Procedure for cleaning the teeth as per our sashtra.

We know there was no habit of cleaning the teeth in the west and the Arabian countries till about three hundres years ago.  However we have an ancient procedure which cannot be younger than 2500 years.

प्रक्षाल्य चरणौ हस्तौ मुखं चाथ यथाविधि

आचम्य प्राङ्ग़्मुकः स्थित्त्वा धन्तधावनमाचरेत्

आयुरित्यादि मन्त्रोयम् उक्त्तश्शाखाभिमन्त्रणे

विनाभिमन्त्रणम् तूष्णीं  वृधास्याद्दन्तधावनं

अस्य प्रजापति ऋसिः च्चन्दोऽनुष्टुप् वनस्पतिः

देवतेति हृदि ध्यात्वा मन्त्रारम्भे वदेत् बुधः॥

आयुर्ब्बलं यशो वर्चः प्रजा पशू वसूनिमा

ब्रह्मप्रज्ञां च मेधां च त्वन्नो देहि वनस्पते॥

अभिमन्त्र्य हृतां शाखाम् मन्त्रेणानेन वै द्विजः

अध ऊर्ध्वक्रमेणैव धावयेत् शाखया तया

वामभागं समारम्भ्य प्रादक्षिण्य क्रमेण तु

सर्वे कन्टकिनः पुण्याः क्षीरिण्यश्च यशस्कराः

अष्टाङ्गुलेन मानेन दन्तकाष्टमिहोच्यते

पूर्वोत्तरे तु दिक्भागे सर्वान् कामान् अवाप्नुयात्।

prakSaalya charaNau hastau mukhaM chaatha yathavidhi

aachamya praa~NGmukaH sthittwaa dhantadhaavanamaacharet

aayurityaadi mantroyam ukttashshaakhaabhimantraNe

vinaabhimantraNam tuuSNiiM  vR^idhaasyaaddantadhaavanaM

asya prajaapati R^isiH chchando.anuSTup vanaspatiH

devateti hR^idi dhyaatwaa mantraarambhe vadet bhudhaH..

aayurbbalaM yasho varchaH prajaa pashuu vasuunimaa

brahmapraj~naaM cha medhaaM cha twanno dehi vanaspate..

abhimantrya hR^itaaM shaakhaam mantreNaanena vai dwijaH

adha uurdhwakrameNaiva dhaavayet shaakhayaa tayaa

vaamabhaagaM samaarambhya praadakSiNya krameNa tu

sarve kanTakinaH puNyaaH, kSiiriNyashcha yashaskaraaH

aSTaa~Ngulena maanena dantakaaSTamihochyate

puurvottare tu dikbhaage sarvaan kaaman avaapnuyaat.

1.One has to wake up in the Brahma muhurtam, wash the feet , hands and face, 

2.Perfrom the aachamanam facing east and  the cleaning of the teeth  should be done in a standing posture.

3.One has to chant the vanaspati mantram..

4 Aayurbaalam yaso varchah praj pashu vasoonima bramaprajnaam che medhaama cha twam no dehi vanaspte... the rishi for the mantra is Prajapti, the metre is Anushtup and the Devata in Vanaspathi.. the growths of the forests.
( Vanaspati is a general term denoting all the flora and fauna. But Sushruta and Charaka refer to Vanaspati as the trees which bear fruits but we cannot see evidence of flowering))

5  The meaning of the Vanaspati  manthra is “ You the trees and herbs of the forest,  please bless me with long life, fame, brahma varchas, children, cattle, wealth, realization of brahmam, and sharp intellect, because I am going to clean my teeth with your twigs.

6 The twig from a tree should have been  picked before chanting this mantra.  If someone cleans his teeth without this thanksgiving and prayer,  his mouth will remain stale. 

7  The order of cleaning the teeth is from bottom of the teeth to the up staring from the left molarsa and going up and down and round clockwise.

8.The twig should have a length of at least  eight inches.

9 All twigs with thorns are good for cleaning the teeth and the twigs which ooze milk are more beneficial. (Thank God rubber was not yet in India at that time). 

10 If one cleans his teeth with twig standing facing the directionof north-east (eesana direction) , he shall be blessed with  whatever he desires

11.There are some days when toothcleaning is prohibited. Prthama, Amavasya, Shashti, Ashtami, Navami and Sankarama Dina . (Cleaning the teeth is not advised on days of Sraaddham, and other special pitru dinams..)

