[Advaita-l] QUESTION ON THARPANA&SRADHA

[Anand Hudli]

> Hare Krishna
>
> Kindly let me know more details about tripaada nakshatra and dhanishtA
paNchaka.  Why these stars called tripAda nakshatra when all starts have 4
pAda-s and why dhanishtA paNchaka is inauspicious.  Any Adhara / vivaraNa
in our dharma shAstra-s??  I know nakshatra names and dOsha-s etc. as we
can see these details in paNchAnga.  But I am interested in more detailed
explanation.  Kindly help.
>
> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
> bhaskar

As far as JyotiSha is concerned, all nakShatras have four pAdas, each 3
degrees and 20 minutes. It is just that some nakShatras are called tripAda
nakShatras. They are punarvasu, uttarAShADhA, kRttikA, uttarA
(uttaraphAlgunI), pUrvAbhAdrapadA, and vishAkhA. The dhaniShThA panchaka
consists of dhaniShThottarArdhamArabhya revatyantaM
sArdhanakShatracatuShTayam. This means it is four and half nakShatras,
beginning with the second half of dhaniShThA and ending with revatI, ie.
dhaniShThA second half, shatatArA, pUrvAbhAdrapadA, uttarAbhadrapadA, and
revatI. tatra dAhaniShedhAt- because cremating the dead body is prohibited
in the dhaniShThA panchaka, darbhamayaputtalaiH-  with (five) dolls made of
darbha grass, yavapiShTAnuliptaiH- smeared with wheat or barley
flour,panchorNasUtraveShTitaiH- wrapped with five kinds of wool, saha
shavaM dahet- one should cremate the body. (dharmasindhu). There is a
panchaka vidhi to be followed by placing the five dolls on different parts
of the body, worshipping them with the appropriate nakShatra mantras, and
also  offering Ahutis with ghee with certain mantras and then cremating
(burning) the body along with the dolls, after putting "pancharatnas" in
the mouth of the body being cremated. At the end of the sUtaka period, a
shAnti homa has to be performed. I remember this because when one of my
aunts passed away in one of the panchaka nakShatras, her sons had to follow
this requirement.

There is a similar procedure to be followed when death occurs in the
tripAda nakShatras, where there could be a dvipuShkara or tripuShkara yoga.
tripuShkara yoga happens when death occurs on a bhadrAtithi (dvitIyA,
Saptami, or dvAdashi) which is a Sunday, Tuesday, or Saturday, and in a
tripAdanakShatra. dvipuShkarayoga happens when death occurs on a Sunday,
Tuesday, or Saturday and in a dvipAda nakShatra, which is one of mRgashirA,
chitrA, and dhaniShThA.

Anand