Vedic deities

[Guest guest]

Sri Anantha Padmanabhan wrote:

> As discussed previously, we can meditate upon the form of

> gAyatri dEvi with nArAyaNA being the antaryAmi. Here, the

> jIvAtmA gAyatri dEvi residing inside that body is not

> concentrated upon => no anya dEvata worship is performed.

 

You are making the assumption here that "gAyatrI" actually

refers to a concrete deity (i.e., something with a jIva).

My feeling is that it does not. "gAyatrI" refers specifically

to the mantra which is to be used during japa, and which is

described as "chandasAm mAtA", the mother of all Vedic metres

or of the Vedas themselves, and the giver of all good.

With this in mind, it seems to me that the mantra which confers

all good is pictured as a goddess for the purposes of invitation

and meditation.

 

The content of the mantra is that the resplendent Parabrahman (savitur

devasya vareNyam) is the mover and shaker of all things, and in

particular our intellect. There is no need to concoct an awkward

explanation in which we bypass some mysterious "gAyatrI devI" and

meditate on the antaryAmi. Gayatri is merely symbolic of the mantra

which we invite into our hearts as we begin the japa. And the essence

of the Gayatri is Parabrahman Narayana, so gAyatrI is simply the

Parabrahman viewed as this sacred mantra.

 

Mani

[Guest guest]

Namo Narayana

 

Shri Anantha Padmanabhan wrote

------

It is established in vEdAnta that, as far as a

mumukshu/paramaikAntin is concerned, while he is either

adopting certain upAsana Or performing nitya - naimittika

karmAs, he has to perform the meditation/worship to only

SrIman nArAyaNA, with the required knowledge as discussed

above. Ofcourse, the option to perform exclusive worship

to anya dEvatAs in these circumstances is very much there -

It is adopted by those who are not paramaikAntins/mumukshus;

they will get certain fruit of that worship accoringly.

------

 

As mentioned above, ParamaikAntins/mumukshus do not pray (even)

to our lord seeking certain materialistic fruits. This being the case, in

our wedding ceremonies why is it that we ask our lord for so many things?

Should this be adopted even by a paramaikAntin/mumukshu?

 

I read the wedsite " The Vedic Wedding ceremony" by Shri Sadagopan swami.

This also mentions that during wedding we pray to Sriman Narayana manifested

in the form of anya devatas for different fruits like health, longevity,

prosperity, happiness ...

 

My question is should a prapanna who surrenders every thing to the lord and

accepts life as it is, chant these Veda mantras during marriage?

 

Sita Rama Jayam

Praveena nAmni Ramanuja dasi

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrI Lakshminrusimha ParabrahmaNE namaha

SrI Lakshminrusimha divya pAdukA sEvaka SrIvaNN-

SatakOpa SrI nArAyaNa yateendra mahAdESikAya namaha

 

Dear SrI Mani,

namO nArAyaNA.

 

 

Sri Mani Varadarajan wrote:

> Sri Anantha Padmanabhan wrote:

> > As discussed previously, we can meditate upon the form of

> > gAyatri dEvi with nArAyaNA being the antaryAmi. Here, the

> > jIvAtmA gAyatri dEvi residing inside that body is not

> > concentrated upon => no anya dEvata worship is performed.

>

> You are making the assumption here that "gAyatrI" actually

> refers to a concrete deity (i.e., something with a jIva).

> My feeling is that it does not. "gAyatrI" refers specifically

 

 

Our AchAryAs have declared that there does exist a dEvata

named "gAyatri" ie. a jIvAtma given the post of "gAyatri".

 

 

Sri Mani wrote :

> The content of the mantra is that the resplendent Parabrahman (savitur

> devasya vareNyam) is the mover and shaker of all things, and in

> particular our intellect. There is no need to concoct an awkward

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> explanation in which we bypass some mysterious "gAyatrI devI" and

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> meditate on the antaryAmi. Gayatri is merely symbolic of the mantra

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> which we invite into our hearts as we begin the japa. And the essence

> of the Gayatri is Parabrahman Narayana, so gAyatrI is simply the

> Parabrahman viewed as this sacred mantra.

>

 

Well, you may have some opinions of your own. But please go

through the commentries on the Ahnika granthAs before accusing

the explanations provided as "concoctions". adiyEn especially

mentioned in the beginning of the previous posting that, everything

stated were based on the kAlakshEbam. There is nothing

awkward in that explanation given by our pUrvAchAryAs. It was

crystal clear in the previous posting that, such a meditation

on SrIman nArAyaNA is perfectly in accordance with paramaikAntitvam

and infact it is sAstras which commands one to do so.