12 On these days and if a person is not able procure a proper twig to clean the teeth anyday,  he should fill his mouth full with water and gurgle and spit out the water twelve times at a stretch.(gargling)

13 Anyway our ancestors were better that modern times in some ways.

14 Now we don’t brush before first  tea or coffee..brush with animal gelatine.. some chemicals are added which  give only temporary relief from the oral bacteria and stench..

15  By western standards it is okey because even queen victoria did not clean her teeth.  

16  May be the reason for immense population in India over the years was our habit of cleaning the teeth and mouth for at least 25 centuries now. Oral hygeine definitely enhances chances of intimate human contacts.

The other deities dish out delegated boons but He is the real source.

कारुण्यात् काममन्यं ददति खलु परे स्वात्मदस्त्वं विशेषा
दैश्वर्य्रादीशतेऽन्ये जगति परजनेस्वात्मनोऽपीश्वरस्त्वं।
त्वय्युच्चैरारमन्ति प्रतिपदमधुरे चेतनाः स्फीतभाग्या
स्त्वं चात्माराम एवेत्यतुलगुणगणाधार शौरे नमस्ते॥९॥
श्रीमन्नारयणीयं दशकं॥१॥
kāruṇyāt kāmamanyaṁ dadati khalu pare svātmadastvaṁ viśeṣā
daiśvaryrādīśate'nye jagati parajanesvātmano'pīśvarastvaṁ |
tvayyuccairāramanti pratipadamadhure cetanāḥ sphītabhāgyā
stvaṁ cātmārāma evetyatulaguṇagaṇādhāra śaure namaste||9||
śrīmannārayaṇīyaṁ daśakaṁ||1||

My guruvayurappa, the other deities may grant some boons to their followers according to their capacity  in view of the begging and cringing made by such devotees. But you are so generous that you will give everthing (and you are the source of everything) and in addition you give yourself to the devotees in the form of final emanciptaion. The other deities can grant only grant boons to other on the basis of what you have already endowed them.  But you take all devoties in yourself and enjoy supreme ecstacy and in that process the devotess taken into yourself by you also enjoy the supreme bliss.  You are without equal in this bountifulnes, oh the scion of Suuraseana dyanasty, I protstate before you.
The other deities dish out delegated boons but He is the real source.

--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|

the method of self purification

the method of self purification is given in detail in some ancient texts as follows... 

त्रिः प्राश्नीयादपो यत्तु प्रीतास्तेनास्य देवताः

ब्रह्मा विष्णुश्च रुद्रश्च भवन्तीत्यनुशुश्रुमः

गङ्गा च यमुना चैव प्रीयते परिमार्ज्जनात्

संस्पृष्टयोर् लोचनयोः प्रीयते शशिभास्करौ।

ना सत्यसंज्ञौ प्रीयेते स्पृष्टे नासापुतद्वये

कर्ण्णयोर्स्पृष्टयोस्तद्वत् प्रीयते चानिलोनलौ

अम्सयोर्स्पर्शनादेव प्रीयते तु प्रजापतिः

संस्पृष्टे हृदये चास्य प्रीयते सर्वदेवताः

मूर्ध्नि संस्पर्शनादेव प्रीतस्तु पुरुषो भवेत्

य एवं ब्राह्मणो नित्यं उपस्पर्शनमाचरेत्

ब्रह्मादिस्तम्बपर्यन्तं जगत् सः परितर्पयेत्

अङ्गुष्टोऽग्निरिति ख्यातः प्रोक्ता वायु प्रदेशिनी

अनामिका तथ सूर्यः कनिष्ठा मघवाः स्मृता

प्रजापतिर्मद्ध्यमा तु ज्ञेया शुद्धिमभीप्स्यता

triḥ prāśnīyādapo yattu prītāstenāsya devatāḥ

brahmā viṣṇuśca rudraśca bhavantītyanuśuśrumaḥ

gaṅgā ca yamunā caiva prīyate parimārjjanāt

saṁspṛṣṭayor locanayoḥ prīyate śaśibhāskarau|

nā satyasaṁjñau prīyete spṛṣṭe nāsāputadvaye

karṇṇayorspṛṣṭayostadvat prīyate cānilonalau

amsayorsparśanādeva prīyate tu prajāpatiḥ

saṁspṛṣṭe hṛdaye cāsya prīyate sarvadevatāḥ

mūrdhni saṁsparśanādeva prītastu puruṣo bhavet

ya evaṁ brāhmaṇo nityaṁ upasparśanamācaret

brahmādistambaparyantaṁ jagat saḥ paritarpayet

aṅguṣṭo'gniriti khyātaḥ proktā vāyu pradeśinī

anāmikā tatha sūryaḥ kaniṣṭhā maghavāḥ smṛtā

prajāpatirmaddhyamā tu jñeyā śuddhimabhīpsyatā

हारीत वाक्यम्

hāarīta vākyam

Touching of the various parts of the body, and partaking in holy water during aachamanam are explained in detail by the lawgiver Haartia.

