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Poojas and homams

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Dear Ozone,

I found it..what I was referring to in my earlier post.It was not from Svetashvatara Upanishad but from Manusmirti :Prathama Parisista 13:14

purA- kalpe kumArINAm
maunjI-bandhananam-Ihyate
adhyApanam ca vedAnAm sAvitri-vachanam tathA.

In olden times the upanayana was performed for the girls too.
They were taught the Vedas and the gAyatri mantra.
 
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Dear Ozone,

I found it..what I was referring to in my earlier post.It was not from Svetashvatara Upanishad but from Manusmirti :Prathama Parisista 13:14

purA- kalpe kumArINAm
maunjI-bandhananam-Ihyate
adhyApanam ca vedAnAm sAvitri-vachanam tathA.

In olden times the upanayana was performed for the girls too.
They were taught the Vedas and the gAyatri mantra.
thanks.
Here's some more
Among the educated women in the Vedic time, gArgI is the pioneer.
In the court of the King Janaka, there is an assembly of the meritorious and educated persons who used to argue or debate on BrahmavidyA. In this court a debate is held among the seers like yAjNAvalkya. When all the renowned seers were defeated by yAjNAvalkya in the battle of debate, gArgI challenges him.

In the same (BrhadAranyaka) upanishad there is a beautiful discourse between yAjNAvalkya and his wife maitreyI. maitreyI is called brahmavAdinI - knower of Brahman ...

Have you heard about
nrtyam gItam stRInAm karma?
 
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Have you heard about
nrtyam gItam stRInAm karma?

Yes I have heard and you know Ozone...

In this world everyone (genetic male/female both) is Prakirti(Stri) and only Paramatma is Purusha..so all of us indeed need to learn to dance and sing around the Lord for the ultimate union of Prakirti and Purusha.
 
Dear Ozone,

I found it..what I was referring to in my earlier post.It was not from Svetashvatara Upanishad but from Manusmirti :Prathama Parisista 13:14

purA- kalpe kumArINAm
maunjI-bandhananam-Ihyate
adhyApanam ca vedAnAm sAvitri-vachanam tathA.

In olden times the upanayana was performed for the girls too.
They were taught the Vedas and the gAyatri mantra.

purA-kalpe....... means approximately how many years before....?

Regards
 
God knows..which Kalpa that line was referring too.

I have two or three small queries regarding Manu Smrithi:

1. I think it is in "sutras". While writing bhAshyAm on brahma-sutrA, Adi Sankara and Sri RamunajA interpreted the sutrAs differently. Some sutrAs Adi Sankara treated as new adhikarNa while Sri Ramunaja treated the same as continuation of the previous one and vice versa.

So when two such great stalwarts in Sanskrit had at least a bit of difficulty in separating the terse sutra text, how come manu vAdis and manu bashers have no such difficulty?

2. In hinduism, prostrations are offerred to Gurus and so we have stotras to Sankara, Vyasa, Sai baba etc. I have not come across such stotras or stutis to Manu...... How come....?

3. Is/Was Manu-smriti resurrected for political purposes only?

Regards
 
I have two or three small queries regarding Manu Smrithi:

1. I think it is in "sutras". While writing bhAshyAm on brahma-sutrA, Adi Sankara and Sri RamunajA interpreted the sutrAs differently. Some sutrAs Adi Sankara treated as new adhikarNa while Sri Ramunaja treated the same as continuation of the previous one and vice versa.

So when two such great stalwarts in Sanskrit had at least a bit of difficulty in separating the terse sutra text, how come manu vAdis and manu bashers have no such difficulty?

2. In hinduism, prostrations are offerred to Gurus and so we have stotras to Sankara, Vyasa, Sai baba etc. I have not come across such stotras or stutis to Manu...... How come....?

3. Is/Was Manu-smriti resurrected for political purposes only?

Regards

I have no idea.
 
There is a simple rule. What is said in vedas is to be followed without deviation. Thare are many things which are not explicitly stated in vedas as mandatory or prohibited. For these the acharyas and religious leaders decide taking the help of puranas, dharmasastras, smruthis and local practices. These will vary from place to place and community to community.

In pune, maharashtra, there are lady priests to officiate rituals.

So anybody can do anything is not correct but has to be qualified.



IMHO I feel why should there be any problem in reciting anything whether ladies or gents..isnt Sanathana Dharma all about "I am the Atma and I am not the body?"
So for all practical purposes the body is just a garment..so for me I recite what ever I know and have also recited Sri Rudram at home on my own.I am not physically initiated at all in anyway.I personally feel initiation is when our mind accepts what we sincerely believe.

But this is my personal view..it might surely differ from the general view.


Just to add..we initiate ourselves when we are born into this world with our very breath Sah Aham=So'ham
 
You are right. I don't think manusmruti was ever followed. There is no record of punishments or bounties given to any varna as per manusmruthi. Bride money was also not paid by the groom except in some tribal communities. It is worth discussing manusmruti in a separate thread.

