Doubt

[samarapungavan]

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Brahma Yagyam

Thank you, sir. Btw, what is “brahmayagyam”?

Dear Haridasa Siva,

Brahma Yagyam is one of the Pancha Yagyas forming part of the Nithya KarmAnushtAnam( The others being Deva,Pitru,Vaisvadeva,athithI Yagyams).

It is a yagyam performed to the Rishis by reciting one chapter of the veda shaka one has done Adyayanam starting with invocatory verses from all the vedas.

Regds,

 

[N.S.Venkateshwaran]

There is a provision called Kula Aacharam. We have to look and remember how our father, grand fathers do this and follow that in these matters.

 

[Haridasa Siva]

Ref. Post 26: Thank you. So, Brahmayagyam is different from sandyavandanam?

Ref. Post 27: You are right. But I live outside India and my father is no more. I want to comply with the rules as far as possible. I am afraid my brothers are either not so interested as I am in rituals or are not aware of the practice themselves.

 

[samarapungavan]

Ref. Post 26: Thank you. So, Brahmayagyam is different from sandyavandanam?

Yes Sri Haridasa siva. Brahmayagyam is different from Sandyavandanam.

Regds,
Ravi

 

[sangom]

On shraardam day, I and my wife do not have any mark on our forehead till the panda prathaanam is over. After that, both of us have our marks on our forehead. We light the lamp also only then. In the evening, we go to temple or do prayers at home, as we would do on any other day.

I want to know whether we should have the same practice for Tarpanam day also. There is one difference. Tarpanam gets over before I leave for work. Can I then chant Bagawan Nama on my way to work?

Shri Siva,

My clarification may not convince you, or anyone else, since I am an agnostic. But I have had enough experience of what the orthodox brahmins have done in the past and still do. Hence I venture to write this.

On Tharpanam and Sraaddham days wearing the caste marks is left to Kula aachaaram and each one may follow what his father and elders did. Some families wear sacred ash but generally the womenfolk do not wear the tilak till the "dakshinas" are given to the brahmins. But as a general rule which my elders and also some of the old-time vaadhyaars used to say, going to temple is strictly prohibited on these days because, after doing any pithrukarma one should not perform any deva karma because there is asuddhi till the next sunrise. In fact even the brahmanas who attend the Sraaddham and partake of the food are prohibited from going to any temple on that day after the eating of sraaddha meals. They have to chant gayatree1008 times standing in neck-deep water during the afternoon, as per some dharma sastras in order to wipe out the asuddhi arising out of the sraaddha bhojanam, skip all food for the rest of the day and perform only sandhyavandanam and oupasanam in the evening and no other japam. For instance they should not participate in the sahasranama japam in the evening which was compulsory during kaarthikai month.

Sastra being so, you can look around and see how the TBs have been violating these with very little respect to the Dharma sastra but still waxing eloquent about their brahminist purity.

I am very sure that no devakarma is allowed after any pithrukarma on a day. But we have the so-called neo-religionists and bhakti-champions who may say that reciting namam or doing bhajan, etc., can be done if there is purity of mind, devotion, etc. Thus the original vedic brahminism has been so utterly disfigured by the so-called bhakti cultists, some acharyas and so on, that what passes off today as orthodox brahminism is a pitiable caricature of the original idea of brahminism with many contradictory ideals and ideas mixed up and still we have enough people to swear by whatever they like and do as the TRUE brahmin way of living. This is one of the reasons why I turned agnostic.

 

[kunjuppu]

Ref. Post 26: Thank you. So, Brahmayagyam is different from sandyavandanam?

Yes Sri Haridasa siva. Brahmayagyam is different from Sandyavandanam.

Regds,
Ravi

brahmayagyam, from my days of never ending tharpanams, if i remember right,

is ode to the vedas, rishis and everyone in our pantheon, along with rice in your hand, and washed down with water from uthirani to thaambaalam; only brahma gets the maalai, everyone else is respected with the cross thread across the shoulders.

in those days, it meant to me, that the paraphernalia was ending and only vaadhiar sambhaavanai was left.

best wishes haridasa to your rituals....God Bless.

 

[Haridasa Siva]

Ref. Post 30.

Thank you Sangom sir. Even though you have declared yourself an agnostic, you have taken the pains of explaining things to give me some clarity. I appreciate it. I see a similar quality with Naraji as well. Both of you are principled and respect the people with opposite belief. As I have mentioned in this thread, I did not observe my father that closely nor did I ask him about these things. Now I want to learn them but my father is no more. That is why I seek help from the members of this forum. I want to be as orthodox as possible but I understand that I would only fall under your “neo-religionist” category since I do not adhere to the norms in totality. I am trying my best but sometimes ignorance and laziness/reluctance/apathy take better of me and I feel guilty later. I know that I am not and can not be a TRUE Brahmin as defined in shastras. That is why I do not claim any superiority though I do feel happy to be the Brahmin that I am.


