Saama Veda Upaakarmaa : DEva --Rishi-- Pithru TarpaNams : PART I

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear Vaidhikaas & AnushtAthaas :

 

Yesterday , the Saama Vedins completed their

Upaakarmaa .One of the highlights of their

Upaakarmaa is the most comprehensive

Deva Rishi Pithru TarpaNam for AdhyAyOthsarjana

Karmaa . It will take almost three hours to observe

Saama Upaakarmaa , where bulk of the time is

spent on performing the many TarpaNams .

 

Saama Veda TARPAnAMS

********************************

 

There are 264 Deva Rishi TarpaNams and 12 Pithru

TarpaNam for those who do not have living parents .

 

We discharge our debts to Devaas by performing

Yaj~nams . They recieve Havis in these Yaagams

and are satisfied with us .

 

For the Rishis , we absolve ourselves of our debts

by adhyayanam of Vedams .That VEda adhyayanam

pleases them and they bless us as MantradhrashtAs .

 

We discharge our debts to Pithrus with male progeny

to please them through tarpaNams and Sraardhams .

 

Saama Veda Upaakarmaa is comprehensive to cover

TarpaNams for all the three categories (Deva, Rishi

and Pithrus) of supernal beings to whom we owe

the three kinds of debts .

 

Saama Vedam Highlights & The First TarpaNam to Agni

*********************************************************************

Before we describe the details on the Unique TarpaNams

in Saama Upaakarmaa , let us briefly summarize some

basic facts about Saama Vedam :

 

1. It is considered as " the earliest divine Music of ecstasy " .

 

2. Saama Veda has 1875 Saamans ( verses put into musical

chants . These Saamans are divided into PurvArchika ,

UttarArchika , MahaanAmni-Archika and AraNya .

 

3. Agni , Indra , VishNu and other DevAs are invoked

in Saama Vedam . The Deva TarpaNams are to these

DEvaas and the very First TarpaNam is to Agni .

 

The First of the 1875 Saamans Saaman is an invitation

(invocation) for Agni to come and be seated :

 

Agna Aa yAhi veethayE gruNAnO havyadhAtayE

ni hOtaa satsi Barhishi -- Saaman 1 , Rg Vedam VI.16.10

 

(meaning): Having been eulogized by us , Come Oh adorable

Supreme Being to confer Your blessings on this dedicated

worshipper with prosperity . Oh Generous One ! May Thou

be seated in our innermost chamber of the heart ( specially

decorated chair) ! Be our hOta ( the preist of our invocation)

and be seated in this elegantly decorated chair that has been

specially created for You .

 

Similar to the Saama Vedam starting with salutations to Agni

( the Deva PurOhitha) , the First Rg Veda mantram also starts

with the eulogy to Agni :

 

AgnimeeDE purOhitham Yajn~yasya dEvamruthvijam

hOthAram rathnadhAthamam

 

(Meaning) We salute the most adorable Lord (Agni) ,

the supreme priest of cosmic activities , the divine

Lord , " who works through the eternal laws , and who

feeds and sustains all that is divine and luminous".

 

The salutations and the prayers for protection to Agni Devan

are many in Saama Vedam :

 

" mithramiva priyam sthushE " -- Passage from the 5th Saaman

(Meaning): Agni is dear to me as a close friend and

hence I adore Him .

 

The passage in the 47th Saaman salutes Agni as

" Gaathuvitthama: " ( Knower of all of Our Paths ,

Sarvaj~nan) .

 

The 61st Saaman seeks Agni's protection from every

amangaLam and adresses Him as our Lord of the House

(Gruha Pathi) ,our invoker (hOthru) and protector(pOthru):ThavamagnE Gruhapathistavagum hOthAnO adhvarE

Thvam pOthaa visvavaara prachEthaa yakshi yAsi

cha vaaryam---61st Saaman

 

(meaning) : " Oh Fire -divine , You are the head of

the Family (Gruhapathi) , You are the invoker of

our benovolent actions( hOthaa) ; Oh Lord of all

boons !You are the preserver and all knowing .

May You convey the oblations to other bounties

and also enjoy Yourself ".

 

The above are examples of Saamans from

the AagnEya ( Belonging to Agni) KaanDa of

PurvArchika Saamans .

