Guest guest Posted April 21, 2004 Report Share Posted April 21, 2004 As far as I know, There is no pre-condition to have Gayathri for other mantrams. Yes, Once you have Gayathri, No Mantram is effective unless nitya-karma of gayathri japam is completed. Without completion of that, All your other japams, including Srividya, is as fruitful as a wood without fire. Gayathri is for all dwijas. Not a property of brahmins. The practice of vedic rituals for non-brahmins have slowly been dis-continued due to the 'perceived non-shastric way' by non-brahmins over a period of time. Now that almost all brahmins are also 'chandaalas' as not performing nitya karmas, I think what our forefathers will do now? But, Coming to Gayathri, The present practice is so bad that almost all the upanayams which are conducted are without the sanction from sashtras. Upanayam is to be followed by four days of samitaa-daanam (preserving agni) at the same place where brahmopadesam is performed. No one does that. Everyone vacates the mandapam same evening. This makes the karma useless. Also, Many families perform upanayam without completing one year from the date of the demise of any other their close relatives (10 day daayadi - like grandmother for example). This has happened to various my friends' families also. I couldn't say anything except cry silently. Their reason for all this is that they have already fianlized the travel plans from US etc. and they can't stop the function because some old woman chose to leave us. How sad? The dates chosen for Upanayam is also very wrong. The sukra-moudyam (disappearance of sukra) is from May 6 for many months and yajurvedis shouldn't perform upanayam. But, Who listens? I have received many invitations during this moudyam period. These karmas are also useless. Similarly, coming May 2 upanayam is useless as grahanam is on May 4th before the dandi-neer function. Grahanam shouldn't come before 4 days. But, many upanayams are scheduled for May 2. They are all useless. I also read in Vaidikasri magazine (www.subhakariam.com) that the sacred thread is to be made by a brahmin chanting mantras in a particular way. All other threads worn by a brahmin is equal to the thread worn by a cow to tie itself (bodhayana maharshi). I still am fortunate to have my grandfather and some relatives in the village sending me the sacred thread. I also heard that think one Deekshithar in Sengalipuram (Kumbakonam district, Tamilnadu) does this noble cause. Gayathri seems to be either (a) Fashion to be sung or chanted by everyone (I have heard gayathri as a starting piped music at office ball-room receptions) or (b) a mandatory ritual for society purpose just to got over with. If it is not vaidika shastri, let the sastras be da..ned as they feel. How sad? Forgive me if I had got anything wrong. jayaraman ______________________ Message: 1 Tue, 20 Apr 2004 09:03:50 +0100 (BST) sudarshan balasubramanian <sudarshanbalasubramanian Gayatri mantram Sri Rama Jayam Namaskarams to all. I have been following the ongoing discussion regarding the Gayatri mantram. I read a mail by one of the members of the group that SriVidya Upasakas can say any mantram, be it Bala, Mruthyunjaya, and others. I have a doubt here. Does initiation into SriVidya Upasana require initiation into Gayatri mantram also? I am asking this because I've read that initiation into any mantram without being initiated into the Gayathri will not be of any value. If this is the case, then there are several women Sri Upasakis and also several upasakas that are not Brahmanas. Will they have been initiated into the Gayathri before getting the Sri upasana or won't they be? Is there any exemption for the women or the others to directly get the Sri Upasana without the Gayathri initiation? I request the knowledgeable people of this group to enlighten me regarding this. Regards, Sudarshan Iyer India Matrimony: Find your partner online. ______________________ ______________________ Message: 2 Tue, 20 Apr 2004 06:53:03 -0700 (PDT) "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari(DPDS-77) Namaste. Recall the Note about the organization of the 'Digest', from DPDS - 26 or the earlier ones. V. Krishnamurthy A Digest of Paramacharya's Discourses on Soundaryalahari - 77 (Digest of pp.1252-1259 of Deivathin Kural, 6th volume, 4th imprn.) Shloka #75 says further about the breast milk of ambaa. It generates, says the shloka, everything superlatively noble - like wisdom, compassion, beauty, knowledge, and the arts. "sArasvatam iva", meaning, everything for which Sarasvati is the source. They all flow like a flood from the heart - "hRdayataH payaH pArAvAraH". It was that milk of wisdom, Oh Mother, that you fed to that child of the Dramila country. And that child became a noted poet among great composers - "kavInAM prouDhAnAM ajani kamanIyaH kavayitA". "prouDha-kavi" means a poet rich with poetic talent. The feminine word "prouDhA" denotes a girl who has attained puberty. Just as the physical tejas attains maturity, a person whose poetic talent has attained perfection and maturity is called a "prouDha-kavi". Ironically, a "prouDha-kavi" is also prone to be proud! And in the poetry that flows from such a one there is likely to be a mischievous air of superiority. It may not appeal to the heart. But the milk of wisdom, which flows like a flood from this ocean of 'SArasvata', generates poetic inspiration that captivates the heart. By using the words "payaH pArAvAraH parivahati" - the milk ocean flows like a flood - the Acharya has added one more 'lahari', namely, the lahari of breast milk that represents all that is great in the Mother, to the various lahari's mentioned in Soundaryalahari -- cidAnanda-lahari, shRngAra-lahari, etc. When this 'kshhIra-lahari' (the flood of milk) is tasted by the dramila-shishu (Tamil child), the latter becomes a poet who composes captivating songs that make him distinguished among even 'prouDha' composers! Now who was this 'dramila-shishu'? The immediate feeling is that it should be the well-known Sambandar, also known as 'JnAna-sambandar' of the Tamil region, who flourished in the seventh century A.D. But the Acharya's time was in the sixth-fifth century B.C., approximately. [ Here the Paramacharya takes for granted his own elaborate