67. Don't go hungry in heaven
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Today is Mahalaya Amavasya! Today we complete with the whole past, even with the people who are no more in the body. Today, completion is taken to the next level - even with your parents, grandparents, forefathers, who are no more alive in the body, we do Completion. This is the day all the pitrus (ancestors) are allowed to come to planet Earth, receive your pinda and shraarda offerings, bless everyone and go back. There is a wonderful story about Mahalaya Amavasya! I don't know whether it is in Vyasa's Mahabharata or any other version of Mahabharata, because we have around 2000 versions of Mahabharata and almost a million versions of Ramayana. I don't know the source of the story, but the story itself is a source of inspiration! When the story itself is a source of inspiration, you don't need to find the source of the story!
The story goes that when the great warrior Karna died and went to heaven, all the charity he had done during his lifetime was showered back on him.
He was showered with gold, silver
and land - but he got no food and
water, because he had forgotten to
do annadaan (feeding the needy)
when he was alive!
Then Dharmadeva, the god of
Death, said to him, 'Because you
are a great dharmi, a generous
giver, I will give you a chance.
Go back to earth and perform
annadaan and accumulate enough
punya (merit) to return to heaven!'
So Karna came back on this same day and stayed on planet Earth for fourteen days, performing annadaan, giving food to the needy. He accumulated the punya of annadaan, and when he returned to heaven, he got food and water there!
So at least on Mahalaya Amavasya, remember to give food and water to the needy, and to everyone. Feed the brahmanas, feed the sannyasis, feed the masters. Whatever annadaan you do during this whole period of fifteen days, that punya stays with you, especially after you leave the body.