By drinking  water three times during aachamanam, the lords Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are pleased. When we rinse our face with water, the holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna are pleased. When we touch the two eyes, the sun and the moon are pleased. The touching of the two nostrils propitiate the divine doctors, the Ashwins. When we touch the two ears Vayu and Agni are pleased. When we touch our shoulders, Prajapati is pleased. When we touch our heart, all the deities are pleased. And when we finally touch our head the Supreme Lord Parabrahmam is pleased. When a Brahmin does such an aachamanm, he gets the benediction of the whole universe right from the Brhmaloka. (It is believed that evil spirits like bhuutapretapishacha cannot attack a person who has done aachamanam like this.)

While doing self purification one has to understand that agni or fire is residing in his right thumb, vaayu is present in his index finger, surya is resident in his ring-finger, Indra in his small finger, and prajaapati in his middle finger.

We clean the face with the thumb, touch the eyes with the ring finger, nostrils with the index finger, ears with the little finger, shoulder with the middle finger, heart and head with all the five fingers. Some great rishis are of the view that since there is the presence of agni in the thumb, we should use thumb along with the respective fingers when we touch the various organs. We use the name Kesava and Narayana for cleaning the face, Madhava and Govinda for the eyes, Vishnu and Madhusuudhana for the nostrils, Thrivikrama and Vamana for the ears, Sreedhara and Hrishikesha for the shoulder, Padmanabha for the heart and Damodhara for the head. The touching is done by the right hand and start from the right. This , I hope will explain the ritual behind touching of the variout parts of the body and self purification according to scriptures.

When the Lord is showering His sweet Grace, can any celestial tree survive in comparison?

नम्राणां सन्निधत्से सततमपि पुरस्तैरनभ्यर्त्थितान्
अप्यर्थान् कामानजस्रं वितरसि परमानन्दसान्द्रां गतिं च।
इत्थम् निःशेषलभ्यो निरवधिकफलः पारिजातो हरे त्वम्
क्षुद्रं तम् शक्रवाट्तीद्रुममभिलषति व्यर्त्थमर्त्थिव्रजोऽयम्॥ ८॥
श्रीमन्नारयणीये  दशकं १
namrāṇāṁ sannidhatse satatamapi purastairanabhyartthitān
apyarthān kāmānajasraṁ vitarasi paramānandasāndrāṁ gatiṁ ca|
ittham niḥśeṣalabhyo niravadhikaphalaḥ pārijāto hare tvam
kṣudraṁ tam śakravāṭtīdrumamabhilaṣati vyartthamartthivrajo'yam|| 8||
śrīmannārayaṇīye  daśakaṁ 1

The lord of Guruvayur is here present on earth granting all the wishes of the devotees and even more ..
Oh Guruvayuraapa, you grant all the wealth, welfare and also the eternal emancipation to the persons who happen to come to your presence in supplication, even though they may not request or pray for anything.. Thus you, the Hari are the real Kalpaka Tree with manifold effectiveness in comparison with any other source of Grace.  But still the ignorant crowd still queue up before that insignificant  Kalpaka tree in the garden of Indra with petitions for boons and favours ,  how silly they are!
 
When the Lord is showering  His sweet Grace, can any celestial tree survive in comparison?

--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|

The life on this earth is truly blessed.

कष्टा ते सृष्टिचेष्टा बहुतरभवखेदावहा जीवभाजं
इत्येवम् पूर्वमालोचितमजित मया नैवमभ्याभिजाने।
नो चेज्जीवाः कथं वा मधुरतरमिदम् त्वद्वपुश्चिद्रसार्द्रं
नेत्रैः श्रोत्रैश्च पीत्वा परमरससुधांबोधिपूरे रमेरन्॥७॥
श्रीमन्नारायणीयं  दशकं १
kaṣṭā te sṛṣṭiceṣṭā bahutarabhavakhedāvahā jīvabhājaṁ
ityevam pūrvamālocitamajita mayā naivamabhyābhijānee|
no cejjīvāḥ kathaṁ vā madhurataramidam tvadvapuścidrasārdraṁ
netraiḥ śrotraiśca pītvā paramarasasudhāṁbodhipūre rameran||7||
śrīmannārāyaṇīyaṁ  daśakaṁ 1

