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Can Our Departed Ancestors Bless Us?

Recently I listened to a discourse by the eminent Vedic scholar Sri Dushyanth Sridhar. One point he made me stop and think.

What follows is simply the gist of what I understood from his talk. If I have misunderstood anything, the mistake is entirely mine.

According to him, after death a person either attains moksha or is reborn according to his or her karma. That made me ask myself a simple question.

If a person has attained moksha, he has become one with God. If he has been reborn, he is already living another life. If so, how do we understand the common belief that our departed parents and grandparents continue to bless and protect us? As I understood it, from a purely philosophical point of view, the answer is different from what many of us popularly believe.

At the same time, Hinduism places great importance on remembering and honouring our ancestors. Rituals such as Shraddha and Tarpanam are beautiful expressions of gratitude towards those who gave us life.

My Take: I am not qualified to comment on philosophy. I am only sharing a thought that came to my mind after listening to the discourse.

I have great admiration for people who are far more disciplined than I am. I know many who perform Tarpanam every month without fail, observe every annual ceremony meticulously and never miss the traditional rituals prescribed by our scriptures. Their dedication and sincerity deserve nothing but respect. As for me, I may not be as disciplined in ritual observance. But I have never stopped remembering my parents with gratitude.Even today, whenever I make an important decision, I often ask myself, "What would my father have advised?" In that sense, he still guides me.

Is that not also a blessing?

And here is a thought that brought a smile to my face.

Many of us lovingly say, "My father is watching over me." If the law of rebirth has already sent father back to earth, he may now be a little boy somewhere, worrying about his homework instead of worrying about me!

Whether we believe that our ancestors bless us from another world or that they continue to live through the values they have left behind, one thing remains the same.

Remembering them with love and gratitude can never be wrong.


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