Ref.31: Thank you, Haridasa Kunjuppu sir.:horn:

 

[sangom]

Ref. Post 30.

Thank you Sangom sir. Even though you have declared yourself an agnostic, you have taken the pains of explaining things to give me some clarity. I appreciate it. I see a similar quality with Naraji as well. Both of you are principled and respect the people with opposite belief.As I have mentioned in this thread, I did not observe my father that closely nor did I ask him about these things. Now I want to learn them but my father is no more. That is why I seek help from the members of this forum. I want to be as orthodox as possible but I understand that I would only fall under your “neo-religionist” category since I do not adhere to the norms in totality. I am trying my best but sometimes ignorance and laziness/reluctance/apathy take better of me and I feel guilty later. I know that I am not and can not be a TRUE Brahmin as defined in shastras. That is why I do not claim any superiority though I do feel happy to be the Brahmin that I am.


Ref.31: Thank you, Haridasa Kunjuppu sir.

Dear Shri Haridasa Siva,

May I point out, from what you have written above, that once you understand and accept that you, or for that matter anyone else, cannot be a TRUE brahmin today as envisaged by our Sastras, and are ever mindful of this shortcoming/inability on your part, don't you think there is nothing wrong in following the deviations like chanting god's name or going to temple/s on the sraaddham day? What I perceive is an innate desire in you to be as orthodox a brahmin as possible. Since that has been proven to be impossible today - and especially for a person like you, living and working in an African country - I would say, please wipe off that "guilt feeling" completely from your mind, unless you have deliberately been lazy or reluctant; ignorance need not cause any guilt feeling, till you come to know what is right.

Here we are concerned with the remembrance of our forefathers. Please see/read about the myriad approved and prescribed ways in which different populations of this world conduct the last rites of their parents, and the equally various ways in which people try to remember their dear departed ones. You will find then that the essence of all such things (rites) is remembrance with a loving attitude and nothing more. I feel if we can remember our parents on their Sraaddham day with reverence and gratitude for giving us protection and bringing us up till we were in a position to earn something and look after ourselves (without throwing the infant in some cradle baby scheme or something similar) and do whatever is possible to help destitutes on that day, it will be adequate respect to them. I have been contributing money for poor feeding on Sraaddham days in a Temple here and am not performing any religious ceremony at home. But in that temple, not only some destitutes but many lazy fellows also get fed. Lately I found out one old age home run by the Kanchi Matham in Chennai and have been giving one day's meals to all the inmates there. My brother who resides in Chennai gave a good certificate saying that this old age home is run reasonably well and all the inmates are really deserving of charity and help.

 

[Haridasa Siva]

Ref. Post 33:

What you have said is largely true. My father celebrated one of his birthdays in an old age home and luckily I was in India at that time on holiday. I sponsored that event. He later asked me to donate an emergency lamp in the bath room of that old age home since there were frequent power outages. I did that as well. Unfortunately, that happened to be my father’s last birth day. So, for his first death anniversary, I donated for all the meals for all the inmates of that old age home for 4 days. Yes. Helping the poor is a fitting tribute to the departed. But at the same time I want to keep up the religious side also. And I want to do it as right as possible.

 

[Haridasa Siva]

Can Indrakshi sthothram be chanted any time of the day or it should be done only in sandya kaala?

Earlier I raised a doubt about Adityahrudayam and it was clarified that it can not be chanted after sun set.

 

[Iyyarooraan]

According to some advice, you should do Sandhyavandanam even at bad and good theettu.

 

[tbs]

hi
there are 5 yajnams do every day....apart from sandhyavanandam....deva...pitur...bhoota....bhrama....manushya yajnams...

deva puja...nitya panchatana puja for smartas.....to feed crows for pitur...to feed cow/dogs...bhoota yajnam....brhmayajnam

for grihasthas...samidha dhaanam for brahmacharis.....helping human beings is called manushya yajnams....just info


regards
tbs

 

[tbs]

hi siva
indrakshi stotram generally in sandhya kaalam....i did many years in my childhood.....adhiyahrudayam is good in early mornings...

like surya namaskarams....... i byhearted throughly abt indrakshi stotram and adhityahrudayam in my childhood....just info....

regards
tbs

 

[sangom]

I think that the origin of the deity "indrākṣī" is in the Kashmiri Kaula Tantra methods. Over the centuries this indrākṣī stotra has somehow come down to us. I have not been able to find out in which purana or other text it forms part of or whether we have lifted it from the Tantric text itself.