"Oh, Guruvaayurappa,  I was thinking that your process of creating the life on earth is an unkind act as the living beings are subjected to a multitude of miseries, pains and vicissitudes all along their lifetimes.  Now I am compelled to change that view.  The life on this earth is truly blessed.  Because without such a life in this earth how can the beings engulf themselves in the ocean  utter ecstacy  by partaking with pleasure with their eyes and ears the beauty of your form which is the sweetest of the sweet and is emanating knowledge and divine happiness in the greatest degree of concentration."

Bhattathiri  says that only people who are born in this earth can use their eyes and ears to see the beauty of Guruvayurappan and hear his praise.  This is not possible for the dwellers of heaven, however comfortable their life may be.  The life on this earth with all its disadvantages is worth it weight in gold because only in this earth can we see and enjoy the beauty of  Krishna the Guruvayurappan.

--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|

sastras and traditions

When I posted the simple type of Ganapthi Homam in an elite group, a rejoinder was issued that it was impracticable and a person queried wheter the method was according to Sastras. I dont know which sastras.. Sastras begin with vedas and smrithis, grihya, sroutha dharma sootras, and agamaas, various right and left practices, tantric practices,,,,and a plethora of many other written and oral traditions. The practices can vary from person to person and family to family. I am reproducing the text of my reply, for the benefits of this group, because it contains a nice story of mahaganapathy among other things. Namaskaram, Sastram covers a huge gamut of subjects. Shruthis, Smrithis, Agamaas, and so many subsidiary texts. No one can say for sure that any ritual is covered entirely by all the saastraas because Saastraas conflict with one another. The practices in Kerala usually is a mixture of local practices and also for the tamil migrants the practices from tamil nadu. The basic necessity for ganapathi homam is offering the naivedyam to the ganapathy invoked in agni with moolamanthram. The other embellishments were invented by loukikas and vaideekas according to their conveniences. Even the usual panachayatana pooja is a mixture of traditions and the sastras as you and Mr.xxx refer to. The ingredients mentioned by me are definitely according to Saastras.. The aavaahanam, shodasopachara pooja etc are according to smartha vidhis. but the moola manthram is in fact tantric. And faith is not entirely dependent on the sastras. The kerala saint Naraanathu branthan has proved this, especially in the case of Ganapathi. In a place called Indannoor near Malappuram even now Ganesha is worshiped on a faded picture drawn on a wall. There is ganapathi pratishta in the temple and it is subsidiary . What happened was that the nambudiris who had invoked the ganesha in kumbhas had gone for a jalasparsam(passing urine) and the mad saint Naranathu branthan came that way and he is said to have seen ganesha struggling inside the kumbam and eager to free the god, he simply drew a picture of the ganapathi on the wall and threw the kalasa water on it sayin Inno, pidicho kombaa.. that is " you the tusker on the wall, hold this water" and the lord simply held out his trunk and took the water. From then the ganapathy there is that faded picture. It is the faith that counts .. ultimately.
I am not a scholar in the Sastras as per your concepts , and I have described only the practice as I have seen for many generations. I do not know if the posting in the groups represented by you and other learned persons should be based only on Sastraas. If that is so I would prefer not to post anything.
In Sreerangam there is a thulukka nachiar a Muslim paramour of Rangamannar and she is offered tobacco. Can anybody judge this practice with the litmus test of Sastras. In palani, Hidumba, a rakshas of dravidian origin is worshiped. will it not militate against the strict sastras?
I am giving this reply in earnestness. But I am under no obligation to reply to anyone if the purpose is to criticize my view unfairly raising the weapon of Sastras. I am all by myself with my own independent views, just like any one of you.
And as a matter of policy I do not make rejoinders of correction or criticism to the view of anyone else even if some of the posts are faulty according to my concept of religion, propriety etc., because I respect decency more than these things.
Please do not misunderstand that I have any lack of respect for your immense knowledge or the age grown in great learning.. and my respect for you will not get reduced at any cost. But the open contempt for a practice followed by me and at least three generations of my elders was too much to stomach and I have to say that my father had obtained many of the moolamanthrams from a sannyasi, the madathipathi of a nambuthiri sect and I have received such manthras from my father. Is there any sastra that manthras should not be taken from nambuthiris? I really wonder.

