DIVINEINFORMATION PART 26 Dear friends,
While going through one of my external memorydevice, I came across some good information stored from websites. I thought of sharing interestingones from them as a series. In part 26 , I am starting with 89TH item in thisposting. Sincerely Gopala krishnan 5-6-21 89 SANTHANAGOPALA HOMAM SANTHANA GOPALA HOMAMor PURUSHA SUKTHA HOMAM Dedicatedto Lord Maha vishnu.None other than Lord Maha Vishnu himself bestowedknowledge of this homa on Sanatkumara, who in turn instructed this to sageBodhayana. It is stated in theSuta Samhita. Putrapradam Aputraanaam Jayadam Jayakaaminaam BhuktidamBhuktikaamaanaam Mokshadam Moksha Kaaminaam meaning those who wish progeny,success in endeavors, worldly enjoyment and the final emancipation shall attainit by performing this. It is said that oneattains this human birth by performing meritorious deeds in the past lives. Inorder to continue the lineage of ours it is necessary that we be blessed withhealthy progeny. The Purusha sukta homa is said to be equal to thePutra kameshti yagna narrated in the Ramayana inproviding healthy progeny to the performer. The hymn glorifies Lord Vishnu asthe Purusha or the primordial being with innumerable heads, eyes and feet. Thelord is depicted as the cause of all living beings. It further describesthe manner in which different species occur from his various limbs. The hymnsare sixteen in number. 90 BHOOVARAHA HOMAM BHOO VARAHA HOMAMDedicated to Lord Mahavishnu .This homa is done to remove ill effects of not constructing a houseaccording to the tenets of the Vaastu Sastra, which prescribesvarious principles and techniques for constructing houses and temples. Houses, which are notbuilt according to this science, are said to invite various problems likediseases, marital disharmony, problems in the family, loss in business etc. These problems couldbe overcome by performing the Bhoo varaha Homam, more simply called the Bhoo varaha Homa. This homa isperformed as a part of Grihapravesa (house warming) ceremonies forthe overall happiness for those who live in the house 91 Sri Chandee Homam 'Chandior DURGA has been bestowed with defferent sakthis power from all devatas.Thereforeis also known as mahasakthy. Shewas born with the energy coming out of all the devatas bodies and combining tobecome one. Soshe could defeat the Rakshasas. Devil mahishasura who had become a threat tothe devatas.Durga devi is worshipped in many forms with each having its own significance.Thus there are different poojasassociated with her. We offer Navchandi is a Durga poojanormally done to make small wishes come true and can also beperformed for any other reason / occasion on any day according to the muhurtam. TheChandi homa is a very unique sacrificial rite involving powerful Saptasatimantras. These mantras are 700 in number, spreading across 13 chapters of theMarkandeya Purana. These chapters are divided into three parts. The 1st chapteris devoted to Goddess Durga, 2nd, 3rd and 4th chapters extol the greatness ofGoddess Mahalakshmi. The remaining chapters are devoted to Saraswathi, theGoddess of Learning. Byperforming the Chandi homa, the sufferings that are caused by hostile elements,are eradicated. Thesufferings resulting from poison, sorcery, thieves etc. are removed byperforming this homa. There is a popular Puranic saying kalau chandi vinayakauin this age of kali, onlytwo Gods respond immediately to the prayers of devotees, they are GoddessChandi and Lord Ganesha. The tantric texts Marichi Kalpa Vaarahi tantraand Chidambara rahasyam state the following as benefits of Chandi homa -attainment of health, wealth, prosperity, longevity, food, wealth, progeny,fame, success, strength etc, removal of fear, ailments, danger, defeat in thehand of adversaries etc. Byperforming the homa five times, evil planetary influences are removed. Theperformance of this homa seven times removes all fears, performance eleventimes begets royal influence and sixteen times begets progeny' 92 Swayamvara parvathy Homam Dedicatedto Goddess parvathy. The worship of achosen deity is indispensable for any person in attaining ones desires. Even though God is one, ancientseers have given us various forms of worship for the upliftment of ordinarymortals. Amongthese various forms of worships, most prominent is that of Shakti or the DivineMother. The divine mother took the incarnation of Goddess Parvati in order toget married to Lord Shiva. None other than Lord Shiva himself gave the Swayamvara Parvati mantrato Goddess Parvati. This enabled her to reunite with her divineconsort. Byperforming the Swayamvara Parvati homa, various obstacles that delay anymarriage are removed. The eligible bride or groom is blessed with suitablespouse' Homams are pujas performed for aparticular deity by invoking Agni - the God of fire. The goal of all Homams isthe prosperity of the people at large by energizing and protecting theenvironment. 93 ADORATION AND WORSHIP- Prana Pratishtha (Consecration) The Agamasprescribe certain objects of worship symbolising in form the Deities orrepresenting their dwelling places, as perceived by their seers. These are ofthree kinds: 1. Image,murti, which represents the Deity in human form with limbs and the like. 2. Emblemswhich stand for particular Deities. e.g., Saligram stone for Vishnu, Linga forSiva. 3. Diagrams- geometrical figures consisting of lines and curves, circles and squares andtriangles all of which are symbolic, called Yantras or Mandalas. The Yantraliterally means an instrument, the means by which worship is done. It is lookedupon as the body of the Mantra which itself is ensouled by the Devata. The Yantra is drawn or engraved onmetal or stone or on any surface. Mandala is a figure drawn on a surface andmay represent any Devata whereas the Yantra stands for a particular Devataalone. These arethe figures, pratima, symbols or representations of the Divinity which theworshipper places before him or her as pratik (symbol), for adoration andworship. 