Procedure for doing Japa

[bhagirathi]

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Generally Japas are done by people without Nyasa. When you get Upadeśa of a Japa with Nyasa, you have to continue to do so. My question is
(1) Is nyasa important to do Japa?
(2) Prelude calls for taking head bath and do Japa. Is it acceptable to do Japa without taking head bath i.e., taking bath below neck./wiping the body with wet cloth and applying viboothy/Naamam/Gopichanthanam etc.
(3) Sometimes, due to inability to take bath, people wipe the whole body with wet cloth. Old age people and just recovered from sickness & cold weather come on the way to take full bath. On such occasions, what is the advice to do Japa?

 

[kgopalan]

nyasa is important to do mantra japa. mantra japa must be done in sitting posture only. if the old maan, and people in convalescence period they must do japa according to the will power and strength of that individual the japa time will vary. In these times it is adjustable .

 

[bhagirathi]

Thank you . Kindly advise for point No. 2. I am 88 years old with comorbidities and unable to take head bath sometimes. The weather is also cold here in Bangalore prohibiting me to take head bath even with hot water. Since I had Upadeśa for Ganapathy Mantra, I am unable to do with Nyasa. What shall I do on such occasions? Can I do Sankalpam as "laghu kramena bina Nyasena cha karishye" and then recite Dhyana Slokam, mantra japam and punar Dhyana Slokam and then Kayanavacha etc. Unfortunately my upadesa guru is no more and I did not also get this clarification from him.
Awaiting your reply.

 

[kgopalan]

utter on a cow ear the ganesha mantra.then afterwards you need not do ganesha mantra japam. tell rama, krishna, govindha, achyutha . do rama japam.

 

[bhagirathi]

Gopalan sir, Thank you. In this context, there is another point I wish to clarify.
Our Vaadhyar says that you can do Sandhyavandanam even without taking bath since it is a Nithya karma. As instructed, some days I wipe the body with cloth after dipping in hot water, change the clothes, apply Viboothy and carry on the Sandhyavandanam except in those days I suffer from fever. Of course on these days I just could not do Sandhyavandanam. Once the fever goes away, I do Sandhyavandanam as stated above. Is it acceptable? I have also heard that the son(s)/shishya (to whom brahmopadesham given by me) can do Gayathri Japa and offer it to me. Is it correct information? Is there any Prayaschittam to be done before restarting Sandhyavandanam. Nowadays how do I expect from my son/shishya to do this since they themselves don't do regularly? Sorrowful state of affair.
Sorry for bothering you.

 

[Mur61]

Gopalan sir, Thank you. In this context, there is another point I wish to clarify.
Our Vaadhyar says that you can do Sandhyavandanam even without taking bath since it is a Nithya karma. As instructed, some days I wipe the body with cloth after dipping in hot water, change the clothes, apply Viboothy and carry on the Sandhyavandanam except in those days I suffer from fever. Of course on these days I just could not do Sandhyavandanam. Once the fever goes away, I do Sandhyavandanam as stated above. Is it acceptable? I have also heard that the son(s)/shishya (to whom brahmopadesham given by me) can do Gayathri Japa and offer it to me. Is it correct information? Is there any Prayaschittam to be done before restarting Sandhyavandanam. Nowadays how do I expect from my son/shishya to do this since they themselves don't do regularly? Sorrowful state of affair.
Sorry for bothering you.

Dear Bhagirathi,
By the writing of you, I assume you are a male brahmin (your name suggests otherwise), you are fully authorised to do sandhyavandan, without taking bath (especially during the early hours of the morning) as it is nithya karma. But for doing maahdhyaniham, taking bath before it is mandatory. If you are ill, then it is altogether a different matter. Even during those such similar periods , chanting Gayathri mantra will be sufficient. Doing Gayathri japa and offering to some one , I am hearing for the first time. Like Thirumoolar said, " Yavarkumam oru kaipidi annam,
அன்பில்லாதவன் கடவுளை அறிய முடியாது. ஏனென்றால் அன்புதான் கடவுள். “அன்பும் சிவமும் இரண்டென்பர் அறிவிலார், அன்பே சிவமாவது ஆரும் அறிகிலர்” என்பது நம் திருமூலர் திருமந்திரமாகும்.


