Dwitiya Shraddha

About Dwitiya Shraddha

Significance

Dwitiya Shraddha, on the second tithi of the dark fortnight, is for ancestors who died on a Dwitiya, whether in the bright or the dark half of a month. The digests assign no special class of the departed to this day; it is simply the Mahalaya date for those whose death tithi was the second.

In the Mahabharata’s tithi-wise list (Anushasana Parva, Section 87, Ganguli’s translation) a Shraddha on the second lunar day is said to bring daughters, and the list ascribed to the Brahma Purana names cattle. Such statements record the merit that tradition attaches to the day; they are not promises.

How and where it is observed

Who performs the Shraddha matters as much as the date. Dharma Sindhu discusses the order of those entitled: first the son, and in his absence others such as a grandson, a daughter’s son, an adopted son, the husband or wife, a brother or other kin. In many families today daughters also perform the rites. Households that cannot keep every day of the fortnight often observe only the tithi of their own departed, so for many families the Dwitiya is their one Mahalaya day of the year.

Rituals

On the day the performer bathes, wears washed clothes and keeps the meal for the brahmanas simple and sattvic; many households avoid onion, garlic and certain pulses, and cook the food at home where possible. The brahmanas are fed, pindas of rice and sesame are placed on kusha grass, tarpana is given with sesame water, and food is put out for the cow, dog and crows before the family eats.

How the date is fixed

The date is Bhadrapada Krishna Dwitiya (Amanta), the same day as Ashvina Krishna Dwitiya (Purnimanta), on which the tithi holds the Aparahna. To see what that means in clock time: with sunrise at 6:00 and sunset at 18:00 the daytime is twelve hours, each fifth is 2 hours 24 minutes, and Aparahna runs from 13:12 to 15:36. Because sunrise and sunset change with place, the Aparahna, and occasionally the date, differ between cities; the date shown is for the place you have selected.

Sources

• 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)
• Dharma Sindhu, Tritiya Pariccheda, Uttarardha: who performs Shraddha; the daughter’s son’s Shraddha on Ashvina Shukla Pratipada (Essence of Dharma Sindhu, ch. 25)
• Nirnaya Sindhu, Shraddha-nirnaya: the Shraddha tithi decided by its presence in Aparahna

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.