Pind Daan-Tarpan: Know the Difference Between Pind Daan and Tarpan | Read Here

Pind Daan and Tarpan

The Pitru Paksha period is dedicated to ancestors. During this period, there is a tradition of performing Pind Daan and Tarpan to please ancestors, seek their blessings, and free them from ancestral sins. Those who often mistake Pind Daan and Tarpan for the same thing or use the two terms as the same, but the scriptures describe significant differences in the method, ingredients, and religious purpose of these two rituals. Here, we will tell you the difference between Pind Daan and Tarpan.

What is Tarpan?

The word "Tarpan" means "to satisfy." As drinking water quenches the thirst of a person, similarly, the souls of ancestors are satisfied through Tarpan.

Ingredients

Pure water, Gangajal, raw milk, black sesame seeds, and Kusha grass in a copper vessel.

Method

Take water and black sesame seeds in the palm of your hand and pour it between your thumb and index finger. Tarpan is offered not only to the ancestors but also to satisfy the gods, sages, and all creatures of nature.

Time and Rules

Tarpan can be performed every morning after bathing or during the afternoon, during the Kutup period. No priest is required to perform the Tarpan, and the person can perform it themselves, facing south.

What is Pind Daan?

Pind Daan is made up of two words, Pind and Daan. When a person dies, their body decays, but their soul continues to live in its subtle form. The soul needs energy to travel to the ancestral world, satisfy their hunger and thirst, and attain salvation. Pinds made of cooked rice, barley flour, sesame seeds, and ghee are offered to the ancestors with mantras; the process is known as Pind Daan.

Ingredients

Round balls are made by mixing barley flour, cooked rice, sesame seeds, ghee, honey, milk, and milk-based mawa.

Procedure

Pinds are placed on Kusha grass while chanting mantras and offered to the ancestors after invoking them with rituals. Pind Daan is performed to feed dissatisfied ancestors, grant them salvation, and free them from the ghost world.

Rules

Pind Daan is a special ritual. This ritual should always be performed by a knowledgeable priest. It is considered favorable to perform Pind Daan at the Pishach Mukti Kund in Gaya, Kashi, or on the banks of a holy river.

Keep these things in mind.

• In Pitru Karma, Tarpan is performed first, followed by Pind Daan, and finally, Brahmin feast and Panchbali are offered.
• While performing both Pind Daan and Tarpan, one should always face towards the south.
• Whether it is Tarpan or Pind Daan, rituals performed without black sesame seeds are considered incomplete and fruitless.