 

SrI U.Ve. KarunAkaran swAmi, under whom adiyEn learnt, clearly

told that "gAyatri dEvi" is a jIvAtma and the meditation during

the sandhyAvandanam is to SrIman nArAyaNA, the antaryAmi of

gAyatri, whose body is described in the slokas for each sandhya,

for the purpose of meditation.

 

In the Ahnikam commentry written by current Azhagiyasingar in His

pUrvAshramam, it is stated as follows :

 

< After gAyatri AvAhanam > :

 

" piRagu, indha gAyatri dEvatahikku mAnasikamAga sarvOpachArangaLaich

cheidu, archittu, thAmboolam mudivAga yAvatRaiyum manadinAlEyE

NivEdaNam seiyavum. IngallAm, gAyatri dEvataikku antaryAmiyAga

yemperumAnaiyE ArAdhippadAgak koLLa vEndum "

 

ie. " Then (after gAyatri AvAhanam), perform all the mAnasika

upachArams to the gAyatri dEvata ; perform archanai etc till

the NivEdaNam of thAmboolam - all of which are again mAnasika.

Here, it has to understood that the ArAdhana is for the

yemperumAn (SrIman nArAyaNA), who is the antaryAmi of the

gAyatri dEvatai ".

 

When PerumAL has given a post called "gAyatri", we are no one

to say that such a post doesn't exist.

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

ananthapadmanAbha dAsan

krishNArpaNam

[Guest guest]

Anand Karalapakkam <anand wrote:

>> You are making the assumption here that "gAyatrI" actually

>> refers to a concrete deity (i.e., something with a jIva).

>> My feeling is that it does not. "gAyatrI" refers specifically

>

>

> Our AchAryAs have declared that there does exist a dEvata

> named "gAyatri" ie. a jIvAtma given the post of "gAyatri".

 

[ ... ]

 

I'd like to know what dhyAna shloka tradition Srivaishnavas recite

after the kara and a.nga nyAsas before gAyatrI japam. For smArtas, it

goes muktAvidru ... and describes the form of gAyatrI. If it is the

same for Sri Vaishnavas, then Anands explanation would be the most

natural.

 

Rama

[Guest guest]

Sri Ramakrishnan wrote:

> Anand Karalapakkam <anand wrote:

> > Our AchAryAs have declared that there does exist a dEvata

> > named "gAyatri" ie. a jIvAtma given the post of "gAyatri".

> I'd like to know what dhyAna shloka tradition Srivaishnavas recite

> after the kara and a.nga nyAsas before gAyatrI japam. For smArtas, it

> goes muktAvidru ... and describes the form of gAyatrI. If it is the

> same for Sri Vaishnavas, then Anands explanation would be the most

> natural.

 

Anand is correct and I am wrong. The detailed sandhyA krama

for Sri Vaishnavas also includes the 'muktAvidru' sloka as part

of the gAyatrI dhyAnam.

 

By the way, this is recited before gAyatrI AvAhanam ('ayAtu varadA devi')

and consequently before anga-nyAsa and kara-nyAsa.

 

Another sloka is recited right after 'muktAvidru...'. It is

'arkamaNDala-madhyastham sUryakoTisamaprabham |

brahmAdi-sevyapAdAbjam naumi brahma ramAsakham ||'

 

Mani

[Guest guest]

Mani Varadarajan <mani wrote:

 

> Sri Ramakrishnan wrote:

>

> > Anand Karalapakkam <anand wrote:

> > > Our AchAryAs have declared that there does exist a dEvata

> > > named "gAyatri" ie. a jIvAtma given the post of "gAyatri".

>

> > I'd like to know what dhyAna shloka tradition Srivaishnavas recite

> > after the kara and a.nga nyAsas before gAyatrI japam. For smArtas,

it

> > goes muktAvidru ... and describes the form of gAyatrI. If it is

the

> > same for Sri Vaishnavas, then Anands explanation would be the most

> > natural.

>

> Anand is correct and I am wrong. The detailed sandhyA krama

> for Sri Vaishnavas also includes the 'muktAvidru' sloka as part

> of the gAyatrI dhyAnam.

>

> By the way, this is recited before gAyatrI AvAhanam ('ayAtu varadA

devi')

> and consequently before anga-nyAsa and kara-nyAsa.

>

> Another sloka is recited right after 'muktAvidru...'. It is

> 'arkamaNDala-madhyastham sUryakoTisamaprabham |

> brahmAdi-sevyapAdAbjam naumi brahma ramAsakham ||'

 

That is very interesting. I was taught the order karanyAsa,

a.nganyAsa, dhyAnam, kalpapUjA and then the following verse:

 

yo devaH savitA.asmAkaM dhiyo dharmAdhigocharAH |

prerayettasya yadgarbhastadvareNyamupAsmahe ||

 

_then_ do gAyatrI japa, then again only a.nganyAsa, with a small

modification at the end (bhUrbhuvaH suvaromiti digvimokaH instead of

digbandhaH, with the final mudra anticlockwise instead of clockwise).

