• Source:JND
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Historically, within Hindu traditions, there has been a belief system that women are not allowed to perform funeral rites and rituals like ‘Pind Daan’. Most Hindu families still prefer that only sons or heirs can do these funeral rituals for the family to clear pitra rin (ancestral debt). However, if you read the scriptures closely, you will get to know that these beliefs are far from reality. Let’s find out how intentions are above societal gender roles.

In the Garud Puran, specifically in the section Prethkand, Bhagwan Vishnu himself says that a son, grandson, or brother should do the last rites, but in their absence, women absolutely have the right to perform last rites, according to the Instagram spiritual Influencer, Hitesh Mahawar.

Mahawar further states that in the Markandeya Puran, it is said that the wife also has the utmost right to do the final rites for the husband. In case the wife is not present, then the daughters can also do these rituals. These references point out that women were never excluded from doing final rites. However, they were given this responsibility when required.

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The notion that women could not participate in these responsibilities was more of a societal construct than a religious one. All due to the generational practices, which almost always took place in a patriarchal way and led to the exclusion of women from religious duties. These perceptions are deeply ingrained within tradition and afterlife beliefs. These practices have no shastric significance but are just man-made limitations.

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The Sanatan Dharma is based on sincerity and faith, and those are more important than presumed gender roles. The religious texts support the role of women in conducting shraddh and last rites. It is high time to reconsider these rituals and give women their rightful position and change perspective, as the shastras also suggest on this side.