the quintessence of sublime beauty

तत्ते प्रत्यग्रधाराधरालळितकळायावलीकेळिकारं

लावण्यस्यैकसारं सुकृतिजनदृशां पूर्णपुण्यावतारं।

लक्ष्मीनिश्शङ्कलीलानिलयनममृतस्यन्दसन्दोहमन्तः

सिञ्चत् सञ्चितकानाम् वपुरनुकलये मारुतागारनाथ॥६॥

श्रीमन्नारयणीये दशकं ॥१॥

tatte pratyagradhārādharālaḻitakaḻāyāvalīkeḻikāraṁ

lāvaṇyasyaikasāraṁ sukṛtijanadṛśāṁ pūrṇapuṇyāvatāraṁ|

lakṣmīniśśaṅkalīlānilayanamamṛtasyandasandohamantaḥ

siñcat sañcitakānām vapuranukalaye mārutāgāranātha||6||

śrīmannārayaṇīye daśakaṁ  ||1||

Oh lord of the abode of the wind, Guruvayurappa,  I am contemplating without interruption on your glorious form which manifests the appearance of a very dark cloud laden with raindrops and the dark-blue colour  of  kalaaya (in Malayalam  Kaayaampoo flower...a blue flower growing in a tropical plant--memcylon tinctorium),  which bears the quintessence of sublime beauty (lavanyam),  which is embodiment of the fortune for the eyes of  the most fortunate devotees,  which is the frequent rendezvous for the Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi , your consort, and which is the source for the ambrosia that flows in the devout hearts of the lucky humans who always contemplate on your glories.

The poet is groping for words to describe the sublime beauty of  the  formless god who has assumed a form as the dark youth, Krishna.

--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|

the pinnacle of sacrifice

रामं दशरथं विद्धि मां विद्धि जनकात्मजाम्।
अयोद्ध्यां अतवीं विद्धि गच्च तात यथ सुखं॥
श्रीमद्वाल्मीकिरामायणे अयोद्ध्याकाण्डे॥ ४०--९॥
rāmaṁ daśa...rathaṁ viddhi māṁ viddhi janakātmajām|
ayoddhyāṁ atavīṁ viddhi gacca tāta yatha sukhaṁ||
śrīmadvālmīkirāmāyaṇe ayoddhyākāṇḍe || 40--9|| 

The human life attains some meaning only through some extaordinarily noble deed. Rama the great and powerful prince willingly abdicated his right to Ayodhya and opted for a sojourn of fourteen years in the forests, just upholding the lofty principle of obeying the father at any cost. He was so popular and loved in the kingdom that the subjects could have risen in revolution and made him the king  but for his steadfastness and devotion to his father. Sita, the dutiful wife readily prepared herself to the forest life in her husband's company. There are duties and obligations attached to these noble deed. But Lakshmana, the half-brother of Rama, out of sheer affection for his brother first tries to revolt against the father's order and was held back by Rama. But Lakshmana could not think of a life in separation with Rama. This is in spite of the fact that Lakshmana was not under any obligation to anyone. It was sheer love for Rama. In fact Lakshmana had, in the bargain,  only to lose the comforts of the royal abode, leave his parents and young wife Urmila and accompany Rama who would be in utter penury and as the younger brother Lakshmana's status would be that of an unpaid servant. This was sacrifice at its zenith. Then take the case of Sumitra....she was always relegated to the third place in her husband's affection after the King's Principal wife Kousalya and favourite wife Kaikeyi. Her only asset was her twin sons Lakshmana and Shatrungna. She permitted these boys, one to be the deputy of Rama and the other to be the deputy of Bharatha. That was great indeed. But to permit her darling son Lakshmana  to adopt the most risky life in forest with no assurance that she will be able to meet that son alive again, is sacrifice beyond human levels. It is sublime. While leaving for the forest when Laksmana pays respect to Sumitra, her advice to the son was..." You please recognize your father Dasaratha in Rama, me in Sita, and Ayodhya in forest and my dearest son, you start on your journey." Which mother could raise to such a level of greatness? There was Dasaratha ready to die for Rama and Kaikeyi ready to die for Bharatha. But were those feeling even anywhere near the sacrifice of Sumitra?
 How much of mental agony Sumitra must have suffered and concealed it within herself? But she is one of the most realized souls, as they are born rarely in this terra firma. She had the jnana to understand the Rama was Lord Narayana Himself and Sita was Mata Lakshmi. And once the Divine couple leaves Ayodhya, the kindgom will lose all its splendour and affluence and will become a mere forest. But wherever Rama and Sita are present, that place will be hallowed and that will be the ideal place for anyone to live. The name Dasaratha, a person who can move his chariot in all the ten directions, will suit more eminently to Rama who is the ubiquitous Vishnu Himself, and Maa.. the mother would be the  most suitable spithet  for the mother of the three worlds, Lakshmi, in the guise of Seetha. And Sumtra's words were really prophetic indeed. Once Rama left Ayodhya, all its wealth dwindled, the King passed away, and Bharatha, in fact ruled Ayodhya for fourteen years as an agent of Rama, after crowning the sandals of Rama in the throne, in the forest area of Nandigramam. So Ayodhya really became forest. The sloka is considered the most sublime in Ramayanam for these reasons. However this can be only an opinion. Sure, there are many slokas in the epic which are equally sublime and beyond description.

