Bheeshma Dwadashi

People, who consider Bhagavad Geeta and Mahabharata as sacred, give tila tarpana to Bheeshma that is why this day is called Bheeshma Dwadashi. People may even call this as Tila Dwadashi.
Today is the day when holy people perform homam with til. Today, bathing early in the morning and performing pooja to Maha Vishnu, at home, has its benefits. An early naivedyam is offered and food offered to at least 2 brahmins. Tthen only, we should partake of the food.
Being social workers, we get calls that people make big issues that they do not have a son. We know how it feels, thanks to Our Lady of Intolerance. Many times, people get taunted and sidelined because they do not have children. In the 21st century, we should not take this seriously.
The lesson that we get from this day is that Bheeshma, who was celebate, did not have any children – neither male nor female. Though he was among the wicked Kauravas, he was a good person. His good deeds had generated so much punya that he gets tila tarpana from so many people, to this day.
To be continued…