 

Such a reverence to Agni as a Deva is displayed as

the First of the 81 Deva TarpaNams among the 264

TarpaNams is for AGNI devan in the adhyAya

uthsarjana Karmaa (Saama Upaakarmaa) :

 

" Agni: thrupyathu "

 

TarpaNam for Indra (7th of the 264 TarpaNams)

*********************************************************

We will continue with the tarpaNam for Indra ,

another celebrated deva in Saama Vedam .

It is the 7th in order of TarpaNams after

the TarpaNams for (2) Brahma ( the Creator

ordained by Bhagavaan) ,(3) Soma: ( Chandran

and Soma Rasam) , (4) Siva: , (5)PrajApathi: ,

and (6) Savithaa .

 

The 7th TarpaNam following that of Savithaa

is for Indhran among the Devaas:

 

" Indhra: thrupyathu" .

 

The Saamans 115 to 585 are dedicated to Indra

as the Supreme Reality and this section is known

therfore as " Aindra Parvaa". The antharyAmi Brahman

inside Indra , the Satha Krathu ( the performer of hundred

Yaj~nAs ) is addressed here.

 

( To Be continued)

 

NamO Veda Purushaaya ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrI:

 

Dear AasthikAs :

 

I am delighted to forward a note from

Sriman Muralidhar Rangaswamy ,

a Saama Vedhin himself on the first posting

on Deva-Rishi-Pithru TarpaNam .

 

I welcome his insightful inputs

and I ams ure you will enjoy them

as well .

 

V.Sadagopan

Moderator

 

Sri:

 

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Dear Sriman Sadagopan Swamin,

 

Thanks a lot for your wonderful kaimkaryam in summarizing the significance of the Deva-Rishi-Pithru TarpaNams pertaining to the Sama Veda Upakarma. As you rightly noted, the first tarpaNam is for Agni in keeping with the Vedic dictum- agniravama: viShNu: parama:

 

Paramapadavasi Mahavidwan U.Ve. Sri Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar Swamin beautifully expounds on the importance of agni karyam in his Srimad Bhgavatam upanyasam as "The term agni means agram nayathIthyagni:, i.e., that which elevates us from our present state to a higher state is known as agni. How is this related to emperumAn? The answer lies in the Narayana Sooktam rk "thasya madhyE mahAnagnir vishvAkshir vishvaThOmuKha:" and the vedic salutation in Ghanam form agnEr mahAn mahAn agnEr agnEr mahan. The term mahan denotes one who is not deficient in any respect and therefore, the Vedic tributes are unmistakably directed to Lord Narayana alone and none else. The Rg Veda Mantram agnEnaya supathArAyE asmAn vishvAni dhEva vayunAni vidvAn yuyOdhyasmajjurANamEna: BhUyiShtAnthE nama ukthim viDhEma glorifies Lord Narayana in the form of Agni. This is also the concluding mantram of the Isavasya Upanishad, which majestically highlights the loftiness of Lord Narayana in the process of SharaNagati. SushtupathA supathA means the right path. The opening part of this mantram declares: Oh Agni! You who elevates us from our present state to an exalted state know everything about everything in the universe (jathAni sarvANi vethIthi jAthavEdha: and vEthIthi vidvan)! I am incapable of discerning the right path from the incorrect path. My pile of sins precludes me from realizing this. Therefore, please lead me on the correct path by destroying my sin pile and elevate me. For this great upakAram of yours I who am rooted in penury can offer nothing in return except repeatedly submitting with folded hands the vedic salutation nama:"

 

Elsewhere Sri Mukkur Swamin notes: "Swami Desikan comments on the significance of the salutation nama: in Srimad RahasyatrayasAram as thAram pUrvam thadhanuhrudhayam, which summarizes the import of nama: as the performance of sharaNagati. A second meaning of nama: is also provided by Swami Desikan as "na mama", i.e., not mine-who then does this belong to? The atma is irrevocably the property of EmperumAn, at whose feet it is being rightfully restored. Consequently, bereft of ahamkaram and mamakaram (the sense of I and my), the jivatma places everything sentient and insentient at its disposal for the sole purpose of performing Kaimkaryam to Lord Narayana."