the effect of performance increase according to the location where the ritual is performed.

The benefits of chanting a manthra, and doing upasana to sandhya  vary with the place where the upasaka seats himself.  Yajnavalkya smriti says.

अग्न्यागारे जलान्ते वा जपेद् देवालयेऽपि वा।

पुण्यतीर्थे गवां गोष्ठे सिद्धक्षेत्रेऽथव गृहे॥

गृहेत्वेकगुणं प्रोक्तं नद्यादौ द्विगुणम् स्मृतं।

गवां गोष्ठे दशगुणं अग्न्यागारे शताधिकं॥

सिद्धक्षेत्रेषु तीर्थेषु देवतायाश्च सन्निधौ।

सहस्रं शतकोटीनां अनन्तम् विष्णुसन्निधौ॥

याज्ञवल्क्य स्मृत्यां

agnyāgāre jalānte vā japed devālaye'pi vā|

puṇyatīrthe gavāṁ goṣṭhe siddhakṣetre'thava gṛhe||

gṛhetvekaguṇaṁ proktaṁ nadyādau dviguṇam smṛtaṁ|

gavāṁ goṣṭhe daśaguṇaṁ agnyāgāre śatādhikaṁ||

siddhakṣetreṣu tīrtheṣu devatāyāśca sannidhau|

sahasraṁ śatakoṭīnāṁ anantam viṣṇusannidhau||

yājñavalkya smṛtyāṁ

and Sankha echoes the same ideas.

If a man doing the upasana in his house gets one unit of benefit, it he performs the same in the banks of a river or a pond or seashore  he gets double benefit. If the same is done in the stable of  a cow he gets tenfold benefit.   If it is done in a place where agnikarmas like agnihotra are performed and the aahavaneeya agni is kept, the effects will be hundred times.   If  it is performed in the hermitages of recluses and  sages, or in pilgrimage ghats or in the temples of Gods, the effect will be one lakh million times and the effect will be beyond measure and infinite if the karmas as performed in the presence of  Lord Vishnu. Think of Gaya Sraadhdham.. its  greatness is because it is performed in the presence of Lord Janardhana.

The whole universe is a created by Him as if it is a joke

निर्व्यापारोऽपि निष्कारणमज भजसे यत्क्रियामीक्षनाख्यां
तेनेवोदेति लीन प्रकृतिरसतिकल्पापि कल्पादिकाले।
तस्याः संशुद्धमंशं कमपि तमतिरोधायकं सत्त्वरूपं
स त्वम् धृत्वा दधासि स्वमहिमविभवकुण्ठ वैकुण्ठ रूपं॥५॥
श्रीमन्नारायणीये दशकम्॥१॥
nirvyāpāro'pi niṣkāraṇamaja bhajase yatkriyāmīkṣanākhyāṁ
tenevodeti līna prakṛtirasatikalpāpi kalpādikāle|
tasyāḥ saṁśuddhamaṁśaṁ kamapi tamatirodhāyakaṁ sattvarūpaṁ
sa tvam dhṛtvā dadhāsi svamahimavibhavakuṇṭha vaikuṇṭha rūpaṁ||5||
śrīmannārāyaṇīye daśakam ||1||
My Lord Guruvayurappa, you are without any action or attributes for yourself, still for some reason only known to your exalted and superior self, you apparently assumed the action for a moment and at that moment your own illusory powers which must have been inherent in you, manifested as prakriti or Maya at the beginning of the kalpa (the beginning of time).. And you whose exalted self is self evident and cannot be repulsed by anything like illusion or maya, you the Vishnu with the abode at Vaikunda, you assume a form uncontaminated by any prakriti or maaya, and that form is comprised only of the superior character of Sattwa.
Just as it pleased Him he for a second created and let loose his prakriti or maya to create the world of illusion with rajas and tamo gunas. But the illusory creation can never affect His exalted state and by His own exalted will he assumed a form comprised of Sattwaguna alone and stationed Himself at Guruvayur.
The whole universe is a created by Him as if it is a joke

