Learn how to perform Tarpan step by step. Discover the complete method for Deva Tarpan, Rishi Tarpan, and Pitri Tarpan with Vedic rules and spiritual benefits.
You can copy this message using a computer or write it down for reference.
You may perform this ritual yourself or with the help of a priest (Acharya).
If you have difficulty reading Sanskrit, you can chant the mantras using Hindi pronunciation.
Example Mantra:
“Om Aryama na tripyatam idam tilodakam tasmai swadha namah… Om Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya.”
Meaning: “O Aryama, who is among the best of ancestors, please accept this offering of sesame water. O ancestors, I bow to you again and again. Please lead us from death toward immortality.”
What is Tarpan?
The ritual performed with devotion to offer water mixed with rice or sesame seeds to ancestors is called Tarpan. The act of honoring and nourishing the departed souls is part of Shraddha, a sacred ceremony performed especially during Pitru Paksha.
The importance of Shraddha is greater in northern and northeastern parts of India. It is known as Adi Amavasai in Tami
l Nadu, Karikada Vavubali in Kerala, and Pitru Pandharwada in Maharashtra.
Yajurveda Verse:
“O Fire! Just as our revered ancestors, who completed sacrifices, attained the heavenly realms after death, we too, by reciting these hymns and performing sacrifices with proper devotion, may reach the same divine realms.”
Types of Tarpan
Pitri Tarpan (for ancestors)
Manushya Tarpan (for spiritual humans)
Deva Tarpan (for deities)
Bhishma Tarpan (for Bhishma Pitamah)
Manushya-Pitri Tarpan (for known ancestors by name)
Yama Tarpan (for Yama, Lord of Death)
General Procedure of Tarpan
1. Sit facing East, place your right knee on the ground, wear the sacred thread (yajnopavita) over the left shoulder, tie your hair with the Gayatri mantra, apply tilak, and wear a ring made of kusa grass on the ring finger.
2. Hold kusa grass, barley, rice, and water, and recite the sankalpa (vow):
“Om Vishnave Namah… I, [Your name and Gotra], perform this Tarpan for the satisfaction of deities, sages, and ancestors for the blessings of Lord Vishnu.”
3. Pour the water onto the ground or into a clean plate.
4. Take three blades of kusa and recite the following mantra three times:
“Om Devatabhyaḥ Pitṛbhyaścha Mahayogibhya eva cha.
Namah Swahāyai Swadhāyai Nityam eva Namonamah.”
5. In one copper or silver vessel or plate, keep white sandal paste, barley, sesame seeds, rice, fragrant flowers, and tulsi leaves. In another vessel, fill clean water for offering.
6. Hold kusa, tulsi leaves, sandal paste, and rice in your right hand and cover it with your left hand, invoking the deities using this mantra:
“Om Vishvedevāḥ āgatā śṛṇutā ma im havam, edam varhiṇiṣīdat.”
(“O deities! Please come here, listen to our call, and be seated on this kusa seat.”)
7. Now, face East and perform Tarpan for the deities.
Take kusa, rice, sandal paste, and flowers in your right hand, and with each finger’s tip (Dev Tirtha), pour sesame and rice mixed water into another vessel, reciting the following mantras for the respective deities.
“Om Brahmas tṛpyatām. Om Vishnus tṛpyatām. Om Rudras tṛpyatām. Om Prajapatis tṛpyatām. Om Devas tṛpyantām…”
Continue this sequence including Vedas, sages, Purana teachers, Gandharvas, serpents, oceans, mountains, rivers, humans, spirits, birds, animals, and medicinal herbs.
2. Rishi Tarpan (Offering to Sages)
Recite and offer water to sages like:
“Om Marīchis tṛpyatām. Om Atris tṛpyatām. Om Aṅgiras tṛpyatām. Om Pulastyas tṛpyatām…”
Continue for sages such as Vashishta, Bhrigu, and Narada.
3.. Manushya Tarpan (Offering to Spiritual Humans)
Face North, wear the sacred thread in reverse form, sit straight, and recite each mantra twice while offering water mixed with barley, sandal, and flowers:
“Om Sanakas tṛpyatām – 2
Om Sanandanas tṛpyatām – 2…”
Include sages like Kapila and others.
4. Pitri Tarpan (Offering to Ancestors)
Remove the kusa ring from the ring finger and wear it on the index finger. Sit facing South, apply sesame seeds to the water, and using the Pitri Tirtha (between thumb and index finger), offer three handfuls of water to each ancestor:
Om Kavyavādanalas tṛpyatām, idam satilam jalam Gangajalam vā, tasmai swadha namah – 3”
Continue similarly for Soma, Yama, Aryama, Agnishvatta, Somapa, and Barhisad ancestors.
5. Yama Tarpan (Offering to Yama and Related Deities)
Recite and offer water three times to Yama and associated deities:
“Om Yamāya namah – 3
Om Dharmarājāya namah – 3
Om Mṛtyave namah – 3…”
Continue for all fourteen forms of Yama.
6. Manushya-Pitri Tarpan (Offering to Known Ancestors by Name)
Invoke your ancestors by name and offer water:
“Om Agacchantu me pitarā eva grahantu jalāñjalim.”
(“O ancestors, please arrive and accept this water offering.”)
Then, with name and gotra, offer three handfuls of water for each:
“Asmatpitā [name] Vasurūpastṛpyatām, idam satilam jalam Gangajalam vā tasmai swadha namah – 3”
Continue for father, grandfather, great-grandfather, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
Afterward, offer water nine times from the Pitri Tirtha.
7. Bhishma Tarpan (Offering to Bhishma Pitamah)
Facing South, hold kusa and offer water mixed with sesame seeds for Bhishma using this mantra:
“Vaiyāghrapadagotrāya Sāṅkritipravarāya ca,
Gaṅgāputrāya Bhīṣhmāya pradāsyaham tilodakam,
Aputrāya dadāmyetat salilaṃ Bhīṣhmavarmane.”
Arghya Daan (Offering Water with Respect)..
After finishing all Tarpan steps:
1. Perform Achamana (sipping clean water for purification) and Pranayama.
2. Wear the sacred thread properly, fill a vessel with clean water, and add sandal paste, rice, flowers, and tulsi leaves.
3. Draw a six-petaled lotus (ṣaḍdala) using sandal paste and invoke the deities Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Savitri, Mitra, Varuna, etc.
4. Offer arghya with this water using the mantras:
“Om Brahmane namah…”
“Om Vishnave namah…”
“Om Rudraya namah…”
“Om Savitre namah…”
“Om Mitraya namah…”
“Om Varunaya namah…”
Offer water to the Sun using the mantra:
Ehi Sūrya Sahasrāśo Tejo Rāśi Jagatpate,
Anukampaya māṃ bhaktyā Gṛhāṇāghrya Divākaraḥ.”
Raise hands and recite the Upasthana mantra:
“Citraṃ devānāṃ mudgādhanīkaṃ cakṣur Mitrasya Varuṇasya Agneḥ…”
Perform circumambulation and bow to all ten directions with the respective mantras.
Finally, recite and pour water using the following mantras:
“Om Brahmanai namah… Om Varunaya namah.”
Apply the water to your face and chant three times:
“Om Achyutāya namah.”
Conclusion
Offer the entire ritual to Lord Krishna:
“Om Tatsat Krishnarpanam astu.”
Important Notes
If performing the ritual in a river, join both hands, fill with water, lift it as high as the horns of a cow, and pour it back into the river.
Even if you are unable to pronounce the mantras perfectly, sincere devotion is what matters most.astroinsights.guru
