Lom-bi-Lom : Can you chant forwards AND backwards ?

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

So it is the big night of Shiva at the Mandir... and everything is

going as planned . People are beginning to look sleepy - this too is

going as planned, after all the body hardly lies.

 

We have sung a lot of bhajans, danced and pranced to our hearts

content, chanted the Rudri, finished a 100 rounds of "Om Namah

Shivaya" , listened to Swamiji on "the determination of Shiva" and

struggling bravely to keep awake... when Swamiji has this

inspiration.

 

He wants us to chant lom-bi-lom.

 

What is lom-bi-lom? It is a way of chanting the Mahamrityunjaya

mantra with a samput.

 

As readers might know, a samput is a set of "extra" mantra(s) added

either to the beginning or the end or both of the standard

recitation to lengthen one's chanting.

 

The lom-bi-lom is a samput added to the Mahamrityunjay mantra , to

both ends - the beginning and the end of the mantra, BUT the ending

samput is the EXACT reverse of the beginning samput.

 

The samput is

"Om Jum Sah Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah"

 

So when chanted with the Mahamrityunjay mantra it goes like this

 

Om Jum Sah Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah

Tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushti vardhanam

Urvarukamiva Bandhanaan Mrtyor mukshiya maamrtat

SVAH BHUVAH BHUR OM SAH JUM OM.

 

Notice how the last line is the exact reverse of the first.

 

Well all of us present knew the MM mantra, and most of us knew "Om

Jum Sah" and "Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah"

 

So the first three lines we rattled off flawlessly.

It was in the fourth line that we all ran into problems - trying to

remember the reverse of"Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah" and " Om Jum Sah" and

then end it all with a svaha and offer to the fire.

 

Lots of giggling and snickering later ... we realised we were wide

awake just trying to remember the Samput.

 

Swamiji scores again ! JAI Swamiji !

 

BTW, Swamiji has approved for us to chant the Mahamrityunjaya mantra

with the lom-bi-lom samput. So hope you are reading this dear

efficient Karen and will organize for this starting the NEXT

saturday.

 

Jai Shiva

Nanda

[Guest guest]

Nandaji,

Please count me in for this Sat.'s prayer group.

Pranams,

Surya

-

Nanda

Thursday, March 10, 2005 5:52 PM

Lom-bi-Lom : Can you chant forwards AND backwards ?

Dear All,So it is the big night of Shiva at the Mandir... and

everything is going as planned . People are beginning to look sleepy

- this too is going as planned, after all the body hardly lies.We

have sung a lot of bhajans, danced and pranced to our hearts content,

chanted the Rudri, finished a 100 rounds of "Om Namah Shivaya" ,

listened to Swamiji on "the determination of Shiva" and struggling

bravely to keep awake... when Swamiji has this inspiration.He wants

us to chant lom-bi-lom.What is lom-bi-lom? It is a way of chanting

the Mahamrityunjaya mantra with a samput. As readers might know, a

samput is a set of "extra" mantra(s) added either to the beginning or

the end or both of the standard recitation to lengthen one's

chanting.The lom-bi-lom is a samput added to the Mahamrityunjay

mantra , to both ends - the beginning and the end of the mantra, BUT

the ending samput is the EXACT reverse of the beginning samput.The

samput is "Om Jum Sah Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah"So when chanted with the

Mahamrityunjay mantra it goes like thisOm Jum Sah Om Bhur Bhuvah

SvahTryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushti vardhanamUrvarukamiva

Bandhanaan Mrtyor mukshiya maamrtatSVAH BHUVAH BHUR OM SAH JUM

OM.Notice how the last line is the exact reverse of the first.Well

all of us present knew the MM mantra, and most of us knew "Om Jum

Sah" and "Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah"So the first three lines we rattled off

flawlessly.It was in the fourth line that we all ran into problems -

trying to remember the reverse of"Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah" and " Om Jum

Sah" and then end it all with a svaha and offer to the fire.Lots of

giggling and snickering later ... we realised we were wide awake just

trying to remember the Samput. Swamiji scores again ! JAI Swamiji

!BTW, Swamiji has approved for us to chant the Mahamrityunjaya mantra

with the lom-bi-lom samput. So hope you are reading this dear

efficient Karen and will organize for this starting the NEXT

saturday. Jai ShivaNanda