 

I'd be interested in knowing what order Sri Vaishnavas follow. If you

don't mind, please also post which forms of devatas are invoked for

each nyAsa. Just the devatas would be sufficient, if you don't want to

post the entire mantra. Thanks.

 

Rama

[Guest guest]

Sri Ramakrishnan wrote:

> I'd be interested in knowing what order Sri Vaishnavas follow. If you

> don't mind, please also post which forms of devatas are invoked for

> each nyAsa. Just the devatas would be sufficient, if you don't want to

> post the entire mantra. Thanks.

 

Rama,

 

The following is taken from the Ahnika of Tirukkudandai Gopala

Desikan (18th century), who set a standard for Vaidika anushThAna

in the sampradAya. My sandhyA krama is nowhere near so detailed,

and what I reproduce below is taken purely from my understanding

of the text, so I apologize in advance for any errors.

 

After arghya-pradAnam and tarpaNam, the details for gAyatrI japa

are as follows.

 

1) Rshi-chandas-devatA nyAsa for the prANAyAma mantra --

praNava and vyAhRtis, then for gAyatrI, then for

gAyatrI-Siras (om Apo jyotIraso'mRtam brahma bhUr-bhuvas-suvar om)

 

2) bodily nyAsa (?) for the seven vyAhRtis

bhU: -- feet

bhuva: -- calves (jangha)

suva: -- knees

maha: -- thighs and belly button

jana: -- throat, heart, and abdomen

tapa: -- face

satyam -- top of the head (mastaka)

 

3) Meditation on some particular forms. They are not named, but from

the description, they are male forms, presumably of Narayana.

 

4) Now, first anga-nyAsa of just the gAyatrI (no vyAhRtis):

up to savituh -- jnAnAya hRdayAya nama:

vareNyam -- aiSvaryAya Sirase svAhA

up to devasya -- Saktyai SikhAyai vaushaT

dhImahi -- balAya kavacAya hum

up to yonah -- tejase netrAbhyAm vaushaT

last word -- vIryAya astrAya phaT

 

5) First part of gAyatrI dhyAnam -- muktA-vidruma...

 

6) vyApaka nyAsam using the gAyatrI-Siras

("SiromantreNa karAbhyAm Sira:prabhRti pAdAntam

vyApakanyAsam kRtvA...")

 

7) "arka maNdala-madhyastham" -- meditation on Narayana

within the orb of the sun

 

8) 3 prANAyAmas

(So far, most of us would have skipped steps 2-7)

 

9) sankalpa for japa

 

10) gAyatrI AvAhanam with "AyAtu varadA devi"

 

11) Now, further gAyatrI dhyAnam, with

the "prAtar dhyAyAmi gAyatrIm" sloka mentioned

earlier

 

12) Mentally offer the 16 upacAras to Gayatri Devi

using the praNava.

 

13) Now, *another* anga-bhUta-kara nyAsa, as a preliminary

for gAyatrI japa. This is for the three vyAhRtis and

the gAyatrI mantra itself.

 

a) First Rshi-chandas-devatA nyAsa

b) With the astra mantra, (vIrAya astrAya phaT) purification

of one's hands

c) vyApaka-nyAsa for gAyatrI

d) "praNavena prakoshThAntam karadvaye'pi talayoH pRshThayo:

paryAyeNa parAmRSya, karatalayoH praNavam nyasya" (?)

e) anga-nyAsa

 

14) Next, meditation on the meaning of the Gayatri itself, with

"yo devaH savitA'smAkam..."

 

15) Meditation on Narayana as described in a few slokas

 

16) Finally, the japa itself (whew!)

(most us would probably have skipped 11-13 and 15)

 

 

I thank God (I mean that literally) we prapannas do not depend on

our performance of sandhyAvandana for moksha!

 

Rama, would you care to tell us how this differs from the

smArta krama as taught to you?

 

Mani

[Guest guest]

Smt. Praveena asked a very good question, reproduced below.

 

She writes:

> As mentioned above, ParamaikAntins/mumukshus do not pray (even)

> to our lord seeking certain materialistic fruits. This being the case, in

> our wedding ceremonies why is it that we ask our lord for so many things?

> Should this be adopted even by a paramaikAntin/mumukshu?

> I read the wedsite " The Vedic Wedding ceremony" by Shri Sadagopan swami.

> This also mentions that during wedding we pray to Sriman Narayana manifested

> in the form of anya devatas for different fruits like health, longevity,

> prosperity, happiness ...

