છઠનું શ્રાદ્ધ

છઠનું શ્રાદ્ધ વિશે

મહત્ત્વ

Shashthi Shraddha is for those who died on a Shashthi, the sixth tithi, in either fortnight; there is no special category of the departed for this day. The Mahabharata’s tithi list (Anushasana Parva, Section 87) associates the sixth day with splendour, and the Brahma Purana’s list with being honoured by the world.

The Shashthi of this fortnight has one distinctive classical association, Kapila Shashthi. Dharma Sindhu describes Bhadrapada Krishna Shashthi falling on a Tuesday with Rohini nakshatra as a rare and highly meritorious combination, made still more so when the Sun is in Hasta, and lists Kapila Shashthi among the occasions for a Shraddha. The full combination is uncommon and does not occur every year.

તે કેવી રીતે અને ક્યાં ઊજવાય છે

Shashthi is one of the Nanda tithis (with Pratipada and Ekadashi), and Dharma Sindhu advises that a person who performs the Mahalaya only once, on a day other than the death tithi, should avoid these tithis, along with Chaturdashi and Fridays; the restriction does not apply when Shashthi is the parent’s own death tithi. Dharma Sindhu also allows Shashthi as a day from which a shortened Mahalaya may begin and continue to Amavasya.

વિધિઓ

For Shashthi ancestors the Shraddha follows the usual Mahalaya order: brahmana-bhojana, pinda-dana and tarpana, with food placed for the cow, crow and dog. In years of Kapila Shashthi, Dharma Sindhu also describes a Surya-vrata with a fast, worship of the Sun and the gift of a tawny (kapila) cow; this is rarely kept in full today, and most families simply perform the Shraddha for their Shashthi ancestors.

તારીખ કેવી રીતે નક્કી થાય છે

The date is Bhadrapada Krishna Shashthi (Amanta), or Ashvina Krishna Shashthi (Purnimanta), on the day Shashthi holds the afternoon Aparahna. This page gives the tithi date only; whether that day is also a Kapila Shashthi depends on the weekday, the Moon’s nakshatra and the Sun’s nakshatra, which can be checked in the daily Panchang for that date.

સ્રોતો

• Dharma Sindhu, Dwitiya Pariccheda, Bhadrapada: Mahalaya Paksha, Proshthapadi, Bharani, Magha-Trayodashi, Shastrahata Chaturdashi and Kapila Shashthi (English condensation: V.D.N. Rao, Essence of Dharma Sindhu, ch. 7)
• 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)

પ્રદેશ, સમુદાય અને પરિવાર મુજબ રિવાજો જુદા હોય છે; આ વર્ણન પૃષ્ઠભૂમિ માટે છે, આદેશ નથી. ઉપરની તારીખ આ પાના પર બતાવેલા નિયમથી ગણાઈ છે.