Dwadashi Shraddha

About Dwadashi Shraddha

Significance

Dwadashi Shraddha is for those who died on a Dwadashi, and in many traditions it is also the day for ancestors who had taken sannyasa (yatis, ascetics). In Madhva and other South Indian practice it is called Yati Mahalaya or Sannyasi Mahalaya, and it is kept for a renunciant of the family even when his date of death is not known. Since in many traditions a sannyasi is not cremated and does not receive the usual monthly and annual Shraddhas, this Mahalaya day is often treated as an act of veneration (aradhana) rather than an ordinary Shraddha.

The Mahabharata’s tithi list (Anushasana Parva, Section 87) associates the twelfth day with objects of silver and gold, and the Brahma Purana’s list with victory; tradition offers these as encouragement, not as guaranteed results.

How and where it is observed

Families with a renunciant among their ancestors, such as a grandfather or great-uncle who took sannyasa, remember him on this day; other families keep it only for their Dwadashi deaths. Coming the day after Indira Ekadashi, Dwadashi is also the day on which those who fasted break the fast (parana) in the morning, before the afternoon Shraddha. Customs about the yati day differ by region and sampradaya; follow your family custom or purohit.

Rituals

For a householder ancestor who died on a Dwadashi, the rite is the regular Mahalaya Shraddha with brahmana-bhojana, pinda-dana and tarpana. For a sannyasi, many traditions place the emphasis elsewhere: honouring and feeding ascetics or brahmanas in his memory, often with worship of Vishnu, rather than the pinda-dana of a householder’s Shraddha. Shares for the cow, crow and dog are commonly set aside in either case.

How the date is fixed

The date is Bhadrapada Krishna Dwadashi (Amanta), which Purnimanta calendars call Ashvina Krishna Dwadashi, on the day Dwadashi holds the afternoon Aparahna. When Ekadashi is short, Dwadashi can already be running on the morning after the Ekadashi fast, or even by the afternoon of the Ekadashi Shraddha day; the afternoon rule still decides the Dwadashi Shraddha, independently of the fast and its parana.

Sources

• Madhva Mahalaya-paksha observances: Yati Mahalaya on Dwadashi (Madhwa Festivals)
• Dharma Sindhu, Tritiya Pariccheda, Shraddha-prakarana (English condensation: V.D.N. Rao, Essence of Dharma Sindhu, ch. 26)
• Mahabharata, Anushasana Parva, Section 87 (K.M. Ganguli translation): Bhishma on Shraddha and the result of each lunar day
• Brahma Purana, Shraddha-kalpa: tithi-wise list for the fortnight when the Sun is in Kanya (as summarised in Essence of Dharma Sindhu, ch. 7)

Customs differ between regions, communities and families; this description is background, not a prescription. The date above is calculated by the rule shown on this page.