Is ancestors visiting earth from Pitru Loka possible? How?
A devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“Please reply to my query. After death, gross body gets burnt to ashes. Subtle body seperates, Atma separates from Subtle body. Since Atma seperates, Subtle body doesn’t work. Until 12th day, it will be in state of preta, when Sapindikarnam ritual performed. Atma, along with the Subtle body lifts off to Pitru loka. Will they get another body in Pitru loka? Do Pitrus have power to visit earth to see their past relationships? At what stage they move to hell having committed sins and heaven for punya did.”
REPLY:
Yes, the ancestors visiting earth from Pitru Loka is possible.
Actually, Athma does not separate from Sukshma body (Subtle body) until it gets liberated or go back to the Godhead.
Until the Athma is packed inside the material elements Mind, Buddhi and Ahankar (false ego) exist as subtle body, it has to take rebirth.
When the Athma leaves the body, it goes packed by the subtle body made up of Mind, Intelligence and false ego.
Until this Athma is packed by this subtle body, it is said to be in a conditioned state that gives rebirth to it.
(What are the happenings after a soul is taken by Vishnu dhoothas? READ HERE!)
Only the gross body has gone.
When the athma gets rid of this sukshma body, that means, the athma has liberated from material bonding.
The cause for our material bondage is our Mind, buddhi and ahankar (Mind, Intelligence and Ego) only.
The travels to the Yama loka, Pitru loka, heavens, hells, even brahma loka are nothing but athma’s travels to the material planets only.
Liberated athma need not visit the Yama loka, Pitru loka, heavens, hells, even brahma loka, etc.
Liberated athma goes straight to the spiritual sky and attain mukti (salvation) or moksha (back to Godhead).
Let me come to your other questions:
You say that Athma leaves Sukshma body and hence the Sukshma body wanders as Preta.
(WHO BECOMES A GHOST AFTER DEATH? FULL LIST! READ HERE!)
Preta means dead body.
Dead bodies can’t move around.
So, Preta too has athma inside it.
Without athma, no one can move at all. Right?
So, Pretas, Ghosts -whatever it may be, are sukshma bodies wandering without gross bodies.
Since they died before the fixed deadline, they won’t be allowed to enter any other worlds.
If a person dies a natural death as per the fixed deadline, it is taken immediately to Yama loka to show that the person has been seaerated from his gross body.
Then Yama tells them to leave the Sukshma body back in the house of that person for 12 days. This happens within the fraction of seconds.
The athma packed by sukshma body lives in its house where he was living when he was alive.
(What are the happenings after death as per Srimad Bhagavatham? READ HERE!)
On 12th day, the regular pace of journey of that sukshma body starts towards Yamaloka.
This travel reaches Yama loka at the end of One full year after the death of that person.
To travel to Yamaloka and to attend the enquiries and to face heavens/ hells, the sukshma body is given a temporary body.
Then, Yama enquires the person and gives the judgement of a certain term in heavens and hells.
This person is given opportunity to choose which one to attend first – whether heavens or hells. Accordingly, he is taken to those worlds for a particular number of years/ months.
After finishing the token heaven and/or hell terms, the person is brought to the Pitru Loka, ie, the world of ancestors.
(GHOSTS & PITARS (ANCESTORS/ FOREFATHERS) IN PITRU LOKA & DIFFERENCES! READ HERE!)
This Pitru loka is the world for the persons in the waiting list till they get a suitable new birth and new body.
The term in Pitru loka depends on the availability of the suitable person on earth to whom he has to be made to take birth.
During this entire period, the person gets a temporary body.
When a suitable person on earth is found to beget this person as the son or daughter or trans, this new temporary body is taken out of him and he is left as sukshma body in the sky of earth.
When rain comes, the suskhma body falls on the earth, enters into a plant and that plant is eaten by a destined person.
Thus the sukshma body with the athma enters into the body of its new father.
When the father and his future mother mates, the “athma + Sukshma body package” takes rebirth.
This is the BIRTH-DEATH CYCLE that I have explained in a simple way.
(Soul entering the bodies – How, when and other related questions! READ HERE!)
I have given more details in the other posts in our site. Read them under the category “DEATH & BEYOND”.
During the stay in the Pitru Loka, the ancestors can’t visit the earth on normal days, but they are allowed to make a short tour to the earth during their Annual Thithi, Mahalaya Paksha period, etc.
They visit with their invisible bodies.
They can’t accept food as it is directly.
That is why, we offer rituals called Tharpana during annual thithi, Mahalaya paksha days, etc.
The brahmanas take the food on behalf of the deceased person. When they get satisfied, the visited ancestors also get satisfied as if they ate the food.
If the son does not do the rituals, they go back with disappointment that reflects as Pitru dosha in the next birth in our horoscopes.
Hope you are clear now about the ancestors visiting earth from Pitru Loka.
(PITRU DOSHA – CAUSES, EFFECTS, PARIHARS (REMEDIES) – FAQs! READ HERE!)