thesis-like discussion on the date of Shankara, that runs to hundreds of pages, in his earlier discourses. These have been recorded by Ra. Ganapati in the 5th volume of his book 'Deivathin Kural'. So I am not able to enter into that topic here. VK] The story about the child JnAna-sambandar is that the Mother Goddess fed her breast milk to the three-year old child and the child burst into ecstatic singing glorifying Lord Shiva and Parvati. Commentators on Soundaryalahari opine that a similar incident did happen in the case of the Acharya himself when he was a child and therefore conclude that the 'dramila-shishu' refers to the Acharya himself! Instead of saying 'I have that experience' he is saying it in third person, in all modesty. But even here one can ask: How come the Acharya talks about his own poetic talent in such superlative terms? Is this in keeping with his well-known modesty? Well, the point to note here is that the matter is not about poetic talent. The significant point is the glory of the milk of wisdom that flows from ambaal. Actually the Acharya has talked about himself as 'the farthest of the lowly' (daviyAmsaM dInaM) in shloka #66. And the significance now is that even such a 'lowly' person has reached poetic heights of excellence by the divine milk of wisdom. On the correct interpretation of 'dramila-shishu' there have been controversies from very early times. Several commentators have debated this issue. No definite conclusion has been accepted by all. But let us not stay on that issue. What we need is not the correct meaning of 'dramila-shishu' but the truth that we should seek that wisdom that flows incessantly like milk from ambaal's grace! shrutInAM mUrdhAno dadhati tava yau shekharatayA mamApy-etau mAtaH shirasi dayayA dhehi caraNau / yayoH pAdyaM pAthaH pashu-pati-jaTA-jUTa-taTinI yayor-lAkshhA-lakshhmIH aruNa-hari-cUDAmaNi ruciH // 84 // mAtaH : Oh Mother, yau tava caraNau : Those feet of Yours (which) shrutInAM mUrdhAnaH : the crests of the vedas (namely, the Upanishads) dadhati : bear shekharatayA : as (their) head ornament, yayoH : for which (feet) pashu-pati-jaTA-JUTa-taTinI : the river (Ganga) in the matted locks of hair of Lord Shiva pAdyaM pAthaH : (become) the water-offerings at the feet, yayoH : for which (feet) aruNa-hari-cUDAmaNi-ruciH : the red brilliance of the diadem of Vishnu lAkshhA-lakshhmIH : (becomes the brilliance of red lac, dhehi : please condescend to keep etau : such feet mama shirasi api : on my head, too dayayA : out of compassion. The description of Mother Goddess from head to foot finally comes to the divine feet. The divine feet are requested to be placed on this devotees's (The Acharya's) head. This is a kind of 'Guru DikshhA' , that is, spiritual initiation by the Guru. But it is not openly said to be so. Because, such initiations always have to be guarded as secret. Kenopanishad details how the Mother Goddess appeared to the devas and gave spiritual initiation to Indra, their King. The words 'umA' 'haimavatI', 'strI' 'bahu-shobhamAnA' used in that narrative are the only instances where the Absolute is specifically mentioned as manifesting as Guru in the vedas. The deities 'Shiva' or 'Vishnu' are never mentioned in the Vedas in the capacity of Guru. The two times Shivam and Vishnu are mentioned are in Mandukyopanishad and Kathopanishad; but in both cases it is a state that is described and not a Person. It is therefore in the fitness of the wisdom of the vedas that the Acharya here describes the divine feet of ambaa as the head ornament of the Upanishads! The praise of the divine feet goes on for several shlokas. In shloka 88, the Acharya asks: Mother, How did thy Consort, Lord Shiva, with all His softness ("dayamAnena manasA") towards You, have the heart to place them with his hand on a hard granite grinding stone at the marriage rite? -- "upayamana-kAle, bAhubhyAm AdAya dRshhadi nyastaM". The word " upayamana" stands for a marriage ceremony. Just as 'upanayana' stands for the rite that initiates a boy into the spiritual path, by initiating him into the Gayatri, so also the 'upayamana' stands for the rite that initiates a girl into married life. In this rite the bridegroom places the feet of the bride on a granite pasting stone as a part of the rite. The Mother Goddess Herself is considered here by the Acharya as an ordinary bride going through the same marriage rite. The act of placing the feet on a granite stone attains a spiritual significance in the context of ambaal. For this we have to go to Shivaananda-lahari shloka #80 where the Acharya asks: "Oh Lord! Why are You dancing on this hard granite? On the auspicious day of Pradosha why can't You dance on a softer surface, in fact made up of flower offerings? Is it because you have anticipated that I will be born with a hard heart on this earth and You have to dwell and dance in that hard rock-like heart?" Taking cue from this we can now interpret this shloka #88 of Soundaryalahari as saying: "Oh Mother, the Lord is having compassion towards You and wants to train You to dance along with Him in the hard hearts of people of this earth. That is why He is placing Your soft feet on the hard granite as a preview for Your feet"! It is those divine feet of ambaaL that have to be meditated on by us for melting our hearts. There is no other way! Particularly it is our ego that stands solidly like a rock between us and mokshha. And that is why, for our sake, the Acharya has put in the words "mama api" in shloka #84. To be Continued Thus spake the Paramacharya PraNAms to all advaitins and devotees of Mother Goddess. profvk ===== Prof. V. Krishnamurthy My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/ You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site. Also see the webpages on Paramacharya's Soundaryalahari : http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/DPDS.html ______________________ ______________________ -- pradiipajvaalaabhirdivasakaraniiraajanavidhiH sudhaasuuteshcandropalajalalavairarghyaracanaa . svakiiyairambhobhiH salilanidhisauhityakaraNaM tvadiiyaabhirvaagbhistava janani vaacaaM stutiriyam.h www : http://www.ambaa.org/ Contact: help ------ ------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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