QUES ANSW DIVINE 06-2022-03 Dear friends,
These are information compiled as QA by me in1998’s-2014’s and stored in my computer. They are posted by very learnt members. BEING COMPILATION THERE MAYBE ERRORS. Sincerely, R. Gopalakrishnan, 78, dated 04-06-2022 Q1 Can you give some information about Soundarya lahari? A1 The large parts of India also celebrate Vijayadasami asthe culmination of nine days of Duragapuja !... For extolling Sakthi there isnothing more exhilarating than reading Sankaracharyas Saundaryalahari !!. Everysloka of Saundaryalahari is a mantra with its own Yantra ! .. It is a poemdisplaying the finest touches Poetry extremely pleasing to read. But knowing itsantecedents this aspect is of least concern to the most. The most ardently feltthought about " Saundaryalahari " is it is Stotra . It is a stotra inpraise of Goddess Tripura sundari For thepractitioners of Saundaryalahari , it is a series of Mantras to be used byupasakas along with Yantras where in the Goddess is to be conceived asresiding. From the point ofview of Vedantins , it is also an exposition of the Agama or and Tantrasbearing on the worship of the Supreme being in its aspect of Sakti , known asSrividjya . There are several legends about this work One legend saysthat, once Adi Shankara visited Kailash to worship Shiva andParvathi . There, the Lord gave him a manuscript containing 100 verses whichdescribed the many facets of the Goddess, as a gift to him. While Shankara was returning after visiting Kailash, Nandistopped him on the way. He snatched the manuscript from him, tore it into two,took one part and gave the other to Shankara. Shankara, desolate, ran to Shiva and narrated the incidentto him. Shiva, smiling,commanded him to retain the 41 verses with him as the initial part of the 100verses and then, write an extra 59 verses in praise of the Goddess himself. Thus, verses 1 - 41 are the original work of Lord Shiva,shedding great light on the ancient rituals of Tantra , Yantra and variouspowerful Mantras . The remaining verses, i.e. 42-100 are composed by AdiShankara himself, which mainly focuses on the appearance of the Sakti. A very good exposition on Saundaryalahari is a bookpublished by Theosophical Publishing House, Adayar , Madras ( 1937) authored byPandit Subramanya Sastri and Srinivasaiyyengar . The QA is based on a posting by [email protected] Srijaganathanmadhavan on Oct 19, 2013 Q2 What is the reason for barring brinjal during sraadha? A2 Re brinjal -- when picking up asthi (pieces of burntbones after cremation), the karthaa wears a dark purple rounded brinjal tied toeach wrist with a cotton string, and recites the appropriate manthrams. This isbecause the aathma of the departed still hovers protectively over the ashes,and may ATTACK ANYONE WHO DISTURBS THE ASTHI, resulting e.g. in attack on thekartha. The brinjal is deemed to absorb and contain the aathma'soutraged anger, and is disposed of afterthe asthi is collected and dealt with ceremonially by immersion in Ganga,flowing water, or the sea, again with chanting of appropriate apara-kriyamanthrams. The QA is based on a personal clarification to me byesteemed member Sri Narayanaswamy Subramanian [email protected] 26 October 2013 Q3 Can you tell the manthra recited before performing everyMahaa-Rudram? A3 Before performing every Mahaa-Rudram, or Adhi-Rudram,the assembled Vipra-Parishad chant a potent manthram for warding off: bhootha-pretha-pishaacha-brahmaraakshasa-yaksha-yamadootha-shakinee-dakinee-sarppa-shvaapa-vyaschika The QA is based on a response to me by senior member Sri SNarayanaswamy Iyer([email protected]) on 26 October 2013 Q4 What is achaamana? A4 Achamana precedes all rituals or ceremonial sipping ofwater and touching the various parts of the body like eyes, ears, nose, chesthead etc., with wet hand in the prescribed order. Thisprocess invokes the life-energy to protect the performer Q5 Can you give some details about the temple gopurams andtemple structure of Madurai Meenakshi temple? A5 The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 yearold Madurai city. The complex houses 14 gopurams ranging from 45-50m in height. There are alsotwo golden sculptured vimana (shrines)over the sanctum of the main deities. The temple is surrounded by Gopurams. There are tenGopurams-- the tallest of which, thefamous southern tower, rises to over 170 ft (52 m) and was built in 1559. Theoldest Gopuram is