Guest guest Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 At the local Hindu temple I noticed a south Indian priest was performing Achamana and used the mantras: achyutAya namaH anantAya namah govindAya namaH and then he was using names used in viShNu bali like keshava nArAyaNa... to touch the face and heart. He was wearing bhasma like a regular shaiva but he used the above. Is it common for shaivas in south India to use vaiShNAva Achamana? He seemed to be a Brahman. My father stated that smArta males perform Achamana with gAyatri padas and touch the face etc with a mantra from kR^iShNa yajurveda beginning as ApohiShTha etc. Females may either do it without mantra if they do not have dIkSha or may use appropriate tantrik bIjas or kUTas depending on their level of dIkSha. My question is whether the vaiShNAva Achamana is used by all temple priests in south? National Geographic picture of the day: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/enlarge/rock- fort-india.html which temple is this? Rajita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 , " rajita_rajvasishth " <rajita_rajvasishth wrote: > > At the local Hindu temple I noticed a south Indian priest was > performing Achamana and used the mantras: > achyutAya namaH anantAya namah govindAya namaH and then he was >using > names used in viShNu bali like keshava nArAyaNa... to touch the face > and heart. > He was wearing bhasma like a regular shaiva but he used the above. I think the smArta-s from TN and Karnataka do this. In Andhra they start with keshvAya namaH etc.. Sriram can give more detail on the practice in Andhra. > Females may either do > it without mantra if they do not have dIkSha or may use appropriate > tantrik bIjas or kUTas depending on their level of dIkSha. Shudra-s belonging to Sringeri lineage perform it with the nAma traya. So it is the same for females in this tradition I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Dear Sister, That is Trichy, Malaikottai (rock-fort), ucchipillayar temple..Very holy and very beautiful temple... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Fort_Temple Thayumanaswamy (Shiva acted like a Mother) temple... Regards, Raghav On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 10:43 AM, rajita_rajvasishth <rajita_rajvasishth wrote: > At the local Hindu temple I noticed a south Indian priest was > performing Achamana and used the mantras: > achyutAya namaH anantAya namah govindAya namaH and then he was using > names used in viShNu bali like keshava nArAyaNa... to touch the face > and heart. > He was wearing bhasma like a regular shaiva but he used the above. Is > it common for shaivas in south India to use vaiShNAva Achamana? He > seemed to be a Brahman. My father stated that smArta males perform > Achamana with gAyatri padas and touch the face etc with a mantra from > kR^iShNa yajurveda beginning as ApohiShTha etc. Females may either do > it without mantra if they do not have dIkSha or may use appropriate > tantrik bIjas or kUTas depending on their level of dIkSha. > > My question is whether the vaiShNAva Achamana is used by all temple > priests in south? > > National Geographic picture of the day: > http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/enlarge/rock- > fort-india.html > > which temple is this? > Rajita > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Dear rajitha, Generally, as all are aware, there are 3 achamanas. They are sruti, smriti and purana achamanas. We smartas perform all the three during sandhya anushtana. Sruti achamana involves sipping water three times with 3 svahAs (with pranava) which is a purificatory rite during srouta kanda / vedic rituals. SmrityAchamana is as you mentioned ie., sipping water 3 times with gayatri mantra (tat savritr varenyam svaha, bhargo devasya dhimahi svaha, dhiyo yo nah prachodayat svaha..then touching the body parts with " apo hista mayo bhuvah.....apo jana yatha chanah respectively). Then comes purana achamana which people know as kesavaya svaha, narayanaya svaha madhavaya svaha then comes vishnu namavalih. But it seems, this purana achamana has been introduced later by vaishnavaites which is not required during vedic rites and sandhya vandana. Sroutha achamana is enough and before gayatri japa, smrityachamana is performed. For females and the people who does not have upavita, they are generally not adviced to utter " swaha " and hence, for them the purna achamana is prescribed that too without swaha ie., kesavaya namaha, narayanaya namah, madhavaya namah etc. But tantric achamana can be done by all irrespective of gender and varna. The saivites especially the sroutha saivites / sivacharyas use a different achamana which is replaced by siva namavalih. BTW, i see no issue in achamana as this is a purificatory rite and there is lot in karma kanda rather than having differences in vishnu namavalih or siva namavalih. with regards, sriram , " rajita_rajvasishth " <rajita_rajvasishth wrote: > > At the local Hindu temple I noticed a south Indian priest was > performing Achamana and used the mantras: > achyutAya namaH anantAya namah govindAya namaH and then he was using > names used in viShNu bali like keshava nArAyaNa... to touch the face > and heart. > He was wearing bhasma like a regular shaiva but he used the above. Is > it common for shaivas in south India to use vaiShNAva Achamana? He > seemed to be a Brahman. My father stated that smArta males perform > Achamana with gAyatri padas and touch the face etc with a mantra from > kR^iShNa yajurveda beginning as ApohiShTha etc. Females may either do > it without mantra if they do not have dIkSha or may use appropriate > tantrik bIjas or kUTas depending on their level of dIkSha. > > My question is whether the vaiShNAva Achamana is used by all temple > priests in south? > > National Geographic picture of the day: > http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/enlarge/rock- > fort-india.html > > which temple is this? > Rajita > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Dear Sadhaka Every achamana have thier own places smrt,srut, purana and tatva achamana or (tantric). But the purnana achamana or achamana with Kesava namas is regularly followed because just like Ganesha is Vighna nivaraka, Vishnu or Keshava is samrakshaka (the Great protector) hence whether its saivaite or vishnuvaite or any other it gives great protection to the ritual which you start with keshava namas. That's the reason why sadhakas do the purana achamana then smrt,srut or tantric achamana according to the situation. Regards Diwakar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 An ArAdhya brahmin following srotha saiva siddhanta does not follow the purana achamana of kesava namavalih. Does that mean that ArAdhyAs are not protected? Achamana is a purificatory rite. And that too, the kesava namavalih achamana is an incorporation into our rituals. regs, sriram , " Diwakar N.V.L.G " <diwakarvlg wrote: > > Dear Sadhaka > Every achamana have thier own places smrt,srut, purana and tatva > achamana or (tantric). > > But the purnana achamana or achamana with Kesava namas is regularly > followed because just like Ganesha is Vighna nivaraka, Vishnu or > Keshava is samrakshaka (the Great protector) hence whether its > saivaite or vishnuvaite or any other it gives great protection to the > ritual which you start with keshava namas. That's the reason why > sadhakas do the purana achamana then smrt,srut or tantric achamana > according to the situation. > Regards > Diwakar > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 we are not refering extreme paths but the paths following panchyatana as prescribed by jagadguru's reg diwakar , " sriram " <sriram_sapthasathi wrote: > > An ArAdhya brahmin following srotha saiva siddhanta does not follow > the purana achamana of kesava namavalih. Does that mean that ArAdhyAs > are not protected? > > Achamana is a purificatory rite. And that too, the kesava namavalih > achamana is an incorporation into our rituals. > > regs, > sriram > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Thank you everybody for answering my queries and thanks to Shri sWseshagiri for providing the music link relating the temple. cheers, RR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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