Guest guest Posted September 4, 2009 Report Share Posted September 4, 2009 Namaste, First of all many thanks to Narasimha & Manish for the detailed Homam manuals . These are some basic questions, I have been having. 1. In the Initial part of Ganapathy Homam Manuals, The direction of movement of ladle with ghee while pouring & saying 'Swaha' is mentioned, but rest of the places there is no direction mentioned. Is there any generic rule when there is no directions mentioned? 2. On the 'Kalash Suddhi' when you keep in for a week, before changing the water, do we need to do the 'Kalash Suddhi' procedure everytime to the same water? Also in some other homams i had happen to see there is a kalash with saffron,clove etc installed and a coconut kept above the same. But the water is never taken in this case!! Any idea on the difference? 3. In the 'pranayamam' towards the end, I am assuming that there is no need to keep 'akshata' in the left hand as in the first time. Is this right? 4. Are there any days during which you should not do Homam? eg Passing away of relations etc, especially when you only have heard of them and not known them. Thanks & Regards, Shashi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 5, 2009 Report Share Posted September 5, 2009 Namaste Shashi, 1. For most mantras, there is no such requirement. You can make your offering anywhere in the homa kundam. 2. It is a good idea to do so. Even if you keep the same water for a few days, it can become impure by coming in contact with various energies present in the air around us. Also, realize that the kalasha is a symbol of one's physical body, which is mostly made of water! When you purify the external kalasha, imagine your body as a kalasha and imagine the content of your body being purified. Yes, a separate kalasha with water and powder of auspicious materials (e.g. cardamom, cloves, saffron, sandalwood, jaapatri/javentry etc) covered by a coconut can be used for invoking the deity, in addition to fire and an idol. That is perfectly fine. In the short procedure, we have removed it. If you ask me, fire alone is sufficient and even an idol is not really needed. Typically, people perform a homam once every 6 months or every year. So one makes sure to install a kalasha, do homam and then use the sanctified water in the kalasha to do abhishekam (bathing) to idols at house or to oneself. The water in the kalasha in which the deity was invoked in addition to fire becomes sanctified to some extent and one intends to transfer the little shakti captured by the water to an idol or to oneself. One can also keep a kalasha with water and sugandha dravyas and change water once every week or two and use the water to do abhishekam to idols at house or to oneself. That is what I do with my daily Chandi homam. However, if one does a homam regularly, the kalasha that the body is becomes pure enough and slowly becomes sanctified. The symbol of having an exteral kalasha loses its significance gradually. Basically, when your body sits next to fire and performs homam regularly, that is sufficient and the additional benefit of physical contact with a water pot in which you visualized god is smaller. If one wants to maintain an idol with some shakti concentration, then it is a good idea to also keep a kalasha with homam and use the water to bathe the idol now and then. 3. Right. 4. When there is a death in immediate family, traditionally people do not do homam. When related people who you do not know well pass away, it has no effect really. On the other hand, there CAN be a strong effect on your subtle body when an unrelated person who is close to you passes away! Though shastras give guidelines on how many days apply to each relation, it is based on a model of how close you are to each relation. Such things change based on desa-kaala-paatra. Basically, when some people pass away, their mind is confused and distressed and it has a subtle effect on your subtle body. So you will be unable to concentrate and focus your mind well. If you are upset about something, it is a bad idea to go to the king to talk some business and ask him for something. But it is fine to go to your mother or father and talk to them. Similarly, homam performed to ensure certain material results should be avoided when one's mind is not in a perfect state. But a homam performed with surrender, for spiritual progress, can be performed in my humble opinion always, irrespective of the state of mind. Regarding the former, please note that minds of most people are not in a " perfect state " these days, even when there was no death in family. Thus, people are better off not trying rituals aimed to bring specific results. Best regards, Narasimha Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homam Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpana Spirituality: Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org ---- shashi_nambisan <shashin wrote: > Namaste, > > First of all many thanks to Narasimha & Manish for the detailed Homam manuals . > These are some basic questions, I have been having. > 1. In the Initial part of Ganapathy Homam Manuals, The direction of movement of ladle with ghee while pouring & saying 'Swaha' is mentioned, but rest of the places there is no direction mentioned. > Is there any generic rule when there is no directions mentioned? > 2. On the 'Kalash Suddhi' when you keep in for a week, before changing the water, do we need to do the 'Kalash Suddhi' procedure everytime to the same water? > Also in some other homams i had happen to see there is a kalash with saffron,clove etc installed and a coconut kept above the same. But the water is never taken in