the eastern one, built by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan during1216-1238. Each Gopuram is amulti-storeyed structure,covered with thousands of stone figures of animals,gods and demons painted in bright hues. The outer Gopuram presents steeplypyramidal tower encrusted with plastic figures, while the inner Gopuram serves as the entrance to the enclosure of Sundareswarar shrine. Q6 can you give some information about the“Hall of aThousand Pillars”(Aayiram kaal mandapam)? Has it really got one thousandpillars? A6 The high point ofthe Meenakshi Temple is its “Hall of a Thousand Pillars”, though thenumber of pillars is 995 !. (Nine hundred and ninety five- five less thanthousand ) It was erected in 1569 by Aryanatha Mudaliar, who bestridesa horse at the entrance. The Hall is at once a structural marvel and a greatwork of art. The pillars are a picture-book in stone and run the whole gamut ofhuman expressions from stateliness and grace to lusty humour. Outside the Hallare the musical pillars---they play musical notes when they are struck. Q7 Can you give some information about the sculpturedepicting Meenakshi’s wedding ? A7 The most impressive sculpture is the one depicting Meenakshi’s wedding. The scene capturingthe sublime solemnity of VISHNU’S OFFERING OF HIS SISTER MEENAKSHI IN MARRIAGETO SUNDARESHVARAR is enthralling. The sculptor has distilled profound moods with the subtlenuances of his creation! While bridal shyness oozes through the figure of Meenakshiwith her slightly bent head, Sundareshvarar, with his benign smile, exudes atonce masculine charm and deep self-possession, while Sundararajar, as Vishnu iscalled, moves us by his look, reflective of joy not unmixed with a tinge ofpain of impending separation from his sister. When President Rajendra Prasad visited the Temple he wastaken to this particular sculpture and he is reported to have stood before itfor an hour shedding tears. Q8 Can you give some information about “Mukkuruni Vinayaka? A8 One should not miss the huge image of “Vinayaka” knownas “Mukkuruni Vinayaka “from the fact that a single enormous edible, the “Kozhakkattai”, made from 34 KG OF RICE is offeredto him on Ganesha Chathurthi day. There is a belief that the image –made of a singleboulder--was discovered when Thirumalai Nayak was digging the beautiful tank onthe outskirts of the city, called the VandiyurTeppakulam. Q9 What is the speciality of Thamarai kkulam? A9 There is a tank of Golden Lilies—from where you get anexcellent view of the Gopurams. Tradition has it that an author’s works werejudged here by the simple expedient of placing his manuscript on the water. Ifit stank, it sank !. The QA about Madurai are based on a posting by"Ramachandran P.P" [email protected] on Aug 4, 2013 Q10 Howdo the Godess of Dakshinayana is related withChathurmas? A10 A year is divided into two major parts of Uttarayanaand Dakshinayana. The six months of Uttarayana is one day for the Gods andthe other Six months of that come under Dakshinayana is one night for the Gods. Since no auspicious ceremonies take place during the night,this period was considered inauspicious for all sorts of celebrations. Goddess of Dakshinayana with an axe in her hand threatenedto end her life for being considered inauspicious. She pleaded to Lord Vishnu and she was spared the firstfour months of being inauspicious.Thefirst four months of Chaturmas are Shravan, Bhadrapad, Ashwina and Kartik. Fromthen these months are considered very fortunate for performingJapa, Puja andother rituals. The QA is based on a posting by "cnu pne"[email protected] aboutchaturmas Q11 Have we got mention in tThe Rig Veda about the goddess Usha? A11 In the Rig Veda the goddess Usha is consistently associated with and oftenidentified with the dawn. Shereveals herself in the daily coming of light to the world. She has beendescribed in the Rig Veda as a young maiden drawn by one hundred horses. Shebrings forth light and is followed by the sun who urges her onwards. She ispraised for driving away, or is petitioned to drive away, the oppressivedarkness. She is asked to chase away evil demons. As the dawn she is said torouse all life, to set all things in motion and to send people off to do theirduties. The QA is based on a posting by "cnu pne"[email protected] on Jul 27,2013 -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1670007965.5709728.1654353403798%40mail.yahoo.com.
