Chaturmasya jnAnArjane saraNi - Madhwa Vijaya (a Gist in English) by Eminent scholars - Sarga 9, Part 3 of 3

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|| Sri Rama Krishna VedavyAsAya namaha ||

|| Sri Hanuma Bheema Madhwa MunibhyO namaha ||

 

namaste all,

 

Here comes the ninth installment in this series, 3rd part

You can check the previous ones at the urls below:

 

 

 

Sarga 9/2 - MadhwaYuvaParishat/message/10585

IT_Madhva_Sangha/message/3957

/message/6768

 

 

 

 

 

 

|| shrI hari vAyu gurubhyO namaH ||

 

Madhwa Vijaya (a Gist in English) by sixteen Eminent scholars

Sarga 9, Part 3 by Sri R.S. Panchamukhi

Book edited by Srimushnam V Nagaraja Rao

YAGNYA IN MADHVA VIJAYA (contd)

 

What is Pravargya?

 

Pravargya is an important ritual in Soma yaga. This has to be performed on the 2nd, 3rd & 4th day of the Five day yagnya. Pravargya is the head for the yagnya & another ritual “Upasad†is its neck says the veda (shiro vA etad.h yaj~nasya | yatpravargyaH grIvA upasadaH ) Among the other things, the rituals in Pravargya include the following items.

1. patnI parishrayaNam.h : Placing a veil over the YajamAna’s patni

2. pUrvashantiH: The Ritviks take their seats in their respective places around the Vedi & start chanting the Shanti Mantra, beginning with namo vAche

3. dharmAbhistutiH : The HotA chants the appropriate Mantra in praise of the Gharma

4. rauhiNa puroDAsham.h : A handful of rice flour is prepared like a clay ball. Two handfuls are got ready. It is called PurodAsam. There will be two toy horses made of mud. By chanting appropriate mantra, Agneedra places the two PurodAsams upon the back of the two horses (rauhiNA).

5. Ajya samskAraH : The Prati Prasthaataa purifies the ghee by chanting appropriate Mantra & renders it Pavitra, fit for offering in the sacrificial fire.

6. ajA payas go payas dohanam.h : Adhvaryu secures goat’s milk, cow’s milk & ghee. The rule is he has to milk on the spot. These are mixed in a specially made mud pot called Maha veera & heated. This mixture is known as Gharma.

7. Gharma homaH, prAyashchitta homaH : While the Udgaataa sings the Saama gaana, the Prati Prasthaataa takes out the PurodAsa (Flour balls on the horses back) & with appropriate Mantra he offers them as Ahuti into the sacred Fire.

Then the hot Maha Veera (mud pot) containing the Gharma is picked up by two persons (Adhvaryu & Prati Prasthaataa) & held ready for Ahuti. Before offering it into the fire, a quantity of curd is mixed with Gharma & both the Ritviks chant appropriate Mantra & offer a portionof the Gharma ceremonially into the Sacrificial fire.

8. Gharma bhaxaNam.h: The remaining quantity of Gharma is distributed among all the Ritviks, who receive it in their palms & take in.

9. Upasad.h: Then they perform a small Homa known as Upasad.

10. uttarashAnti paThanam.h, subrahmaNya AhvAnam.h : Concluding in this way, all the Ritviks chant Uttara Shanthi Mantra beginning with shannovAtaH pavatAM mAtarishvA. Finally, through Saama gaana, they invoke Indra Deva to drink the Soma. At the end, the Yajamana stands up facing the East. He holds in his hand a winnow filled with rice & jiggery. The Ritvik proclaims that this Yajamaana is the son of so & so, grandson of so & so, & great grand father of so & so. Even if he had not yet become the father or grand father of the children to be born (janiShyamANAnAM janiShyamANAnAM pitAmahaH _ etc… The priest further proclaims that this yajamana has taken a vow to

perform this great Soma yaga & in so doing he will perform such & such rituals today, such & such tomorrow & the others the day after tomorrow. O ! gracious Indra Deva, we all pray that you be kind enough to come & make this great Yagnya a grand success’ by which this Yajamaana & the three generations before & after him will be saved from misery. The Pravargya is concluded in this way. In order to indicate that these rituals of Pravarghya made it a Vaibhava, the poet put it in one word saptavargya vibhavaiH

 

One can now imagine how great & sacred a soul must be the poet Sri Naraya Panditacharya to present us a Kavya containing not merely the best of poetic or literary beauties but also the high technicalities of a glorious yagnya- all neatly & skillfully packed in a handful of shlokas.

 

MUDRA DHARANA: ITS SIGNIFICANCE

 

Veda & Puranas proclaim that Mudra Dhaarana is helpful for the spiritual elevation of a Vishnu Bhakta & emphasis that it is very essential for a Vaishnava to have the Vishnu Mudras on his body in his own interest.

This is one of the important observances in Bhagavata Sampradaya & Sri Madhva did not introduce any convention of his own, but only revived this age old Sampradaya & fulfilled the Vedic injuctions by offering Mudra Dharana to his followers.

It is said in Varaha Purana.

 

The gist of the Text from Varaha purana:

 

Mudra dhArana is of two kinds; the heated Mudra & Mudra with Gopi Chandana. The heated Mudra is to be had from the hands of others on special occasions such as Upa nayana, Maha Guru’s arrival etc… In this case, the number of Mudras is only two; chakra & Shanka. However, these two Mudras are to be had on five places of the body; Chakra on the right shoulder, right chest & on the abdomen. In this way, it is known as “Pancha Mudrikaâ€. If not all the five, at least two (i.e. one Chakra & one Shanka on the respective shoulder. Are the minimum prescribed. Even ladies & children should have the heated Mukra. Kshatriyas also come under this rule. In the absence of a Maha guru, father can apply heated Mudra.

 

One who had not had this heated Mudra is compared to a wretched & polluted log of wood unfit for auspicious functions- no matter how great a scholar he was in Veda & Vedanta. A body with marks of Vishnu Mudras is a burning fire to Yama dootas & they are unable even to touch, if one leaves his body with marks of these Mudras. Leaving the body with Mudras on, a bhaktha reaches Vishnu loka. This much about the heated Mudra (tapta mudra dhArane)

 

GOPICHANDANA MUDRA

 

Gopichandana Mudras are to be had as a daily routine after bath. The number in this case is five; Chakra, Shankha, Gada, Padma, Narayana Mudra. While preparing gopichandana paste, it is said that a spoonful of water in the left hand is to be first sanctified with Gayatri Mantra.

Skanda Purana gives details on this.

 

aparAdhaveNisadale kAyabEkO

krupaNa vatsalane sri madhwa muni guru rAya

 

Enu ariyada mooda mAnavanu nAnu

sujnAnavaryanu neenu kAyabEku mAnanidhi

Sri Jagannatha viTalana padayugaLA

dhyAna mAduva dheera prANa pancha kAya

- Sri Jagannatha Dasaru on Sri avatAra thraya prANa dEvaru

 

bhAratIramaNa mukhyapraNAntargata shrI kR^iShNArpanamastu

 

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MudradhAraNe.pdf