I have two or three small queries regarding Manu Smrithi:

1. I think it is in "sutras". While writing bhAshyAm on brahma-sutrA, Adi Sankara and Sri RamunajA interpreted the sutrAs differently. Some sutrAs Adi Sankara treated as new adhikarNa while Sri Ramunaja treated the same as continuation of the previous one and vice versa.

So when two such great stalwarts in Sanskrit had at least a bit of difficulty in separating the terse sutra text, how come manu vAdis and manu bashers have no such difficulty?

2. In hinduism, prostrations are offerred to Gurus and so we have stotras to Sankara, Vyasa, Sai baba etc. I have not come across such stotras or stutis to Manu...... How come....?

3. Is/Was Manu-smriti resurrected for political purposes only?

Regards
 
I have a question here that if Mantras are not chanted properly Is it true there will be negative impact ? Some of us do not have proper Guru for vedas to teach us so some sanskrit words may be mispronounced.That is why I am curious to know as I am one of them.
 
The following sloka from the samskrita Google group will explain the issue to some extent. Even in ordinary conversation, mispronunciation can lead to unwanted results. Since mantras are for oral reciting and not written down, proper pronunciation is a must; perhaps most of us who only want to recite and not to teach or propagate the mantras, slips in pronunciation may be acceptable.

यद्यपि बहु नाधीषे तथापि पठ पुत्र व्याकरणम्।
स्वजनः श्वजनो माऽभूत्सकलं शकलं सकृत्शकृत्॥

Son, even if you do not become very learned, yet do study grammar, so
that स्वजन does not become श्वजन (a dog), सकल (the whole) does not
become शकल (a broken piece), nor does सकृत् (one time) become शकृत्
(a dung heap).
 
I started this tread to have very useful informations about pujas and homas. I have to thank everyone who is participating in asking questions so that people like me find it useful. I also welcoming others who are also well verse in Prayers to share their views.
 
அனைவருக்கும் நமஸ்காரம்.

கணபதி ஹோமம், நவக்ரஹ ஹோமத்திற்கும், மற்றும் உபநயநத்திற்கும் தேவையான
பொருள்கள் எனன என்பதை அறிய விரும்பிகிறேன். வாததியார் விவரங்களை கொடுத்திருக்கிறார்,
பொருட்கள் விட்டு விடாமல் இருக்க, இந்த வேண்டுகோள்.

நாராயணன்.
 
The best way to learn mantras is from a guru.Now, there are cassettes/CDs available where people who done veda adhyayanam have recited pooja mantras,sri Rudram, Chamakam,Suktams etc.which could be played repeatedly and listened in order to pick up the correct pronounciation.
 
There is no greater feeling than that of taking prasad after homam performed in your own pristine and clean house. Every part of it is wonderful and an opportunity to worship. When we perform homam or even more particularly when we have a priest perform homam we are given a unique opportunity to conduct a shodasopacara puja of sorts directly to the priest (god's own advocate). The lord is joyous when we worship his devotees and the inviting in, ofering of seat, washing of feet, offering of the dakshina, the gift of new cloth (angavastram whatever) etc is a unique way in which we are able to love and worship on a meta level. A living puja before the homam if you will. It is never cheap or convenient to do but I cannot stress enough the benefit and shakti that it bring to resonate in the home.

We see a Homam or a Havan is generally performed in every house on various
occasions for different objects. Divine Gods are invoked in the Sacred Fire.
Holy Mantras are chanted, by a number of learned people according to the type
of Homam, and on account of that the vibrations are generated, which gives
lot of benefits to the people who attend such Homams. In fact, the Smoke that
comes out of the Sacred Fire is a very powerful healing energy. The Pusmam is
preserved in the House after the Homam is over. Homams are performed on
various occasions viz. House Warming Function, Wedding Function, Sashi Apta
Poorthi, etc. Some people perform Homam particularly for getting protection
from evil spirits, Navagraha Dosham, Spiritual Enlightenment, etc.
Elders used to advise in those days, at least once a year, that a Homam should be
done in a House to have purity of the atmosphere within the House.

Balasubramanian
Ambattur
 
Very very true. But even after upadesa of that sort one absolutely must practice on their own as I am pretty sure none of us are in patasala and if we were we wouldn't be asking such questions :) So that said....

S. Prakash Kaushik has recorded and released several flawless reditions of namakam, chamakam , and several suktams (prusha, Durga, Narayana, etc) I cannot recommend them highly enough.

The best way to learn mantras is from a guru.Now, there are cassettes/CDs available where people who done veda adhyayanam have recited pooja mantras,sri Rudram, Chamakam,Suktams etc.which could be played repeatedly and listened in order to pick up the correct pronounciation.
 
But sometimes one can get severe respiratory allergies/sinusitis and even bronchospasm from Homa smoke.
I wonder if becos the ingredients used these days are not as pure as before??

I attended a Homa once where I had to give the priest some medication after the Homa cos he was having an asthma attack induced by smoke.
His lungs were really in a very very bad shape.
 
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