The Island of a Thousand Temples (8)
Merits of Honouring Ancestors

The Holy Book of ‘Manawa Dharmasastra’ (VI.35) tells us that it is illegal for someone to leave his or her worldly existence before settling his or her moral debts, or tri rina. Nobody can ever succeed in entering the heavenly domain before settling his or her sacred duty while living on earth. The tri rina moral debt includes (1) ‘Dewa Rina’ or debt to God, (2) ‘Resi Rina’ or debt to hermits, and (3) debt to ancestors or pitara.

Those people having debts to their ancestors would for instance count how much their ancestors have bequeathed them in favours and sacrifices. The five merits, known as panca wida, are:
1. Sang ametuaken (people who give birth to us).
2. Sang maweh binojana (those who feed us).
3. Sang matulung urip rikala- ning baya (those who save our souls from danger).
4. Sang mangupa dyaya (those educating us).
5. Sang anyangaskara (those making our souls sacred). These five swadharmas or sacred duties entitle our parents or ancestors to be called of bapa or father in the Hindu tradition in Bali, meaning that the parents or ancestors would provide protection to descendants.
Such are the yadnyas (sacrifices) made by parents to their descendants. According to the Veda holy script and other books interpreting it, Hindu adherents should honour their parents both while they are alive on earth and their post-mortal souls, cremated by the pitra yadnya rite.
In ‘Sarasamuscaya’ (250), it is said that those honouring their ancestors would earn four precious advantages formulated as (1) kirti, (2) bala, (3) ayusa, and (4) yasa.
Kirti means prosperity and fame. The word ‘famous’ (masyhur) differs slightly with the sense of ‘well-known’ (terkenal). It is because the word terkenal has both positive and negative connotations whereas masyhur has only a positive connotation related to good deeds. According to Hindu belief, those people who keenly honour their ancestors have the opportunity to achieve fame.
Bala means strength. Those who pay great attention to praying to their ancestors earn both physical and mental power meaning they will be strong in facing fortune and sorrow. The Bhagawad Gita (II.15) contains a phrase on the need of sama duhkha sukham dhiram (the balance of luck and sorrow in life).
Ayusa (long age) is not the same as old age. According to the ‘Sarasamuscaya’ writing, for human beings lacking dharma (truthfulness) during their worldly life, it is the same as being dead. Thus, if during our existence in the world, we spend most of our life performing good deeds, we see dirgha yusa or ayus in practice.
Continuously performing dharma as long as one is living on earth is a deed which would lead a person to gain the grade of ‘life without breathing’, capable of performing good deeds to such high quality that it becomes a source of living and life from generation to generation. Even if the person were in his after-death condition, his previous worldly life remains a superb example to further generations. Such a person deserves a nomination of dirgha yusa (non-breathing life). People, known as Resi (hermits) already being in non-physical existence, become today’s source of life and living. According to Hindu belief, such is the result achieved by people diligent in performing rituals to their ancestors.
Yasa (performance of good deeds) has become a target of expectation cultivated by everybody living in this world, i.e. to be capable of giving goodness to relatives, communities, nations, and states. Everybody has the opportunity to do good deeds but for Hindus, those having diligence in worshipping their ancestors find it easier to attain such an ideal.(By Ketut Wiana and Berata Ashrama, editor)