Tarpana

Tarpana

तर्पण, tarpaṇa

"satisfaction", "saturation",
from the root तृप्, tṛp – to saturate, satisfy, refresh, renew.

тарпана Tarpana is one of the important rituals of Hinduism, this is the offering of water through specific places on the palms, symbolically associated with the tirthas. In the scriptures it is mentioned that on our palms and phalanges of fingers there are holy places – tirthas, therefore the offered water during tarpana is poured from these places. For gods – through deva-tirthas, for sages – through kaya-tirthas, for ancestors – through pitri-tirthas.

On the days of equinox, when the sun passes from the southern hemisphere to the northern, on the days of amavasya, eclipse, as well as on the day of death or the anniversary of the death of an ancestor, black sesame seeds are added to the water. On all other days, you can simply bring water with the addition of rice grains or without them.

Tarpana can be performed at home, observing a certain position of the body relative to the cardinal points. When you make an offering of water to the gods, the face should be directed to the east, towards the rising sun; water is offered to the sages in the eastern and northern directions; ancestors – facing south, as the God of Death – Yama (Yamaraj) controls the southern direction.

First, the three dominant gods are worshiped – Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra. After the veneration of the triad of supreme deities, an offering of water for saintly people, sages and rishis is performed, followed by the deities as the guardians of the souls and souls of deceased ancestors. Ideally, in the tarpan ritual, water should be offered from gold, silver, copper, bronze, brass dishes or dishes made from an alloy of five panchaloha metals. However, if you do not have a vessel made of suitable material, you can use other rather than completely abandon the ritual.

The sacred texts also say that it is the duty of every person to offer water every day, without missing a beat, and it is believed that when a person begins to perform the regular tarpana ritual, this brings perfection and peace to his life.

Before performing tarpana, it is advisable to take a bath and put on clean clothes. Start by declaring your sankalpa (intention) from a comfortable cross-legged sitting position. Taking some rice (akshat) in your right hand, place your fist on your open left palm and say the mantra. Then pour the rice onto the ground in front of you:

om adya śubha dine śubha muhūrte devarṣipitṛprītyarthaṁ devarṣipitṛtarpaṇam yathāśakti kariṣye |

The first gods to be worshiped are the Deva Tarpana. Sitting facing east, place a vessel of water on your right palm and cover it with your left palm, recite a mantra, invoking the gods, rishis, sages into this vessel of water for consecration:

brahmāadayaḥ sūraḥ sarve ṛṣayaḥ kaśyapādayaḥ | āgaccantu mahābhāgā brahmāṇḍodaravartinaḥ ||

Then, while reciting the next mantra, pour water directly from the vessel onto the right palm so that it flows from the tips of four fingers (except for the thumb), or you can use a spoon for this. If you are doing tarpana standing in the river, then put your palms together, scoop up the water, raise them above your head. While reciting the mantra, pour the water through the fingertips of both hands:

Following, the rishis and sages are worshiped – Rishi Tarpana. Remaining facing east, offer water with the following mantra so that the water flows through the left side of the palm (between the wrist and the little finger):

For further veneration of the holy people, face north – Divya Manushya Tarpana.

Then sit facing south. Place some black sesame seeds in a bowl of water. While reciting the following mantras for Divya Pitri Tarpana, Yama Tarpana and Pitri Tarpana, pour water through the right side of the palm at the base of the thumb: When performing Divya Pitri Tarpana, water is sacrificed to the deities of fire, water, the god of death – Yama and Aryaman (Aditya) as the ruler of souls. Pour water through the mentioned area in the palm of your hand after each mantra separated by a number.

om agniḥ tṛpyatām idaṁ salilaṁ jalaṁ tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 1 || tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 2 || tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 3 || om somaḥ tṛpyatām idaṁ salilaṁ jalaṁ tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 1 || tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 2 || tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 3 || om yamaḥ tṛpyatām idaṁ salilaṁ jalaṁ tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 1 || tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 2 || tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 3 || om aryamā tṛpyatām idaṁ salilaṁ jalaṁ tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 1 || tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 2 || tasmai svadhā namaḥ || 3 ||

The following mantras honor those who perished from fire, water and souls who have just left their bodies.

om agniṣu āttāḥ pitaraḥ tṛpyantām idaṁ salilaṁ jalaṁ tebhyaḥ svadhā namaḥ || 1 || tebhyaḥ svadhā namaḥ || 2 || tebhyaḥ svadhā namaḥ || 3 || om somapāḥ pitaraḥ tṛpyantām idaṁ salilaṁ jalaṁ tebhyaḥ svadhā namaḥ || 1 || tebhyaḥ svadhā namaḥ || 2 || tebhyaḥ svadhā namaḥ || 3 || om barhiṣadaḥ pitaraḥ tṛpyantām idaṁ salilaṁ jalaṁ tebhyaḥ svadhā namaḥ || 1 || tebhyaḥ svadhā namaḥ || 2 || tebhyaḥ svadhā namaḥ || 3 ||

Yama Tarpana – offer water to Lord Yama, the guardian of dharma, peace and immortality, every time you say:

Pitri Tarpana – sacrifice of water to all ancestors:

om āgaccantu me pitaraḥ imaṁ gṛhṇantu jalāñjalim |

Pitri tarpana ritual is performed to honor various categories of deceased ancestors and can be performed both for one specific person and for several people, on the paternal and maternal side. For this, there are many different mantras separately for men and women, with the pronunciation of specific names or just a general one, for people with whom there was a special karmic connection.