HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "Preta"

Word

Preta

Sanskrit

प्रेत

IAST

preta

In General

Once dead everybody is preta. This includes animals and birds. The part of subtle body of men which is having the unfulfilled desires constitutes preta. During the death ceremonies the preta is given the ritualistic offering. Dead are sometimes called as soul or atma; this is not proper and is very much against Hindu concept. The Soul or Atman according to Hindu concept is divine, eternal and same as Brahman.

Hindu traditions have the idea that the Atma which dwell in body doesn’t require any ceremony; the dead men are usually considered as Prata with many unfulfilled ambitions and thus require religious ceremonies. The body is part of nature and it gets dissolved into nature. The subtle body migrates to next life.

Read from Story section: The Death Ceremonies and their purpose

Veda

Vedas do not prescribe any ceremony for the dead though some of its verses were sung during funeral ceremonies

Purana

Garuda Purana gives lot of details about preta and negative forces

Related entries found !

Word Sanskrit IAST In General Veda Purana
Bhagavad Gita, Interpretations

Bhasya

Adi Sankara(AD 788-820)

Anandagiri(AD 13th C.)

Sredhara...

Read More