చతుర్దశి (ఘాత చతుర్దశి) శ్రాద్ధం

చతుర్దశి (ఘాత చతుర్దశి) శ్రాద్ధం గురించి

ప్రాముఖ్యత

The Chaturdashi of Pitru Paksha, called Ghata Chaturdashi or Shastrahata Chaturdashi, is set apart for those who died an untimely or violent death: by weapons, accident, poison, fire, drowning, snakebite, attack by animals and the like. Dharma Sindhu describes this Shastrahata Mahalaya Shraddha on Bhadrapada Krishna Chaturdashi, says it is offered as an ekoddishta rite with a single pinda for the person who died in that way, and adds that it does not replace that person’s regular annual Shraddha on the death tithi.

The restriction has an old basis. In the Mahabharata (Anushasana Parva, Section 87 in Ganguli’s translation) the fourteenth is the one lunar day left out of the commended days for Shraddha, with the warning that the performer’s family may lose its young men in war; the list ascribed to the Brahma Purana instead presents the Chaturdashi Shraddha as the one for those who died in battle.

ఎలా, ఎక్కడ జరుపుకుంటారు

Ancestors who died a natural death on a Chaturdashi are not given their Mahalaya Shraddha on this day; families perform it on another day, usually Sarva Pitru Amavasya. Those who died violently on any tithi may be remembered here, while their regular annual Shraddha stays on the tithi of death. Customs vary; follow your family tradition or purohit.

ఆచారాలు

The rite is offered with the same care as on the other days, with afternoon brahmana-bhojana, tarpana with sesame water and shares for the cow, dog and crow, but in the ekoddishta form: addressed to one person with a single pinda rather than to three generations. Some families also light lamps or offer prayers for the peace of those who died suddenly.

తేదీ ఎలా నిర్ణయించబడుతుంది

The date is Bhadrapada Krishna Chaturdashi (Amanta), the same as Ashvina Krishna Chaturdashi (Purnimanta), on the day Chaturdashi holds the afternoon Aparahna. Masik Shivaratri, which falls on this lunar date every month, is reckoned by midnight (Nishita) and can be a different date. Because Amavasya follows directly, a short Chaturdashi can occasionally share its date with Sarva Pitru Amavasya.

మూలాలు

• 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)
• 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, Shraddha-prakarana (English condensation: V.D.N. Rao, Essence of Dharma Sindhu, ch. 26)

ప్రాంతాలు, సమాజాలు మరియు కుటుంబాల మధ్య ఆచారాలు వేరుగా ఉంటాయి; ఈ వివరణ నేపథ్యం మాత్రమే, విధి కాదు. పైన ఉన్న తేదీ ఈ పేజీలో చూపిన నియమం ప్రకారం లెక్కించబడింది.