Chandi -Day 2 - Highest meaning & Philosophy / Seedha Path

May 18, 2007

Namaste to all,Today we are chanting the beginning verses "Sriman Mahaganadhipataye namah" to "Om Shanti Shanti Shanti", followed by Vedic Ratri Suktam to Chapter 1.Thank you Sankarji for posting on your favorite phrase from the Devyatharvasirsham - the highest meaning of the Goddess.Swamiji writes in his "Pronunciation and Chandi Samputs " book, that there are special merits when one recites 108 times of any of the following three portions of the Chandi1) Devyatharvasirsham2)32 names of Durga (this was our very first group sankalpa way back in 2004)3)Siddha Kunjika StotramIn addition Devyatharvasirsham is especially chanted in a temple when Prana Pratishta (breathing of life into the deity) is done. I personally remember , 2 years ago, when the new temple was almost ready to be consecrated and the murtis were moving from the old to the new premises..... a friend reminded me of Devyatharvasirsham and she and I sat and chanted one recitation per murti in the new temple. I think she went on to chant 2 more per murti making it a nice and even 36 recitations .. (There are 12 murtis in the Cosmic Altar). Thanks to her, I had the benefit of being reminded of chanting this portion at the appropriate time and gain merit

Swamiji said in a recent online class, that the Vedas have four portions - the hymns, the rituals, the aranyakas (or the story of people moving into vanaprastha) and the upanishads or the philosophy.

A purana merely takes the 4 portions of the vedas and weaves them into a story so that the ordinary person could grasp at the meaning. So it is same of the Chandi which is from the Markandeya Purana - it is a story about 2 people that are frustrated with life and meet in a forest , and they are taught by a Rishi about a ritual to worship the Goddess - the ritual includes the hymn of worship and also the deep philosophy behind this worship.The 700 verses is nothing but an exposition on the 2 hymns from the Rig Veda - the Vedic Ratri Suktam and the Vedic Devi Suktam. The philosophy can be loosely worded as "When the dawn appears the darkness departs" - ie when we pray to the Divine, She takes away our asuric tendencies .

Please share your thoughts /opinions/ on this philosophy and how you would phrase it. Thank you.

For the benefit of some of our friends, (Deviji and Ushaji), here are the chapters to be chanted for a Seedha Path - this is the smallest complete recitation of the Chandi/message/8770

Chandi Maa Ki JaiNanda