripture says that you are doing this ritual for your welfare only and not for the welfare of your departed parents. The scripture also says that if you are not doing the ritual, you will not get the extra welfare. The final essence is that the tradition is forcing you to do this ritual for your welfare only and not for the welfare of your departed parents. If the receiver of the food, etc., is not deserving, you will even get punishment because charity to an undeserving receiver is a sin. The tradition uses the name of your departed parents by telling that if you don’t do this ritual, your departed parents will suffer with hunger. This is also not a truth because the departed parents take energy only as food and not materialised food.
So, it is good to do this ritual every year, but you should get a deserving receiver so that you can get the good fruit for your family. If you have taken some property of the departed soul, then the departed soul also will get good fruit. The question here is that why should the tradition say a lie that if you don’t do this ritual, the departed soul will suffer with hunger? This is not wrong because by telling a lie, the tradition is forcing you to do a good deed of doing charity to a good receiver and that too for your welfare only. Therefore, you should not do charity in this ritual or any other ritual if you are not getting a deserving receiver. When you get a deserving receiver, even though that day is not the death date of the departed parent, you perform the ritual so that yourself and the departed soul get benefitted. Even though you perform this ritual on exactly the death date of your departed parents, if the receiver is not deserving, you and your family along with that departed soul receive punishment only. The Veda says two characteristics for a deserving receiver. One is the spiritual knowledge of the Veda and the other is not aspiring for the money of anybody in this world. Krishna did only one charity in His life, which is donating to Sudaama. Sudaama recognized Krishna as God and that is the true spiritual knowledge. He never aspired even one paisa from anybody in this world including God Krishna. Since Sudaama is the best deserving receiver, Krishna tried to sacrifice all His wealth to Sudaama.