[Advaita-l] Pitru Rina and progeny

[Aditya Kumar]

Thank you Vidyashankarji for a clear answer. 
I understand that Desha, Kala and circumstance play a key role in what Dharma one has to follow. Considering this, I have a few more doubts : 
1) In the current scenario, there are a lot of mixed races. It is said that if varnas are mixed, the ancestors fall from heaven. What does this really mean? Because pitru loka cannot be eternal. Pitrus would probably move on to next loka? Also how can pitrus fall because of the fault of others (i.e, sons, grandsons...)2) In Kali Yuga does inter-caste/religion marriages matter? 3) If a woman decides to stay unmarried due to various reasons, does it have any bearing?
On a related matter, the same scenario may arise during shrAddha karmas. If no one performs the shrAddha kriya of their ancestors, will they starve for the rest of their time period? Again, how can pitrus be dependant on their progeny even after leaving this world? Does it mean that, the bonds between parents-children-family are eternal?
Pranam 

    On Tuesday, 20 June 2017 6:05 PM, Vidyasankar Sundaresan <svidyasankar at gmail.com> wrote:
 

 This issue is not at all irrelevant to this group, because it pertains to naishThika brahmacarya and brahmacaryASramAd eva saMnyAsa.
1. If a couple have a biological inability to conceive, the SAstra provides for various options, from adoption to niyoga, depending on deSa and kAla.
2. If only daughters are born, that is not a problem either. The maternal lineage is also given pitRtarpaNa, so if the daughters go on to have sons, the pitR RNa is still met that way. In addition, there is a special provision given in the dharmaSAstra texts, whereby the father of a bride gets an assurance from the prospective groom that the grandson would now belong to the maternal grandfather's gotra and would function as a son instead of a grandson, for all ritual karma. Such a grandson, formally agreed upon at the time of vivAha itself, is called a putrika. This practice is still being followed when necessary.
3. If someone has reason(s) to avoid getting married, there are allowances for that possibility too. The AcAra dictates that a qualified guru should give his blessing to this alternative. This is because the validity of the reasons cited by that person has to be examined and verified by a competent authority.
4. Not being able to fend for oneself, in times of war etc etc would all be covered under the category of Apaddharma. Again, the advice of a well qualified guru should be taken, because each situation will be different and there can be no one general solution to a host of specific problems.
Best regards,Vidyasankar     

On Jun 20, 2017 5:45 PM, "Aditya Kumar via Advaita-l" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

Namaste All,
Please delete this post if you feel it is irrelevant to this group. 
I understand that to be free from Pitru rina, one should procreate and bring forth progeny. For those that do not follow this rule, the doors of the upper worlds are closed, as per Shastras. The only exception to this rule is to those who take up sanyasa right after brahmacharya. Because sanyasins are considered as dead. But there seems to be a lot of exceptions. I request advice from learned members :
1) What if parents cannot conceive? Is surrogacy allowed in Vedas?2) What if parents have only female child?3) What if a man decides to spend his lifetime observing strict rules of brahmacharya (Like Bhishma)? Although, I don't think people generally would have a compelling reason like Bhishma to choose the Brahmacharya mode of life. 4) What if a person finds a lot of fault in Grihasta mode OR if a man cannot fend for himself save his dependants OR testing times like war torn nation or great misfortune?
Thanks 
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