The best way to protect dharma is by living it. Dharma is not like money which one can protect by keeping it in a bank locker, the Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Math Jayendra Sarawathi has said.
He was delivering a benediction address on the occasion of the inauguration of the ‘Swargarohana Sthal’— a facility for the Brahmin community to conduct post-funeral rites-here on Sunday.
Each person should endeavour to protect dharma according to his means and capability. People spend a lot on marriages but are often reluctant to spend on post-death rituals. Everybody’s wish during a marriage is that the man and the woman live happily with their children. For this to happen it is important that rituals designed to propitiate one’s ancestors are done properly, the Shankaracharya pointed out.
Earlier, the Shankaracharya was received with a ‘Poorna Kumbham.’
In his inaugural address the CEO of Infosys Kris Gopalakrishnan said, it is very important in these times to create community-owned assets.
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The Rs. 30-lakh facility has rooms designed to allow users to perform various rituals. These include designated spaces to perform the ‘Aparakriya’ and the ‘Ekodhishta homam’, a ‘shraddham hall’ and kitchens to prepare the special food required during such occasions and lodging facilities for those who arrive to use the facility.
The chairman of the Swargarhohana Sthal Trust H. Krishnamoorthy told presspersons on Sunday that many Brahmin families are forced to truncate post-funeral rituals because of lack of space.
The new facility would allow such people to execute these rituals in the specified manner. “Those hailing from poor families would not be charged anything for using this facility. For others there would be a nominal charge, which is yet to be finalised,” he said.
The Swargarohana Sthal has a plinth area of close of 3,000 sq. ft. and is built on 9.3 cents of land. The first contribution for the construction of the facility came from the Shankaracharya himself.
The Kerala Brahmana Sabha, the Vaideeka Samrakshana Samithi and the Sree Sankara Charitable Trust were among those who made monetary contributions for constructing the facility, Mr. Krshnamoorthy added.
