it is said that one who who does tharpanam or other pithru karyams is not allowed to eat a meal with rice or any rice made bath that night but only palahaaram. why this is? When idly or upppuma [rice based] is approved why not rice itself. Or One is not supposed to eat any cooked items that night except fruits or avul like items only but that got slowly diluted...
Can any explain this from sastric point of view?
Dear Shri Sundaram,
The procedure followed for Sraddha, Tarpana etc., has a long and tortuous history. So what holds good as per one manual may not be correct as per another.
According to Smritimuktaaphalam which is considered as the authority in our community, the following is the rule to be followed by the karta of a Sraddha on that day:
punarbhOjanam adhvAnam yAnam AyAsa maithunE |
srAddhakr^t SrAddhabhuk caiva sarvam Etad vivrjayEt || (Matsya PurANa)
dantadhAvana tAmbUlam kshourAbhyangam abhOjanam |
ratyoushadha parAnnAni SrAddhakartA vivarjayEt || (Yama smriti)
Thus "punarbhOjanam" - eating again (after eating the SrAddha SEsham once) is prohibited as also all the other items enumerated above. This complete fast till the next day became impossible. So, different people have devised different ways to overcome the ban on "eating again". Short of the noon-meal (rice, sambar, rasam, curry and curd) they settle for everything else and are happy that legally there is no "punarbhOjanam"! This is applicable to Tarpanam also.
So, it is up to you to decide whether Upma, idli etc., will be as good as noon meals or different from it. The SAstras are clear; only one time meals and no food thereafter.
