Japam Vidhi Clarification

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Lakshminarayanan:

 

At 01:32 PM 10/16/00 -0400, you wrote:

>

>I have 2 questions:

>

>1. I have been told by elders from day-1 that

>while doing Japam (gAyathri or moola manthram

>or any other that I should cover my hands

>that are counting with the Utthareeyam. Why is

>it so?

 

Response :

*********

In the GayathrI Manthram , PraNavam (OmkAram)

is Purushan and Gaayathri is Sthree .

 

" OmkAra: Purusha: PrOktha:

GaayathrI SindarI tathA

TayOssamyOga kaalE thu

Karam aacchAdhayEth Budha:"

--VisvAmithra Kalpam

(meaning ): PraNavam is a Man and GaayathrI

is a lady. That is why the Manthram is

recognized as "Sthree PumsAthma GaayathrI"

 

Both the hands have to be held under the UttharIyam

and Japam has to be performed for realizing

Phalan. The idea is to respect their privacy

during their union .

 

This procedure of using UttharIyam

is generally followed for all Japams

as well.

 

AhnIkam says : ayamEva NyAya: (This is

the right thing to do.

>

>2. Could we do japams using beaded mAlai (garland).

>Any specific rules about using sandal wood bead mAlai.

 

Response:

*********

 

The count is done with fingers and thumb

of the right hand in the prescribed way .

One moves it clockwise until one comes to starting

point (10 counts). Japa Maalai is not used for

GaayathrI japam .

 

For other japams , Lotus bead maalai or TuLasi bead

maalai is preferreed. Sandal wood bead maalai

has perfume and hence it would be distracting

while one concentrates on Manthra Japam , which

also requires the meditation in between on the artham

of the Manthram. The Japam is also done silently

without lip movement .Anything that distracts

has to be avoided.

 

There are a lot more vidhis (rules)for Japam .

Hope this is sufficent for now.

 

V.SatakOpan

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

Namaskaram

 

Does the starting point on the right hand for the counting

has any significance at all?

 

During my conversations with other non-srivaishnava friends,

I came to know that they start the counting from the middle

of the ring finger (the second notch) and move clockwise.

 

It was also indicated to me that the counting takes a shape of praNavam.

 

I would appreciate your notes on this. Thank You

 

Rajeev

 

sgopan wrote:

----------------------------

The count is done with fingers and thumb

of the right hand in the prescribed way .

One moves it clockwise until one comes to starting

point (10 counts). Japa Maalai is not used for

GaayathrI japam .

 

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[Guest guest]

Lakshmi Narayanan writes:

> 1. I have been told by elders from day-1 that while doing Japam (gAyathri or

> moola manthram or any other)

> that I should cover my hands that are counting with the Utthareeyam. Why

is

> it so?

>

> 2. Could we do japams using beaded mAlai (garland). Any specific rules about

> using sandal wood bead mAlai.

 

I am a novice in these matters, but here is what I have gathered.

Regarding (1), covering the hands during japam, there appears to be

two reasons I have inferred, both stemming from the idea that

others should not be aware of how many times (Avartanam) we are

doing the japam. The first and obvious reason is humility. We should

not be showing off the degree of our austerity or the greatness of

our resolve. The second is derived from the belief that when the devas

see someone steadfast in his desire to meditate or perform tapas, they

place countless obstacles in that person's path. This is because such

a devoted person, as he transcends identification with the body, will

perform fewer sacrifices and therefore give less 'havis' to the devas.

We read about this happening to many great tapasvis in the past. Keeping the

amount of japa to oneself is a measure of protection against this.

(How devas place obstacles in the path of the mumukshu is beautifully

described by Sri Sankaracharya in his taittirIya upanishad bhAshya.)

 

Regarding (2), I really have no answer based on SAstra, but I do know

that I find it much easier to do a large number of gAyatris (such

as 1008) when I use a japa-mAlai. Elders have advised me to use some

external aid when I am doing 1008 gAyatris so I don't lose count,

and focus more on the counting than the japa itself. I don't find the

aroma of sandalwood distracting since I normally do the japa in the

perumAL sannidhi where the fragrance of incense, sandalwood, paccai

karpUram, etc., are all already present.

 

rAmAnuja dAsan

Mani

 

P.S. I was also taught to place my yajnopavItam with brahma-muDi in my hands

while doing gAyatri-japa. Apparently this practice is not followed by everyone.

[Guest guest]

Dear members,

In this regard I came across the following slokam from a book

of sandhyAvandhanam. This slokam is mentioned in the preface of

this tamizh book. The slokam is as follows:

 

anAmikA madhyadhESAth adhO vAmakramENa cha |

tharjanI mUla paryantham japasyaivam krama: karE ||

- dEvI bhAgawatham 26.a.18.19.su

 

This slOkam means "one should start counting from the middle

rEkai of one's ring finger and go clockwise counting each rEkai

and end at the bottom rEkai of the index finger thus completing

10 japa".

 

 

Warm regards,

chandrasekaran.

 

> Sri Rajeev Karamchedu wrote:

>

> Does the starting point on the right hand for the counting

> has any significance at all?

>

> During my conversations with other non-srivaishnava friends,

> I came to know that they start the counting from the middle

> of the ring finger (the second notch) and move clockwise.

>

> It was also indicated to me that the counting takes a shape of

praNavam.

>

> I would appreciate your notes on this. Thank You

>

> Rajeev