Women CAN do Shraddha

It is time to blast the myth that women should not do Pinda Daan, says Acharya Upendraji Joshi of Antar Yog Foundation

- Shruti Pandit

For many years, women have been forbidden from performing the last rites for their dear ones. So much so that if a father of daughters passed away, the cousin brother or the husband of the daughter was asked to perform the rituals and the shraddha later on. Most claim that it is written in the scriptures that a woman should not visit cremation grounds or perform shraddha. However, when you ask them to prove it by quoting the scriptures, they go silent.

Acharya Upendra Ji, the founder and spiritual leader of Antar Yog Foundation, who organises a 15-day Pitru Rin Mukti discourse and the powerful Pitru Dosh Nivaran Vidhi every year, advocates women performing shraddha and other related rituals. "As mentioned in the Garud Puran and Vishnu Puran, women have the right to perform Pinda Daan and other shraddha rituals," he tells. "The Ramayan also mentions Mata Sita offering Pinda Daan for King Dasharatha. The practice has always existed where daughters, wives and daughters-in-law had the right to fulfil this spiritual duty with sincerity, thereby ensuring the well-being of the departed ancestors."

The universe is a creation of Prakruti/Shakti – the feminine. Legend says that Brahma, the creator, had to request Lord Shiv to separate Shakti from him to help him create the universe. The woman's power was essential for creation – and it always has been.