93a PRANA - PRATISHTHA (consecration) The imageor the diagram does not by itself become a fit object of worship. It remains but a material formuntil it is infused with a life principle. Theworshipper contemplates in his or her inner being the form of the Deity asinduced by the physical form before him or her, dwells upon it with an intenseconcentration and devotion; aspiritual force is generated as a result, and transmits this power,released in the consciousness of the person, to the object which then becomes alive with the spiritual energism.This is called the PRANA- PRATISHTHA, installation of life force. To such aliving form of a Deity is the worship offered, in which not only the mind andheart but the whole body of the worshipper participates. Traditionally this worship has sixteen stages:- 1. Asana(seating of the image 2. Svaagat (welcome of the Deity) 3. Paadya -water to cleanse the feet 4. Arghya -offerings 5. Aachman- water for sipping and cleaning the lips 6. Aachman offered again 7.Madhuparka - honey, ghee, milk and curds 8. Snaan - water to bathe the Deity 9. Vastra -garments 10.Aabharana ( ornaments) 11. Gandha- sandal paste or perfume 12. Pushpa - flowers 13. Dhupa -incense14. Dipa - light 15.Naivedya - food for consecration 16. Vandana - prayerful homage 94 idol worship Hindu idols represent this descent of the Supremein various forms. God made man but man in his turn made God in his ownimagination and set up idols which bore the forms of the figures conceived inhis mind. The worshipof idols, or Archavatara, is as old as the Vedas and Agamas running into theremotest past. When Arjuna remonstrated with Krishna that hewould not break his fast without his Sivapuja and when he could not perform his puja thatday, his idols having been left behind, his craving for a concrete form for hisSiva puja was satisfiedby Sri Krishna sitting down and folding his legs and arms in such a way as toresemble a Siva linga. Ekalavya proceeded to make an image of Drona. Forhis Acharya worship and Aradhana to attain proficiency in the art he wanted tolearn, archery. Excavationsin many places like Mohenjo Daro, etc. reveal innumerable proofs of idol worship aeonsand aeons ago. Panini (6th century B.C.) refers to idols and temples. Patanjali(2nd century B.C.) refers to such worship. It was quite common in the time ofYaska. Temples arementioned in the Ramayana. Archa form is in a general manner the image of man. Inthe Agamas the idols or Vigrahams are described thus: "An object of stone. Wood ormetal, usually fashioned in the form of a human being, in which certain spiritual forcesare focussed by the concentrated willpower of high-minded sculptors and otherartists, for the purpose of aiding a worshipper in acquiring that stability ofmind necessary to him for the contemplation of the ALL-PERVADING DIVINITY, aslaid down in the sacred Vedas and other reputed texts." God asconceived in this Archa form is believed to exist in an invisible form in theidols made out of stone, wood, metal or even masonry work. He is ofthe nature of the intellect. The force ofconcentration and the recital of certain mantras accompanied by properprescribed rituals make the invisible God made to enter the idol. So long as these are not polluted and as long asthey are worshipped continuously, the in-dwelling energy of God resides inthem. As magnetic attraction can be introduced in an ordinary piece of iron andis lost by disturbance, so also the images lose their power by pollution,negligence of performance of Vedic rites and rituals. There are fourkinds of images: i.Swayamvyakta: When God has manifested himself or has beenconsecrated by divine beings. By this the image is said to have come intoexistence out of God's own will, in visible forms. Sri Vaishnavite recognizeeight places of worship under this aspect, namely, Badrinath, Saligramam,Naimisaranyam, Pushkaram, Venkatachalam, Srimushnam, Srirangam and Totadri. ii.The second variety of Archadeities are those consecrated by Devas or Gods and later handed over tomen for continued worship. Examples, Simhachalam, Ahobilam, Kanchi. (iii) The thirdvariety of Archa form is that which the sages have consecrated. The Sthalapuranams ofthose places narrate the stories. At the request of the sages the deities consentedto remain at these sacred spots. 4) The lastvariety of idols were those installed by men. Such men had communion with God. Forinstance Lakshmi was born as the daughter of Akasaraja and she was given inmarriage to Vishnu in the form of Venkatesa. In Madurai, Parvati in the name ofMeenakshi was born as daughter of King Malayadhwaja Pandya and was given inmarriage to Sundareswarar. 95 Holy places There are274 Saivite holy places, which have been mentioned in the Thevaram -Thiruvachakam of thefour famous Nayanmars, Appar, Sundarar, Sambandar and Manickavachakar. Similarlyfor Vaishnavites, there are 108 sacred places dedicated to Vishnu. The 12 Azhwars ofVaishnavism and 63 Nayanmars; of Saivism made image worship very muchpronounced in South India. The subsequent preachers like Sankara, Ramanuja andtheir successors, continued the work. Our ancestors have left a vast wealth of templesand legends to us. Let us look at it with pride and after it with care anddevotion. I willcontinue in next posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thatha_patty+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/717007212.448527.1622857790423%40mail.yahoo.com.
