How does a person become a spirit after death and how many days does it take to reach the realm of Yama?

 After death, what happens? According to the Puranas, there is a distance of 86,000 yojanas between the realm of Yama and the realm of death, where the soul takes time to reach after death. But what happens during this journey? Let's find out.

 

Why is ancestral offering important? What happens if ancestral offerings are not made? How does ancestral offering create a body for the soul? What happens after death? How does one acquire a new body after death? How does a living being become a ghost after death, and what happens then? How long is the distance to Yama's realm? How many stages does a departed soul have to go through to reach Yama's realm?

 

When a person nears death and their senses become disturbed, when the conscious body becomes inert, at that time, the life force leaves the body and goes with the messengers of Yama. At that moment, the deceased gains divine sight, through which they see the entire world. When the life force gets stuck in the throat, at that time the form of that anxious person becomes terrifying and harsh. Some dying beings froth at the mouth, and some have their faces reddened with saliva. At that time, those beings with bad karma are seized by the messengers of Yama with their nooses. Those who have done good deeds are taken to the realm of heaven by the celestial beings with joy. The difficult path to the realm of Yama involves suffering for the sinful.

Yama, adorned with a conch, discus, and mace, assumes a four-armed form and behaves amicably with virtuous men who perform righteous deeds. He summons all sinners and rebukes them with his punishment. He roars like a storm cloud at the time of dissolution. His complexion is like that of Anjana Mountain. He rides a very large buffalo. Only those with great courage can focus on him. He is as swift as lightning. His body extends three yojanas. He is extremely wrathful and fearsome. Yama, with his terrible form, holds a rod of iron and a noose. Merely seeing his face and eyes generates fear in the minds of sinners. When this terrifying form of Yama is seen by sinners, a dead person, the size of a thumb, crying, is taken away by the messengers of Yama to the realm of Yama.

 

On the eleventh day, a proper funeral is performed at the appropriate place. Six offerings are made sequentially from the place of death onwards. The donation of these offerings is done successively at the place of death, the door, the crossroads, the resting place, the cremation ground, and the place of the ashes.

 

At the place where a person dies, a pind (offering) named 'Shav' is given. Giving this offering pleases the household deities and the deities presiding over the land and its ownership. At the door, another offering called 'Panth' is given. By giving this offering, the door deity is pleased. At the crossroads, an offering named 'Khechar' is given. By giving this offering, ghosts and other demonic beings do not obstruct. An offering made at the resting place is called 'Bhoot'. By giving this offering, demons, ogres, and yakshas do not make the dead body unsuitable for cremation. The offering made at the cremation ground leads to the creation of a ghost. According to some, the offering made at the cremation ground is called 'Sadak' and the scholars of ghost lore have referred to this funeral as the 'pret' offering. After the cremation, the third offering should be given at the cremation ground. After giving this offering, the deceased person becomes free from the faults of the body.

 

After this, a Vedic altar should be constructed for lighting the funeral pyre. The funeral rites should be performed meticulously by establishing fire and praying to the fire god with flowers and rice grains through the worship of the Agnidev with Pushp and Akshat.

 

After the cremation, the bones are collected at the same place. Then, the deceased's ashes are scattered, and an offering is made for the peace of the departed soul. After the cremation, the deceased person's sons, along with their clothes, are bathed. Then, they recite the name and lineage and offer sesame seeds. After that, all the people from the village or the district clap and sing praises to Vishnu and discuss the qualities of the deceased. Everyone comes to the deceased person's house and places cow dung and white mustard seeds in the southern part of the door. They meditate on Varuna Deva in their minds, consume neem leaves and ghee, and then go back to their respective homes.

 

Some people sprinkle milk at the cremation site. While giving water to the deceased, they should not cry. The deceased's relatives cry at that time, causing phlegm from their mouths and tears from their eyes, which the hungry ghost consumes. Therefore, they should not cry at that time; they should act according to their strength.

 

After the sun sets, from the day of cremation until three days, milk and water are offered in earthen pots outside the house or at a secluded crossroads. This is because after death, the ignorant soul, with a desire to obtain its body again, follows the messengers of Yama, visiting the crematorium, crossroads, and home before reaching the abode of Yama. Daily, offerings of rice balls and water should be made for ten days to the departed. Until the ten-day ritual is completed, it is necessary to increase the offerings of water each day. This ritual is expected to be performed by the son; in his absence, the wife should do it, and if she's not there, a disciple or a brother can perform it.

 

Water and rice ball offerings should be made for the deceased at the cremation ground or any other holy place. On the first day, offerings of vegetables, fruits, rice, or flour should be made, and the same offerings should be continued on subsequent days. For ten days, the relatives offer rice balls to the deceased. The rice balls offered are divided into four parts each day: two parts form the body of the deceased, the third part is taken by the messengers of Yama, and the fourth part is for the deceased to consume. In nine days and nights, the departed soul gains a new body. As the body forms, on the tenth day, the deceased develops intense hunger.