this case!! > Any idea on the difference? > 3. In the 'pranayamam' towards the end, I am assuming that there is no need to keep > 'akshata' in the left hand as in the first time. Is this right? > 4. Are there any days during which you should not do Homam? eg Passing away of relations etc, especially when you only have heard of them and not known them. > > Thanks & Regards, > Shashi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 Namaste Narasimha, That was clear detailed explanation. Thanks a lot. Warm Regards, Shashi , Narasimha PVR Rao <pvr wrote: > > Namaste Shashi, > > 1. For most mantras, there is no such requirement. You can make your offering anywhere in the homa kundam. > > 2. It is a good idea to do so. Even if you keep the same water for a few days, it can become impure by coming in contact with various energies present in the air around us. > > Also, realize that the kalasha is a symbol of one's physical body, which is mostly made of water! When you purify the external kalasha, imagine your body as a kalasha and imagine the content of your body being purified. > > Yes, a separate kalasha with water and powder of auspicious materials (e.g. cardamom, cloves, saffron, sandalwood, jaapatri/javentry etc) covered by a coconut can be used for invoking the deity, in addition to fire and an idol. That is perfectly fine. In the short procedure, we have removed it. If you ask me, fire alone is sufficient and even an idol is not really needed. > > Typically, people perform a homam once every 6 months or every year. So one makes sure to install a kalasha, do homam and then use the sanctified water in the kalasha to do abhishekam (bathing) to idols at house or to oneself. The water in the kalasha in which the deity was invoked in addition to fire becomes sanctified to some extent and one intends to transfer the little shakti captured by the water to an idol or to oneself. > > One can also keep a kalasha with water and sugandha dravyas and change water once every week or two and use the water to do abhishekam to idols at house or to oneself. That is what I do with my daily Chandi homam. > > However, if one does a homam regularly, the kalasha that the body is becomes pure enough and slowly becomes sanctified. The symbol of having an exteral kalasha loses its significance gradually. Basically, when your body sits next to fire and performs homam regularly, that is sufficient and the additional benefit of physical contact with a water pot in which you visualized god is smaller. > > If one wants to maintain an idol with some shakti concentration, then it is a good idea to also keep a kalasha with homam and use the water to bathe the idol now and then. > > 3. Right. > > 4. When there is a death in immediate family, traditionally people do not do homam. When related people who you do not know well pass away, it has no effect really. On the other hand, there CAN be a strong effect on your subtle body when an unrelated person who is close to you passes away! Though shastras give guidelines on how many days apply to each relation, it is based on a model of how close you are to each relation. Such things change based on desa-kaala-paatra. > > Basically, when some people pass away, their mind is confused and distressed and it has a subtle effect on your subtle body. So you will be unable to concentrate and focus your mind well. > > If you are upset about something, it is a bad idea to go to the king to talk some business and ask him for something. But it is fine to go to your mother or father and talk to them. Similarly, homam performed to ensure certain material results should be avoided when one's mind is not in a perfect state. But a homam performed with surrender, for spiritual progress, can be performed in my humble opinion always, irrespective of the state of mind. Regarding the former, please note that minds of most people are not in a " perfect state " these days, even when there was no death in family. Thus, people are better off not trying rituals aimed to bring specific results. > > Best regards, > Narasimha > > Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homam > Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpana > Spirituality: > Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net > Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org > Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org > > > ---- shashi_nambisan <shashin wrote: > > Namaste, > > > > First of all many thanks to Narasimha & Manish for the detailed Homam manuals . > > These are some basic questions, I have been having. > > 1. In the Initial part of Ganapathy Homam Manuals, The direction of movement of ladle with ghee while pouring & saying 'Swaha' is mentioned, but rest of the places there is no direction mentioned. > > Is there any generic rule when there is no directions mentioned? > > 2. On the 'Kalash Suddhi' when you keep in for a week, before changing the water, do we need to do the 'Kalash Suddhi' procedure everytime to the same water? > > Also in some other homams i had happen to see there is a kalash with saffron,clove etc installed and a coconut kept above the same. But the water is never taken in this case!! > > Any idea on the difference? > > 3. In the 'pranayamam' towards the end, I am assuming that there is no need to keep > > 'akshata' in the left hand as in the first time. Is this right? > > 4. Are there any days during which you should not do Homam? eg Passing away of relations etc, especially when you only have heard of them and not known them. > > > > Thanks & Regards, > > Shashi > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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