[Advaita-l] Chitrahuti

[Venkata sriram P]

Namaste,
 
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a. why the chitrahuti (during our bhojana vidhi) is generally / widely
observed during the day meals and not before the dinner ?
 
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There are 2 category of pitrudevatas.  One category is created by Prajapati Brahma and the other category is presided by vasu,rudra & aditya who are the mentors of our own forefathers ie., pita, pitamaha, prapitamaha (father, grandfather & great-grandfathers).
 
Among the 1st category fall:
 
anala, soma, yama, aryama, agniShvAtta, barhiShada & somapa.  
 
Again, each one have their own 7 sub-categories.  
 
These 7 x 7 = 49 pitru gaNAs are called "diva pitru gaNAs" who are sAsvata (eternal),
ie., till kapAnta.  
 
Yama falls under diva pitru gaNAs alongwith his attendants chitra & chitragupta.
 
So, during the mAdhyAnhna bhOjana, the kavya is offered to yama, chitra & chitragupta 
in the form of 3 morsels of rice.  These is a form of pitru pinDa pradAna to "divya pitrus".
And obviously, pitru-devatas are invoked in aparAnha kAla and that too only once.
 
And hence, they are not invoked during night at dinner.
 
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b. why chitrahuti is not given during a shradda bhojana ?
 
//
 
The shrAddha bhojana is the prasAda to our departed forefathers and it's adhikara to
partake that prasada is only to vasu, rudra, aditya in the form of our bhOktAs, and
nobody else.  
 
Even devatarchana, ghaNTa rAva at home & mahAnivedana to panchayatana is also
prohited during the shrAddha ceremony day.  The reason being, "THAT DAY IS 
EXCLUSIVELY FOR PITRU DEVATAS IE., OUR DEPARTED FORFATHERS who 
are in the form of vasu, rudra & adityas respectively.
 
regs,
sriram