The deity indrākṣī is an ugramūrti in essence, as may be seen from the dhyānaśloka itself which says, netrāṇām daśabhiḥ śataiḥ parivṛtāṃ atyugra carmāmbarām | hemābhāṃ mahatīm viḷambita śikhāṃ āmukta keśānvitāṃ | ghhaṇḍāmaṇḍita pādapadmayugaḷāṃ nāgendra kumbhastanīṃ| etc. (indrākṣī has a thousand eyes, is clad in ugracarma or fierce skin : (exact meaning of the word ugra here is not known to me.) she has her long hair all let loose, wears anklets adorned with bells and she has breasts like the pot carried by the king of serpents.)

Both the facts of its Tantric roots and the description in the dhyānaśloka makes indrākṣī an ugramūrti.

Though the rest of the stotra makes an effort to equate the indrākṣī concept with kātyāyanī, sāvitrī, gāyatrī, brahmāṇī, nārāyaṇī, etc., the basic fact remains that this stotra is not a sātvīka one. It will therefore be prudent to stick to tradition and recite this during evening sandhya only.

One more point to note is that according to Tantric rules, the female deity and the male deity have to be propitiated together; so, whenever indrākṣī is recited, it should immediately be followed by śivakavacaṃ, just as rudram has to be followed by camakam though for a different reason.

 

[Haridasa Siva]

Thank you very much, Sangom sir.
I used to attend prayers in a nearby temple when I was a boy. We used to chant Sivakavacha sthothram immediately after chanting Indrakshi Sthothram in those prayers. I would follow your suggestion.

Incidentally, today, I did Maadhyannikam with vibhuti on my forehead and proceeded to do Tarpanam with vibhuti still left in my forehead. I did not chant Bhagawan nama as it was advised in this thread not to do deva karma on a day we do pitru karma.

 

[vijayramanathan]

doub

a brahmin has to have vibhuti on his forehead while doing his nithyakarma like sandhyavandanam. Tarpanam or ceremony has to be performed during midday afte completing maadhyannikam. And the brahmin’s forehead should not have vibhuti while performing tarpanam, etc. But if one has vibhuti to perform sandhyavandanam and then proceeds to do tarpanam or ceremony, should one remove the vibhuti or is it ok to leave it?

i would appreciate the views of our learned members in this regard.

dear siva.

Sandhyavandanam is performed in the morning and you can have vibhuthi.but srardham is performed around 11.30 or 12 after taking bath.i feel after taking bath do mathyanigam with out vibhuthi perform srardham have vibhuthi and do brahmayagyam.

Hope i am correct because i am following it.

Any clarification from any known perdon

ramani

 

[Haridasa Siva]

Do we need to take bath and do morning sandyavandanam and again take bath before maadyaannikam? Is this only for shraartham or for Amaavaasya also?

 

[sangom]

Do we need to take bath and do morning sandyavandanam and again take bath before maadyaannikam? Is this only for shraartham or for Amaavaasya also?

Though one honourable member has sort of chastised me for giving clarifications to doubts regarding rituals and slokas, I give what I have learnt from elders and by observing what they used to do.

In doing Sandhyavandanam the most essential thing is the time; morning before sunrise, maadhyaahnikam when the sun is in the local meridien (above the head, in common parlance) and evening sandhyaa before sunset. Some hold that this stipulation is for doing arghyapradaanam to the sun-god and once this is complied with, the rest of the sandhyaavandanam proper as also gaayatree japam can take time thereafter. I have known one ghanapathikal who used to do 1008 gaayatree and he would finish his morning sandhyaa only by 9 A.M.

Bath is only secondary as far as sandhyaavandanam is concerned. The only exception is that after sexual intercourse one should not perform sandhyaa without taking bath and changing clothes. Same might hold good for maadhyaahnikam as well but since the above referred asuddham happening between morning sandhyaa and noon is very rare occurrence, we may not have to take bath before maadhyaahnikam.

The custom of taking bath before sraaddham is a family tradition; in our paternal family, there is no custom of taking bath before sraaddham (or tarpanam).

 

[Haridasa Siva]

Sangom sir,

Thank you for your advice. Please continue to give your opinion on these matters, if you believe it can help. I do not know what made you an agnostic but I do feel that people like you and Naraji should be involved in these matters more and more and guide the younger generation. In stead of finding the rituals superstitious or cumbersome or meaningless, you must try to intrepret it with your knowledge and improvise them so that they become easy to understand and easy to practise. That way, in stead of being an outsider, you people can play an inclusive role and you can have the satisfaction that you have guided a generation. Your non belief in rituals might not help anyone but your involvement would be of great help to people like me. This is my humble opinion. Please forgive me if I have transgresed into your personal policy.