Laja Homa

After the Kanya-dan the young bride may feel that both she and her brothers have been born
in the same house and both have equal rights for affection and affluence but she
is being sent into another family. To reassure her that she need not entertain such
the brothers give to their sister the Laja (parched rice) foroffering in the fire. The idea symbolically is that just as paddy plants aretransplated from their original germinating ground to another field facilitate proper growthand yield of crop , the girls have to be married and transplanted in anotherfamily. It is clear from this that the girls cannot remain in their father’s
house for ever.
. By filling the stretched palms of their sister to the full, with Lajas the brothersassure her that whenever she will gofrom her father’s house to her husband’s house, they will
be always there to provide her with whatever she wants . It is the practice in affectionate families that whenever a sister visits she will never go empty handed to her own house..and this implied gesture will be seen even if the brother is ninety years old and the sister is eighty.
It is with such reassured and happy mind that the bride offers three oblations
of the Lajas-parched rice in the fire through her husband and recites the following three
mantras ; —
अर्यम्णं देवं कन्या अग्नियक्षत सनो देवः प्रेतो मुञ्चतु मा पतेः॥
ॐ इयं नार्युपब्रूते लाजानवपन्तिका आयुष्मानस्तु मे पतिरेधन्ता ज्ञातयो मम।
ॐ इमान् लाजानावपाम्यग्नौ अमृद्धिकरणम् तव मम तुभ्यं च संवननं तदग्निरनुमन्यतामियत्।
aryamṇaṁ devaṁ kanyā agniyakṣata sano devaḥ preto muñcatu mā pateeḥ||
om iyaṁ nāryupabrūte lājānavapantikā āyuṣmānastu me patiredhantā jñātayo mama|
om imān lājānāvapāmyagnau amṛddhikaraṇam tava mama tubhyaṁ ca saṁvananaṁ tadagniranumanyatāmiyat|
The firsr mantra signifies that she is propitiating godAryma and is bidding adieus to her parents and brothers and with mixed feeling going away from her father’s house to her husband’s house, God Aryma may not ever separate her from her husband
A very lofty idea is enshrined in this mantra-the
bride never would entertain even in the remotest corner of her mind the idea of separation
from her husband. That is why in Hindu marriage even the idea of divorce is entirely and completely missing. In the second mantra she seeks the benedictions of her brothers and relatives for the long life ofher husband and in turn wishes them alround prosperity.
In the thirdmantra addressing her husband she says, “My Lord and husband, by offering the
oblations of Lajas in the fire I pray to God that our mutual love should always remain strong and firm There is. a deep significance in the act of the bride in not offering
the Lajas herself to the agni, even though given by her brothers, but she hands it over to the husband to offer it to the fire. If the wife forms the kernel of the rice, the husband is the outer protective shell which also carries in its tip the cells for germination, and the kernel separated from the shell cannot grow further, the wife without the presence of
the husband has no significance. The vice versa is equally important. Shiva and Sakthi cannot remain without the presence of one another. The bride in good faith is requesting the Gods with offer of the puffed rice that her life with her husband should ever be without separation.