 

On the tenth day, rice balls should be made from the deceased's favorite edible items because after the formation of the body, the deceased experiences extreme hunger. Offering rice balls made from their favorite edible items helps satisfy their hunger better than offering other food items.

 

On the eleventh and twelfth days, the departed soul feeds. For both deceased males and females, the term "pret" should be uttered. Whatever is offered on these days—lamp, food, water, or clothing—should be offered using the term "Pret," as it brings joy to the deceased.

 

On the thirteenth day, wearing the rice-ball body, the troubled soul is brought by Yama's messengers onto the great path. The path for sinful souls is filled with cold, heat, sharp objects, animals that devour flesh, and fire. The path for virtuous souls is gentle in every way, with no discomfort. The path filled with suffering is so distressing that the troubled soul, tormented by hunger and thirst, is constantly harassed by Yama's messengers. Each day, the soul travels two hundred and fifty-one yojanas. Bound by Yama's nooses, wailing and lamenting, the troubled soul, leaving its home, travels day and night to reach the abode of Yama. Enjoying both pleasant and unpleasant experiences in famous cities along the way, it eventually reaches the abode of Yama. The famous cities along this path are: Yamyapur, Sauripur, Nagendrabhavan, Gandharvanagar, Shailagam, Kraunchapur, Krurapur, Vichitrabhavan, Bahvapad, Dukhad, Nanakrandanapur, Sutaptbhavan, Roudranagar, Payovarshan, Sheetadhy, and Bahudharma-Bheetibhavan.

 

The passage describes the journey of a departed soul through various realms after death, guided by the messengers of Yama, the god of death. The soul undergoes immense suffering and reflects on its past actions, realizing the consequences of its deeds. It encounters different cities and experiences the effects of rituals performed by its descendants.

 

The soul traverses through different cities named Yamypur, Sauripur, Nagendrabhavan, Shailagam, Kraunchpur, and Cruurpur, where it consumes offerings made during rituals performed by its descendants. The soul experiences both pleasure and pain along the way, haunted by memories of its past life and the consequences of its actions.

 

Eventually, the soul reaches Vichitrabhavan, where it encounters a multitude of people willing to help it cross the Vaitarani River, which symbolizes the transition between life and death. Those who have performed charitable acts, including donating to Brahmins, can cross the river with ease, while those who have not are doomed to sink in its waters.

 

Realizing the importance of charitable deeds and rituals performed for the welfare of departed souls, the protagonist regrets its negligence and seeks redemption by partaking in the rituals and donations offered by its descendants. Through this narrative, the passage emphasizes the significance of performing rituals and charitable acts for the welfare of departed souls and underscores the consequences of one's actions in the afterlife.

 

Afterward, the spirit travels at a speed of two hundred and forty kilometers day and night. Upon reaching the 'Bahvapad' realm in the seventh month, during the seventh-monthly ancestral rites, after consuming the offerings, in the eighth month, the spirit proceeds towards 'Dukhdapur' and 'Nanakrandanpur'. Witnessing the intense lamentation of the Nanakrandan devotees, the spirit himself becomes desolate and sorrowful, crying loudly. After consuming the ancestral offerings in the eighth month, the spirit becomes content. Leaving the city, he then proceeds to 'Taptapur'. Arriving at 'Sutapt Bhavan', the spirit partakes in the ninth-month ancestral rites, consuming the offerings made by his son and the Brahmin feast arranged. In the tenth month, he goes to 'Raudranagar' where he consumes the feast of the tenth-month ancestral rites before proceeding towards the 'Payovarshan' realm. Arriving there, he partakes in the feast of the eleventh-month ancestral rites.

 There, a torrential downpour of rain occurs, causing great distress to the spirit. Subsequently, moving forward, he becomes afflicted with extreme heat and thirst. In the twelfth month, he performs the rites as per what has been offered during the ancestral rites, expressing his sorrow. Following this, after spending some days annually or fifteen days after eleven months, he proceeds to 'Sheetayapur' where a chilling cold overwhelms the beings. Distressed by the cold, the spirit, filled with hope, begins to look in all directions, wondering if there's anyone who can relieve his suffering. At that moment, the messengers of Yama tell him, "Where is your merit that could help you in this suffering?" Hearing their words, the spirit exclaims, "Alas, fate!" Realizing that his accumulated merit is insufficient, the spirit internally contemplates in various ways and then gathers his courage again.

 

After that, extending forty-eight yojanas, he reaches the extremely beautiful 'Bahudharmabhiti Pur', adorned with Gandharvas and Apsaras, where eighty-four lakh animate and inanimate beings reside. In this realm, thirteen pratihaaras are sons of Lord Brahma, known as Shravan. They describe the merits and demerits of human actions, which are then relayed by Chitragupta and Yamaraja. They are capable of hearing and seeing everything from afar. These efforts are performed by Shravan, who travels between heaven, earth, and the underworld. They have separate, fierce wives named Shravani, whose powers match those of their husbands. They act as officials of the mortal world. Those who worship them with fasting, charity, and praise become recipients of gentle and blissful death.