 

[vijayramanathan]

Kesavadhi manas are

kesava,narayana,madhava.govinda,vishnu.madhusudhana,

thirivikrama.vamana.,sreedhara,hrishikesa,padmanabha and dhamodhara.

Ramani

 

[vijayramanathan]

During tharpanam the restriction of not applying vibhudhi is only for us only till it is over and for for ladies it is not applicable.that is what i am following,

any body to approve to correct it pl

 

[sangom]

Sangom sir,

Thank you for your advice. Please continue to give your opinion on these matters, if you believe it can help. I do not know what made you an agnostic but I do feel that people like you and Naraji should be involved in these matters more and more and guide the younger generation. In stead of finding the rituals superstitious or cumbersome or meaningless, you must try to intrepret it with your knowledge and improvise them so that they become easy to understand and easy to practise. That way, in stead of being an outsider, you people can play an inclusive role and you can have the satisfaction that you have guided a generation. Your non belief in rituals might not help anyone but your involvement would be of great help to people like me. This is my humble opinion. Please forgive me if I have transgresed into your personal policy.

Dear Shri Haridas Siva,

My view as an agnostic (that there is possibly a supreme power which supervises and actuates the entire universe, but man or any of the religions that man has made till date, do not know that power; neither has science been able to do that so far. But as and when science does it that will be the accurate knowledge about that supreme power.) is to furnish my views and not to proselytise into the agnostics group.

But I do not think people like myself of Shri Nara want to "improvise them so that they become easy to understand and easy to practise" because first of all we are no authorities inside the religion and secondly the diverse rituals are all based on as diverse premises and arguments. Hence my job will stop at telling what the sastras prescribe and what the orthodox elders of yesteryears practised.

 

[kgopalan]

In samksepa dharma sastram in sratha praharanam chapter chapter 31 page 343 Manu says: after 12 naaligai=10-48 AM give oil and churnam to sastrigals and after their snaanam kartha must take bath. for the second time on pithru sratha day. Kartha must finish madhyanikam by 10-30. AM.

:"suchir vaapi asuchir vapi kaalae sandhyam kuryath"= sudhano asudhano kaalathil sandhi sai;" kaanaamal konamal kandu kodu"=beforesunrise; at noon and before sunset give argyam to sun in sandhya vandhanam. Time is important here. you need not take bath thrice daily for doing sandhya vandhanam. For amavasya tharpanam Ramakrishna math publication book says you have to take bath for second time to do amavasya tharpanam.

 

[Haridasa Siva]

I have the following understanding about what one should observe during Mahalaya Paksham:

1. Avoid onion, garlic, drum stick and radish
2. Have saatvik food – less or no spices
3. Avoid sex
4. Do tarpanam on Mahalaya Amaavasya, similar to the tarpanam on other Amaavaasya. Btw, does anyone have a tapana manthraa applicable to Telugu Brahmins?
5. No need to do any other ritual on other days of Mahalaya Paksham
6. One can visit temples and do prayers.

I want to get clarification on the following:
1. I am not sure whether one can perform archanai and abishekam at home. Can one celebrate Pradosham/Sankatahara chathurthi or Sathyanaarayana pooja?
2. I also want to know whether one can observe fasting for God (like Santhoshi maatha viratham).

I need help from our members (a) to confirm whether my understanding is correct and (b) to clarify my doubts. Thanks in advance.

 

[sangom]

I have the following understanding about what one should observe during Mahalaya Paksham:

1. Avoid onion, garlic, drum stick and radish
2. Have saatvik food – less or no spices
3. Avoid sex
4. Do tarpanam on Mahalaya Amaavasya, similar to the tarpanam on other Amaavaasya. Btw, does anyone have a tapana manthraa applicable to Telugu Brahmins?
5. No need to do any other ritual on other days of Mahalaya Paksham
6. One can visit temples and do prayers.

I want to get clarification on the following:
1. I am not sure whether one can perform archanai and abishekam at home. Can one celebrate Pradosham/Sankatahara chathurthi or Sathyanaarayana pooja?
2. I also want to know whether one can observe fasting for God (like Santhoshi maatha viratham).

I need help from our members (a) to confirm whether my understanding is correct and (b) to clarify my doubts. Thanks in advance.

Dear HS,

mahaalaya is much more central and important to those who are inclined to believe. See here

There are many more things to be observed during mahalaya paksha and the most important is the Sraaddha, at least on one day in the fortnight; on all days is recommended.

Doing abhishekam and archanai at home will not come in the way of Mahalayam. I think we may not be celebrating
Pradosham/Sankatahara chathurthi or Sathyanaarayana pooja, but observing/performing; that should be OK imo.