 

Sri Mukkur Swamin continued:

"Another important vedic prayer for agni is anEthEjasvin thejasvithvam dhEvEShuBhUyasthEjasvantham mA Ayushvantham varchasvantham manuShyEShu kuru, which means Oh Agni! Just as you are resplendent, luster-filled, and possessed of great strength among the dhEvas so too please bless me to be filled with radiance, strength and long life among mortals. Reciting this prayer , one must perform agni karyam. This agni arises from Samidh samidhBi: indhathaithi sAmiDhEni. Vedam has mantrams including sAmiDhEni in clusters of 15, 17 etc panchadhasha sAmiDhEniranvA: sapthadhasha sAmiDhEniranvA:, ekavigamshathigam sAmiDhEniranvA:" Sri Swamin rendered an agni upasana mantram in Ghanam form (which takes nearly 15 minutes to render, extremely complicated with sandhis and is the passage of choice for examiners when students of the Vedam appear for Ghana parikshai)."

 

Focussing on agni itself a little more helps illustrate the connection to Lord Narayana. The first aksharam of agni is "a". This is also the opening aksharam of PraNavam, which unambiguously declares the supremacy of Lord Narayana. Next, it is extremely auspicious. The fact that the Rg samhita and Sama samhita commence with "a" bear eloquent testimony to this fact. Also, it is the aksharam with which all Vedic renditions begin and that which is the subject of enquiry by all Vedanta (the concluding portion of the Vedas or the Upanishads) "yadhvEdhAthO svaraprOkthO vedhAnthEcha prathiShTithoU" Not to be outdone, the Brahma Sutras too commence with "athAthO brahma jignyAsA" (May we begin our enquiry of Brahman). The Bhakti sUtras of Narada too recognize the importance of "a" in the opening salutation "anirvachanIyam Bhakthi svarUpam". Also "a" is that aksharam of the Devanagari alphabet without which no consonant can exist. In a like fashion nothing in the universe exists without the support of Paramatma (anthar bahischa thath sarvam vyApya nArAyaNasthitha:) . Lord KrishNa too declares his fondness for the aksharam "a" in the Bhagavadgita salutation "aksharANAm akArOsmi" (among the aksharas I denote "a"). Keeping these facts in mind, Tiruppan Azhwar commences his amalaNAdhipirAn with the aksharam "a". Swami nammAzhwar commences his SharaNagati to the Lord of the Seven Hills with the aksharam "a" in the famous ahalaillEn pasuram. Sri Bhashyakarar follows the lead of the Azhwars by commencing the SriBhashyam with the salutation "aKhila Bhuvana janma" further emphasizing the connection of the aksharam "a" to Lord Narayana. Finally, Swami Desikan commences four of his sotrams with the aksharam "a" (Bhagavadh DhyAna Sopanam, nyAsa dashakam, aBhIthi sthavam, and Garuda panchashath) as well as his munivahana Bhogam commentary with the aksharam "a" in keeping with the lead of the Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, Brahma sUthras, Azhwar Prabandham, and Sri Bhashyam. Therefore, the connection to Lord Narayana comes through with amazing clarity in the opening aksharam of agni itself.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan

 

 

 

 

 

On Behalf Of Dr. SadagopanMonday, August 28, 2006 11:03 PMRamanujamission ; Rajeev; Ponnappan; Sgt; SG.AZhgiyasingar_satabhishekam ; Swami; DS; acharya2005Cc: vaideekam Subject: Saama Veda Upaakarmaa : DEva --Rishi-- Pithru TarpaNams : PART I

 

 

 

 