திருமூலர் அருளிய திருமந்திரம்:


“யாவர்க்குமாம் இறைவற்கொரு பச்சிலை
யாவர்க்குமாம் பசுவுக்கொரு வாயுறை

யாவர்க்குமாம் உண்ணும் போதொரு கைப்பிடி
யாவர்க்குமாம் பிறர்க்கு இன்னுரை தானே”


இந்த மந்திரம் வேதத்திற்கு சமமானதாகும்.எளிமையான ஆனால் வலிமையான பதப்பிரயோகம். இதில் உபதேசிக்கப்பட்ட தர்மங்களை யாரும், எவ்வித கஷ்டமும் இல்லாமல் எப்போதும் செய்யலாம். பகவான் பக்தியைத்தான் பார்கிறார். பக்தன் என்ன கொண்டு வருகிறான் என்று பார்பதில்லை.


ஒரு கை புல்,ஒரு கை பொரி, அன்போடு படைத்தால் விநாயகர் வசப்படுவார். சில துளசி இலைகளில் மஹா விஷ்ணு வசப்பட்டுவிடுவார். சில துளி கங்கா தீர்த்தம்,வில்வம் இவற்றால் பரமேஸ்வரன் உச்சி குளிர்ந்து விடுகிறார். சின்னச் சின்ன அகல் விளக்குகளில் மகாலட்சுமி பிரசன்னமாகிவிடுகிறார். இப்படி அன்போடு செய்யப்படும் பக்தியால் இறைவனை அடையலாம்.

 

[bhagirathi]

Dear sir, I am a male brahmin of 88 yrs old as told in earlier post. Due to advanced age and health with comorbidities it has become difficult to carry on as before. I want to keep it to minimum (Gayathri only) till the end. I hope Gayathri mantra cannot be offered back to mantra devathai thru Cow (Kamadhenu) which is supposed to contain all mantras in it. Of course, it can only be relinquished at the time of SANYAS (Apath sanyasam). Nowadays it is difficult to take Apath sanyasam due to so many hurdles. My forefathers had taken Apath sanyasam in the village where environment was conducive. That was the reason to start this post.
What you have written in Tamil is absolutely correct. Since Bhagwan says "SARVA DHARMAN PARITHYAJYA maamegam charanam vraja" I thought to leave all mantras and recitation of slokas and only chant the name of God (Narayana... Govinda.. etc and pass on the days. What is your opinion about leaving Gayathri mantra and start chanting God's name. Regards. H Sankaranarayanan

 

[renuka]

Dear sir, I am a male brahmin of 88 yrs old as told in earlier post. Due to advanced age and health with comorbidities it has become difficult to carry on as before. I want to keep it to minimum (Gayathri only) till the end. I hope Gayathri mantra cannot be offered back to mantra devathai thru Cow (Kamadhenu) which is supposed to contain all mantras in it. Of course, it can only be relinquished at the time of SANYAS (Apath sanyasam). Nowadays it is difficult to take Apath sanyasam due to so many hurdles. My forefathers had taken Apath sanyasam in the village where environment was conducive. That was the reason to start this post.
What you have written in Tamil is absolutely correct. Since Bhagwan says "SARVA DHARMAN PARITHYAJYA maamegam charanam vraja" I thought to leave all mantras and recitation of slokas and only chant the name of God (Narayana... Govinda.. etc and pass on the days. What is your opinion about leaving Gayathri mantra and start chanting God's name. Regards. H Sankaranarayanan

Dear Sir,
The
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ

Is a concept of total surrender where one fully submits to the will of God and empties himself of all preconceived notions that he has adhered to or stood for in life.

The word Dharma is from the root word dhr which means to stand.

So here Shree Krishna is telling us to delete all preconceived notions about everything we thought we knew.
It does not mean just giving up something to adhere to another self created path of worship.

The deeper meaning is when we surrender to God and stand as a blank clean slate, He will guide us towards what He feels is most conducive for us.

Some type of message will reach us either as a flash of inspiration message in our brain or someone might convey a message to us or we could even see the message somewhere on any place or through any medium.
When the message is the one meant for us, we would know it by our heart and not through our mind.

Also we have no idea how long it takes for us to receive the message.

You may feel like reciting mantras of your liking or your nithya karma procedure till your message arrives.

The message could be different from what we expect and it constantly gets updated too when we surrender to God.

Its very much like how we get updates from Microsoft.
It just appears from time to time to update our system.
Also most important fact is in the state of surrender even our Guru cant stand in between us and God.

So seeking opinions from anyone wont work at this stage, its up to us to allow our own system to update.

Ask God " Guide me, what should I do"

Best of luck.

 

[pvguruvadhyar]

When is bishma Astami

 

[kgopalan]

08-02-2022 as per madathu drikganitha panchangam.