About Sashtiaapdapoorthi

[Guest guest]

Dear Srimathi Sripriya Srinivasan:

 

A month ago you had asked why we celebrate

Shashti-abdha -Poorthy in the context of your

father's forthcoming 60th birth anniversary.

 

The Cycles of time are from seconds to minutes to

hours to days , nights , pakshams ( 15 day intrvals),

Months and Years . Soorya NaarAyaNa NamaskAram

and other Vedic texts salute the Lord behind this

wheel of Time that drives the Universe and marks

the different cycles in Human beings'lives.

In the Hindu calendar , the cycle of years

is pegged at 60 .Once some one has reached

60 years , they reach the next second cycle

of alloted life.This is cause enough to celebrate

their aaasthika life of having learnt Vedams ,

entering GrahasthAsramam , raising children

devoted to the service of the Lord and His

devotees (BhakthAs and BhAgavathAs ) and

performing the ordained duties as a GrahasthA

and setting an example to the family and society .

Marriage itself is a vaidhika KarmA and I have

posted a special article on the veda Manthrams

behind the Vedic Ceremony of VivAham , which

defines some of the vows in front of Agni BhagavAn.

Those vows are repeated by the blessed ones by

reenactment of some aspects of marriage ceremony

( maalai MaaRRal, Maangalya DhAraNam et al)

in forn tof childrena nd grand children and

taking manthra SnAnam with waters consecrated

with Udhaka Sayana Manthrams. Vedic recitations

for 4 days before the Sashti-abdha Poorthi

along woith Srimath RaamAyaNa reitation are

also conducted to remind others of the Vedic

way of life and to celebrate their blessings

with children , family and freinds .This is a

Subha Kaaryam.

 

The 80th birthday is celebrated as SathAbhishEkam.

By that time , the one has lived htat long has been

blessed ot have seen 1000 Moons in a lunar calendar .

Recently , a great AchAryan , PoundarIkapuram

Andavan celebrated His 80th birthday at the request

of His sishyAs . The many auspicious events that

took place serve as a model for the celebration

(chathur Veda PaarAyaNam , Vidvath Sadhas ,

Tamizh Prabhandha PaarAyaNam , release of

special monographs , Bhagavath AarAdhanam et al).

 

The 100th birthday is celebrated since it is

the span of years assigned as target for us

to live and enjoy by Vedams as an Aasthikan and Vaidhikan.

 

There is lot more to these ceremonies .This brief

note will give some information points , since no one has

answered your questions sofar.

 

The name of the years in the 60 year cycle are:

 

Prabhava , Vibhava, Sukla , PramOdhUtha,

PrajOthpatthi , Aangirasa , SrImuka , Bhava ,

Yuva , DhAthu , Iswara, BahudhAnya , PramAthi , Vikrama ,

Vishu (where we are now in this cycle and ends with Akshaya.

 

We are now in the Vishu stage of this 60 year cycle.

 

Great AchAryAs like RaamAnujA lived 120 years

to set an example of how to lead Vedic way of

life. Swamy Desikan lived 100 years .

Their longevity in times , where there was no

antibiotic and miracle drugs is based on

their strict anushtAnams ordianed by

SaasthrAs.

 

With best wishes for a Joyous celebration of

your Father's 60th anniversary,

V.Sadagopan

to

 

 

 

 

Arriving in this world is an important marking point.

 

> At 09:28 AM 11/24/01 -0800, you wrote:

>dear fellow bhakthas,

>

>i would like request the learned members of the

list

>to clarify a few things for me.

>

>i have my fathers sashtiaapdapoorthi fast

>approaching. I would like to know about it before

>getting involved in it.

>

>what is the main reason behind making this a grand

>occassion with all vaideeha karyams being done?

>what are the vaideeka kramams that preceed and

follow

>the main ritual?

>also, what is the inner meaning of the rituals

being

>performed?

>why is the thirumangalya dhaaranam repeated?

>

>i would like to learn more about such things

>just to be sure that they are not simply done for

the

>sake of doing them.

>

>please pardon any offensive lines.

>

>Sincerely yours,

>Sripriya Srinivasan