Mutual help - bhojanam (part -3)

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SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.

 

Athithi puja has been regarded as one among the 6daily rituals for a Brahmin.

The 6 daily rituals are(1) snaanam (bathing) (2) sandhya vandanam

(3)oupaasanam (4) bhagavad aaraadhanam (5) vaishwadevam and (6)

athithi puja. Of these the first and the last are to be done by all

the 4 varnas.

 

Athithi puja has been part and parcel of the 5 Great sacrifices

(pancha maha yagya) namely Brahma yagyam(upasana on Brahman), Pitru

yagyam (remembering the departed ancestors), deva yagyam (worshipping

devas),bhootha yagyam (feeding plants and animals) and manushya yagyam

(athithi bhojanam).

 

A gruhastha (thefamily man) is supposed to incur 5 types of

sinseveryday and the 5 Great yagyas are prescribed as remedies from

these sins.The grushatha becomes responsible for 5 types ofkillings in

his house when he (1) burns the firewood for cooking, (2) grinds flour

in the grinding stone,(3) sweeps the floor, (4) breaks the grains and

(5)boils water.

 

In all these acts which are regularly done, many micro organisms and

living things such as insects are killed. His house becomes a ground

for'Soona' (killing). In order to seek redress from these 5 types of

killings, the gruhastha has been ordained to conduct the 5 great

sacrifices, of which athithi bhojanam is one.

 

Many stories on athithi bhojanam are cited in puranas.One such story

is about Gnyadhi dharma and his wife Sree vallabhai who lived in

Saurashtra. They lived in penury and the absence of rains for 12 years

in succession added to their woes. After days of hunger,they at last

managed to get a pumpkin. It was then a sage arrived at their home and

the couple received him with all rituals that were to be done to the

athithi. The pumpkin was cooked and the small meal they could afford

was offered to the sage while they remained unfed.

 

The next morning the sage left on his journey and the couple too left

on their last journey immediately thereafter – only to reach higher

realms that are reserved for people who do athithi puja of highest

order.

 

A similar story is found in Mahabharatha in which a porcupine that

rolled on the left overs on the groundafter the athithi had eaten had

its spikes turned golden. It then proceeded to Yudhishtra's court to

narrate the great sacrifice (of life) of the family in having fed the

athithi under difficult conditions which is far greater than the yagya

that Yidhishtra had just done

 

Even the lesser life forms were seen to have stuck to athithi

bhojanam. An incident involving a pigeon has been narrated by Sri Rama

in Ramayanam to extol the athithi bhojanam that the pigeon had done

which also stands as a best example for sharanaagatha rakshkam by a

bird.

 

Once a hunter captured a female pigeon and reached the base of the

tree which houses the nest of the pigeon couple. Though the male

pigeon sitting on the branch saw its mate in captivity, it also found

that the hunter had not had any food for a few days.Since he had

reached the house (tree) of the pigeon,it considered him as an athithi

and also as one who has sought surrender in it for food. The male

pigeon then formed fire and fell into it to become food for the

hunter.

 

In today's conditions, it is rare to find an athithi.But as

sanatanists we have to do manushya yagyam. In my opinion feeding

atleast one person a day who has no means of earning his food can be a

substitute. In other parts of the world such an act is considered as

service. In sanatana dharma it is considered as the DUTY of every

person. (refer Tai upa ).I think duty is a far superior word than

service. When you serve someone,your hand goes up and the receiver has

to extend his hand below in humility. But when the same is done as a

duty, the pride of the receiver is never put to stress. The doer gives

because it does him good and the receiver takes because by so-doing he

is enabling the doer (giver) receive some benefits. The self-respect

of the receiver is not hurt in this scenario. Athithi bhojanam is one

which maintains this balance.

 

Regards,

Jayasree saranathan

(to be concluded in the next mail)