> My question is should a prapanna who surrenders every thing to the lord and

> accepts life as it is, chant these Veda mantras during marriage?

 

You are correct that the paramaikAnti does not ask for

any personal benefit. Nadadur Ammal, the great acharya

of the 13th century, writes that the prapanna should only

ask the Lord for wisdom (jnAna) and devotion (bhakti).

 

What then about our wedding tradition? My take on it is

that we take on this stage of life only to further bhagavat-

kainkaryam. Recall that the householder is the bedrock of

society, as traditionally only the married couple earns and

"makes the society go round". So, requests for health,

longevity, and prosperity, are only done to further one's

bhakti and jnAna, and consequently bhagavat-kainkaryam.

Can someone comfortably perform service if they have an

uncooperative spouse, or if they are sick, or if they are

constantly struggling to make ends meet? (Interesting

question given the past few posts!)

 

Mani

 

P.S. We do not worship Sriman Narayana manifested as

"anya devatAs" -- we worship Sriman Narayana. Period.

In such worship I feel we should not use the words

"anya devatA", since it the Lord alone we are addressing.

[Guest guest]

Mani Varadarajan <mani wrote:

> The following is taken from the Ahnika of Tirukkudandai Gopala

> Desikan (18th century), who set a standard for Vaidika anushThAna

> in the sampradAya. My sandhyA krama is nowhere near so detailed,

> and what I reproduce below is taken purely from my understanding

> of the text, so I apologize in advance for any errors.

>

> After arghya-pradAnam and tarpaNam, the details for gAyatrI japa

> are as follows.

 

[ details of Srivaishnava praxis deleted for brevity]

> I thank God (I mean that literally) we prapannas do not depend on

> our performance of sandhyAvandana for moksha!

>

> Rama, would you care to tell us how this differs from the

> smArta krama as taught to you?

 

Thanks for the information. I was taught the following:

 

After arghya and tarpaNam

 

1. Achamanam, shuklAmabaradaram, prANAyAma, sa.nkalpam

 

2. R^ishhi, chhandas, devata for praNava, ditto for saptavyAhR^itis,

etc (same as you mentioned)

 

3. 10 prANAyamas

 

4. R^ishhi, etc for ayAtu mantra

 

5. gAyatrI avAhanam with ayAtuvaradAdevI mantra

 

6. R^ishhi, chhandas, devata for the gAyatrI mantra

 

7. karannyAsa:

tatasavituH brahmAtmane a.ngushhTAbhyAm namah, vareNyam vishhNvAtmane

tarjanIbhyAma namaH, bhargodevasya rudrAtmane madhyamAbhyAm namah,

dhImahI IshvarAtmne anAmikAbhyAm namah, dhiyoyonah sadashivAtmne

kanishhiTikAbhyAm namah, prachodayAt sarvAtmane

karatala-kara-pR^ishhTakAbhyAm namah

 

8. a.ngannyAsa:

tatsavituh brahmAtmane hR^idayAya namah, .. shirase svAhA, ..

shikhAyai vashhaT, ... kavachAya hum, ... netratrayAya vaushhaT, ...

astrAya phaT (dots can be filled in from the karannyAsa part).

bhUrbuvasuvaromiti digbandah. The parts of the body where the nyAsas

are placed are the heart, head, shikha, shoulders, eyes and the space

between the eyes.

 

9. gAyatri dhyAnam with muktAvidru mantra

 

10. kalpa pUjA:

lam pR^thivyAtmane gandham kalpayAmi, ham AkAshAtmne pushhpam

kalpayAmi, yam vAyvAtmne dhUpam kalpayAmi, ram agnyAtmane dIpam

kalpayAmi, vam amR^itAtmane amR^itanaivedyam kalpayAmi, sam sarvAtmane

sarvopachAra pujAh samarpayAmi

 

11. dhyAnam with yodevaH savitA mantra

 

12. gAyatrI japam

 

13. Repeat a.nganAya and finish bhUrbhuvahsuvaromiti digvimokah,

gAyatrI dhyAnam and kalpa pUjA

 

Part of the a.nganYasa can be found in the mahAnArAyaNa upanishhat

(34-35). But it says: agnirmukham, brahmA shiro, vishhNur-hR^idayam,

rudrashshikhA. As you can see in our praxis, the devatas for hR^idaya

and shiras have been interchanged. agni does not even occur. I don't

know what original text (smR^iti) our order is from. The kalpa pUjA

uses the standard bIja mantras to invoke earth (lam), fire (ram), etc.

The a.nga and karannyAsas are to be done in a particular way with the

fingers and hands. It's impossible to describe it in words.

 

Rama