Pitru loka

[sapsrikaanth]

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Hello all,
Please can you educate me on " PITRU LOKA " ?
1) Why it is called as " PITRU LOKA " ?
2) Who will be residing there ?

3) Matru Devo Bhava .......... ( Meaning Mother is God )
Pitru Devo Bhava ............ ( Meaning Father is God )
If so, then why the " Pitru Loka " is called as Pitru ( Father ) Loka ? If all our ancestors ( Father, Father's Father , Father's Grand father , Mother, Father's Mother, Father's Grand mother , Mother's Father, Mother's Grand Father, Mother's Great Grand Father, Mother's Mother , Mother's Grand mother , Mother's Great Grand mother ) will be residing there, then why it is called as " PITRU ( FATHER ) LOKA ?

4) Whether PITRU word is having several meanings ? one of them is FATHER & other meaning is " ANCESSTORS " ?
or whether both the words have different spelling & different meaning ?

sorry to ask these kind of questions . I do not know the meaning, hence I have raised this query .

thank u & kindest regards
Srikaanth

 

[sapsrikaanth]

Hello all ,
Very rare . very very rare . Very rare to see that this thread is not yet answered.
Please can anyone educate me ? Thanks in-advance.

thank u & kindest regards
Srikaanth

 

[Narendra KV]

Pitr is father [the r is the Sanskrit vowel]. Pitara is ancestors [use of ra consonant in Sanskrit]. People use the term interchangeably and that is grammatically incorrect.

In our normal understanding, we understand pitr to be our ancestors. That is partially right. Our ancestors are called Manushya Pitr in Garuda Purana.

Pitaru Devatas are a class of devatas, similar to Indras, Ganas etc. Padma Purana and Garuda Purana call them Deva Pitaraha. There are seven classes of Deva Pitaru. These are Vairaja, Agnishvatha, Bahrishadas, Somapa, Havishmana, Aiyapa and Manasas. The pitaru devatas manage the several heavens and hells that men are supposed to enjoy between one life and the next during our journey to moksha. The first three classes are formless and the next four have form. In our daily life [nitya karma], we pray to them by offering tarpana during Brahma Yagna. You can consider that the tarpana you offer during Brahma Yagna is a sort of your insurance post death.

You have been the guest of these Deva Pitaraha before and you will return to them after this brief sojourn. This is true of your ancestors and descendants also.

 

[sapsrikaanth]

Sir, Thanks for the detailed explanation.
1) Please can you write both the words " Pitr " & " Pitara " in SANSKRIT ?
2) I should call the " ancestor LOKA " as " Pitara LOKAM " & not as " PITR LOKAM " ? Is that correct ?
3) Why we were the guest to " Deva Pitaraha " & why we came down to this LOKAM ? is this going to repeat again & again ?

Thank u & kindest regards , Srikaanth

 

[Narendra KV]

पितृ [pitr] is father. पितर is ancestor.

It is referred to as pitrloka [पितृलोक] in 4 puranas, since the reference is mostly used referring to ancestor worship.

As per our tradition, an atman goes through 84 lakh rebirths on its way to moksha. Human birth is at the fag end of this cycle. It is actually a continuum. You are born on this earth for a specific purpose - you either achieve it or waste the lifetime and go back. You spend some time in one of the lokas, depending on your karma, before returning back to this earth. Death for us is not the end. It is beginning of a new [and hopefully better] life. This cycle happens till you are ready to attain moksha. Once you are ready for moksha, you wait till the end of the kalpa in Satya loka and then go to Vaikunta with Brahma [Garuda Purana].

Our nitya karma [Sandhyavandana, puja, Brahma Yagna, homa etc] are tools that will help us identify the purpose of our current existence and help us navigate through the cycle purposefully. Needless to say, important to start early and do the karma everyday of your life.

This is the basic philosophical difference between Sanathana Dharma [includes Dwaita, Adwaita and all other Vedanta philosophies; Baudha; Jaina etc] and Abrahamic religions.

In their view, there is only one life that is gifted by GOD to sinners. If you are a true Christian or Muslim, you will wait till day of judgement [end of kalpa] for GOD to decide to award you a heaven or hell. In our view, the final destination is moksha.

They have no clue, philosophically, why they are born or what is death or what happens beyond. Our puranas have no concept of heaven or hell [like in Abrahamic religions].

It is thus possible that your atma would have moved between life and pitrloka atleast 75 lakh times already and you would have been a guest there.

Krishnarpanamastu

 

[Narendra KV]

पितृ [pitr] is father. पितर is ancestor.

It is referred to as pitrloka [पितृलोक] in 4 puranas, since the reference is mostly used referring to ancestor worship.

As per our tradition, an atman goes through 84 lakh rebirths on its way to moksha. Human birth is at the fag end of this cycle. It is actually a continuum. You are born on this earth for a specific purpose - you either achieve it or waste the lifetime and go back. You spend some time in one of the lokas, depending on your karma, before returning back to this earth. Death for us is not the end. It is beginning of a new [and hopefully better] life. This cycle happens till you are ready to attain moksha. Once you are ready for moksha, you wait till the end of the kalpa in Satya loka and then go to Vaikunta with Brahma [Garuda Purana].

Our nitya karma [Sandhyavandana, puja, Brahma Yagna, homa etc] are tools that will help us identify the purpose of our current existence and help us navigate through the cycle purposefully. Needless to say, important to start early and do the karma everyday of your life.

This is the basic philosophical difference between Sanathana Dharma [includes Dwaita, Adwaita and all other Vedanta philosophies; Baudha; Jaina etc] and Abrahamic religions.

In their view, there is only one life that is gifted by GOD to sinners. If you are a true Christian or Muslim, you will wait till day of judgement [end of kalpa] for GOD to decide to award you a heaven or hell. In our view, the final destination is moksha.

They have no clue, philosophically, why they are born or what is death or what happens beyond. Our puranas have no concept of heaven or hell [like in Abrahamic religions].

It is thus possible that your atma would have moved between life and pitrloka atleast 75 lakh times already and you would have been a guest there.

Krishnarpanamastu

 

[sapsrikaanth]

Sir,
I quote your reply ....
" It is referred to as pitrloka [पितृलोक] in 4 puranas, .... "
So in Puranas also it is mentioned as PITRLOKA, am I correct ?
If so , then let me come back to square one / my first question .
Why this loka is called as PITRLOKA ? why it is not called as Pitara LOKA ?

Anyways, thanks for all other explanations, especially on the part of " 84 lakh times " ( I have never heard about this part of the concept here before. Thanks once again ) .

thank you & kindest regards, Srikaanth