SrI:Dear Vaidhikaas & AnushtAthaas :Yesterday , the Saama Vedins completed their Upaakarmaa .One of the highlights of their Upaakarmaa is the most comprehensive Deva Rishi Pithru TarpaNam for AdhyAyOthsarjanaKarmaa . It will take almost three hours to observeSaama Upaakarmaa , where bulk of the time isspent on performing the many TarpaNams .Saama Veda TARPAnAMS********************************There are 264 Deva Rishi TarpaNams and 12 PithruTarpaNam for those who do not have living parents .We discharge our debts to Devaas by performing Yaj~nams . They recieve Havis in these Yaagams and are satisfied with us . For the Rishis , we absolve ourselves of our debts by adhyayanam of Vedams .That VEda adhyayanampleases them and they bless us as MantradhrashtAs .We discharge our debts to Pithrus with male progeny to please them through tarpaNams and Sraardhams .Saama Veda Upaakarmaa is comprehensive to cover TarpaNams for all the three categories (Deva, Rishi and Pithrus) of supernal beings to whom we owe the three kinds of debts . Saama Vedam Highlights & The First TarpaNam to Agni*********************************************************************Before we describe the details on the Unique TarpaNamsin Saama Upaakarmaa , let us briefly summarize somebasic facts about Saama Vedam :1. It is considered as " the earliest divine Music of ecstasy " .2. Saama Veda has 1875 Saamans ( verses put into musicalchants . These Saamans are divided into PurvArchika ,UttarArchika , MahaanAmni-Archika and AraNya . 3. Agni , Indra , VishNu and other DevAs are invoked in Saama Vedam . The Deva TarpaNams are to these DEvaas and the very First TarpaNam is to Agni .The First of the 1875 Saamans Saaman is an invitation (invocation) for Agni to come and be seated :Agna Aa yAhi veethayE gruNAnO havyadhAtayEni hOtaa satsi Barhishi -- Saaman 1 , Rg Vedam VI.16.10(meaning): Having been eulogized by us , Come Oh adorableSupreme Being to confer Your blessings on this dedicatedworshipper with prosperity . Oh Generous One ! May Thou be seated in our innermost chamber of the heart ( speciallydecorated chair) ! Be our hOta ( the preist of our invocation) and be seated in this elegantly decorated chair that has beenspecially created for You .Similar to the Saama Vedam starting with salutations to Agni( the Deva PurOhitha) , the First Rg Veda mantram also starts with the eulogy to Agni :AgnimeeDE purOhitham Yajn~yasya dEvamruthvijamhOthAram rathnadhAthamam (Meaning) We salute the most adorable Lord (Agni) , the supreme priest of cosmic activities , the divine Lord , " who works through the eternal laws , and whofeeds and sustains all that is divine and luminous".The salutations and the prayers for protection to Agni Devan are many in Saama Vedam :" mithramiva priyam sthushE " -- Passage from the 5th Saaman(Meaning): Agni is dear to me as a close friend and hence I adore Him .The passage in the 47th Saaman salutes Agni as " Gaathuvitthama: " ( Knower of all of Our Paths ,Sarvaj~nan) .The 61st Saaman seeks Agni's protection from everyamangaLam and adresses Him as our Lord of the House (Gruha Pathi) ,our invoker (hOthru) and protector(pOthru):ThavamagnE Gruhapathistavagum hOthAnO adhvarEThvam pOthaa visvavaara prachEthaa yakshi yAsi cha vaaryam---61st Saaman(meaning) : " Oh Fire -divine , You are the head of the Family (Gruhapathi) , You are the invoker ofour benovolent actions( hOthaa) ; Oh Lord of all boons !You are the preserver and all knowing .May You convey the oblations to other bountiesand also enjoy Yourself ".The above are examples of Saamans from the AagnEya ( Belonging to Agni) KaanDa of PurvArchika Saamans .Such a reverence to Agni as a Deva is displayed as the First of the 81 Deva TarpaNams among the 264TarpaNams is for AGNI devan in the adhyAyauthsarjana Karmaa (Saama Upaakarmaa) :" Agni: thrupyathu "TarpaNam for Indra (7th of the 264 TarpaNams) *********************************************************We will continue with the tarpaNam for Indra ,another celebrated deva in Saama Vedam .It is the 7th in order of TarpaNams afterthe TarpaNams for (2) Brahma ( the Creatorordained by Bhagavaan) ,(3) Soma: ( Chandranand Soma Rasam) , (4) Siva: , (5)PrajApathi: ,and (6) Savithaa . The 7th TarpaNam following that of Savithaais for Indhran among the Devaas:" Indhra: thrupyathu" . The Saamans 115 to 585 are dedicated to Indraas the Supreme Reality and this section is knowntherfore as " Aindra Parvaa". The antharyAmi Brahmaninside Indra , the Satha Krathu ( the performer of hundredYaj~nAs ) is addressed here. ( To Be continued)NamO Veda Purushaaya ,Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan