Purascharanam-

[Guest guest]

Respected shei shrinivasa!

 

Please allow me to add to your very informative post on this

interesting thread.

 

Purascharanam when literally translated means "preparatory rites."

 

i am now going to post here what i learned on this subject from a

Tantrik friend of mine who goes by the name of Aghorananda . shri

aghorananda has stated this whole procedure in very simple terms so

even a layman can understand...

 

please read on...

 

All mantras usually have a deity associated, something like

name and form. As name and form are identical so is

the mantra and the particular deity. To know which

mantra is best for one is very difficult, hence the help

of a Guru is necessary who knows the inherent nature

of both the deity and the shishya.

 

Now, even if one knows the proper mantra and the proper form to be

visualized alongwith the associated niyama(do's and don'ts),

even if one keeps repeating the mantra at any possible

moment, this will not be sufficient to attain mantra

siddhi(later on that).

 

For mantra siddhi, a specific process called puruahcharana is

followed.

 

The sadhak decides the no. of repetitions he can do in a

year and then calculate the number of repetitions for

each day by dividing equally(Here the year is a lunar

year, as in the Hindu system).You do this for the year

first. This is *JAPA.* Ten percent of the Japa is offered as

oblations ie as offerings into a homa fire. This is *HAVANA*

TEN percent of the oblations must be offered with water. This

is *TARPANA.*Ten percent of the nUMBER of tarpana

are then recited as you sprinkle water about yur body

in a particular way. This is *MARJANA.*Finally

ten percent of the above number is offered as

*BHOJANA*, gifts of food to Brahmins, children or little

girls depending on the deity being worshipped.( for eg.

Hanuman accepts bhojana offering through the mouths of

little boys, Maa Durga thru little girls)This

completes just one Purushcharana; in kaliyuga, it is said

that you need to do only three correct purushcharanas

to bring about the full effects of a mantra.

 

FOR EXAMPLE, for a mantra if the required number of recitation is

8,00,000 then the sadhaka has to do Purascharana by reciting the

Mantra 80,000 times. After this he does Tharpana for 1/10 th number

of times that he does of Purascharana. In the instant case for 8000

times. Also then he feeds the number of Brahmins 1/10

times that he does Tharpana that is 800 people.

 

Purascharana is different from simple Mantra Japa since it is

done after completing the recitation of the Mantra a

particular number of times. Generally it is done by Mantra

Ahoothi (offering) in a homam. (Altar of fire). You

repeat the Mantra and then offer oblations into the

fire. What is put in the fire will depend on what you

are seeking to achieve. Imagine this. If it

takes 1/2 a minute to recite the Mantra and offer the

oblation it will take 40000 minutes to do Purascharana.

Then the time for Tharpana. So it will take 50,000

minutes. About 800 hours. That is 33 days. Normally it

takes anything between 35 to 40 days to complete the

Purascharana. The fire has to be kept going for all these days

and the Sadhaka should take only the food which is

prescribed for this. Imagine sitting in front of the fire

for 35 days.<br><br>The procedures and rituals for

Purascharana depend on the Mantra and the school of Mantra one

belongs to.

 

Each segment of purushcharana relates to one of the elements.

JAPA purifies the Air and Ether element in you.HOMA, the fire

element.TARPANA, the water element.MARJANA, the earth

element.BHOJANA is your final offering to your deity, whom you

see in all the people you feed.<This makes purushcharana nothing but

BHOOTA-SHUDDHI(purification of the five great elements making up the

whole universe, manifesting in the body at the nodes or chakras)Bhoota

Shuddhi is the essence of Tantra !Purushcharana is

good for starters before graduating on to Panchamakara

.Now if one observes carefully, the

Shuddhi(purification) is taking from up to downwards ie

vishuddha-anahata down to muladhara. Why is this so ?For this

we have to know, what is Mantra Siddhi. When one

calls a particular deity with the help of a mantra,

which is nothing but that deity's name, one must have a

mental image of how HE or SHE looks like. Just what

a true bhakta desires to be one with his beloved,

so a tantric does very systematically. At first upon

being called persistently, the deity comes

occasionally, this is termed as TANMAYATA or togetherness.

Eventually the personality of the saadhak completely

dissolves, the consciousness of the deity and the saadhak

becomes one. This stage is called TADRUPTA. At this stage

there is "Mantra Chaitanya", when there is total union

of consciousness and the mantra. Every cell in the

body becomes a resonator of the mantra. The original

personality is totally effaced and only the deity

remains.THE END RESULT IS THE SAME FOR WHICH A SINCERE BHAKTA

ALSO PINES FOR !Coming back to the original

question, why up to down? Simple, here the sadhaka is not

trying to raise his kundalini but instead invoking a

fully awakened deity into the body, the path followed

naturally being from up to downwards. In these extreme

sadhanas, the questions of believing - not believing in

god, having implicit trust in god, wanting to have

darshan of god are left faaaar behind. You have to see a

sadhaka nearing Mantra Siddhi to believe it ! The

features, the voice, the behaviour become so similar to the

deity, that it appears very very odd. The focus is

intense. Pride is naturally non-existent.

 

but now the question arises do we really need Mntra siddhis? That is

another topic!

 

for those interested in knowing more on this i would recommend Arthur

avalon's translation of Mahanirvana Tantra!

 

Om shri gurave namaha!

Om sree lalthambikayaai namaha!

[Guest guest]

Dear Sir,

 

One Sanskrit book called "Purascharyarnavam" may be referred for this

purpose.

 

with regards,

nks