ganapathi homam

It is the days of Vinayaka Chaturthi.. Therefore I would like to  share some thoughts about Ganapathi Homam.. There are very elaborate Homas  with a lot of ingredients in the Homadravya, including gold and gems being offered to Ganapthy  invoked in fire. Simultaneously an elephant is given sweet naivedyam, and a brahmachari, or a few of them, are fed.  These are all the macro aspects and the ostentatious ceremonies we either see or read about.  Some say Ashtadravyas,  coconut, jaggery,  ghee, puffed rice, gingely, sugarcane, ganapathy naranga  and plantain (some include honey) makes  homam great.  But a for a simple Ganapathy Homam  we require three important aspects.  Kaalam, moolam and lolam.. The timing,  the whole aahuuti should have been offered and received by the lord before sunrise... in  the Brahma muhoortam,  moolam—the exalted moolamanthra  should be used for offering aahuti...this has to be learnt from an initiated guru,  and the coconut pieces should  be as this as possible so that the Lord relishes every bit of it... Kaalam, moolam, lolam ennaal kaanaam kolam,(കാലം മൂലം ലോലം എന്നാല്‍ കാണാം കോലം) goes a Malayalam saying on this.  The simplest Ganapthy Homam can be performed like this.   A simple fire with coconut fibre, shells, pieces of firewood from Plavau,  and such noble trees, samith etc should be lighted.  First, before the lighted lamp, the coconut should be cracked, and if the pieces come in symmetry, it is a sign that the Lord is pleased.  Without further breaking the shell the kernel  should be extracted and cut into very thin crescent shaped wafers.  Powdered jaggaery ( three palam for one coconut) should be added.  Ghee also should be added to the extent of one palam   ( a palam  പലം will be equal to about 100gms)  These three ingredients are sufficient. All  others are optional.  With the homadravyam ready,  we have to prepare a padmam.  Ganesha padmam is complicated.  So to the side of the fire we can prepare a swasti padmam with rice and turmeric powder.   When padmam is ready and the fire is also ignited, we have to start the puja.. Kalasa, sankha, aatma peeda poojas have to be performed.  Then with the manthra..gananaam twa.. we should invoke Mahaganapathy on fire as well as on the swastipadma.  Before invoking the Lord in fire some chant Jaathavedase Sunavama.. and also do aditenu manyaswa... this is also optional.  Immediately after invocation, we should do the Pranapratishta on fire as well as the padmam.  And immeditately after fixing the pranaas, some naivedyam like plantain, or aval or pori should be offered. The all the upacharaas  like arghya, aachamaniiya, snana  vastra yajnopaveetha uthariiya aabharanaas should be offered.  Then dhoopam and deepam should be offere.  Then there is naivedyam.  The homadravyam should be divided into four parts, three for offering to agni and one as naivedyam to the Padmam.   Then  naivedyam should start.  First to padmam.. pranaaya swaahaa ..etc to brahmane swaahaah..  stop there, repeat pranaya swaahaaH and contemplate that the Lord is present in the agni holding up his trunk and opening his mouth and offer one handful of Homadravyam to fire. For the other apana vyana udhaana   samaana ad brahma also similar aahurtish should be offered. Do not conclude the naivedyam.  Start to chant the moolmantrhram right from rishi chandas devata, nyasam dhyanam etc, and after repeating the moolamanthram  say 21 times or so and when you feel the presence of the Lord, with chanting of moolamantram, offer handfuls of homa dravyam to agni.  Some give aahuti with simple chant of moolamanthra. Some improvise it with ----nakshatre---rasau----jathasya-----sharmanah  sampado vardaya vardaya, aapado nashaya naashya,  sarvaabhiistaan sadhaya sadhaya ( and whatever prayer according to your knowledge of Sanskrit and your needs) followed by moolamanthra and then offer aahuti.  God knows what we want  and I feel this announcement is crassly commercial and unnecessary.  But the vaadhyaars have t o do it necessarily to satisy the yajamana.  When the homadravya meant for fire is exhausted (each time we have to contemplate that the Lord is present in the agni with upraised trunk, and happily eating the coconut-ghee-jaggery mixture from our hands) the moolamanthra should be chanted  continuously to a desired total like 108,336 or 1008 as one finds it comfortable.  Then  two coconut shell  are smeared with ghee and offered to the fire, with some manthra.. Further fule like samith or pieces of firewood sufficient to burn away the dravyam should be added now. Then it is the waiting game.  We need not fan the fire. We should give the Lord Sufficient time to eat. The smoke should spread  all around.. it will drive away all evil spirts.

When one is sure that the whole homadravyam is burnt up, the naivedyam to the Lord in the Padman should be completed.  Gritha guda samyuktham naalikerakhandam mahanaivedyam nivedayaami.. At this time more naivedyas can be offered.  Naivedyas like modakam, vadai, neyyappam etc can be offered to the fire also with moolamanthram.  

After naivedyam, upacharadeepams, Karpooradeeparadhana, swarnapushpam, vedaparayanam  pradakshinam  namaskaram and all the other  upacharas can be offered.  Some charred pieces from the homakundam, or burnt samith or darbha can be mixed with ghee to form the Raksha, which can be preserved and word as tilak daily.   At the end of the puja, some offer aditenumangsmstaa etc to fire, and definitely the lork invoke in the swastipadmam has to be given a send off.. Ganaanam twa.. etc.. om bhurbhuvaswaH  asmaat swasti padmaad Sri Mahaganapathim yadhaastaanam pratishtapayaami.  Shobhanarthe kshemaya purnaragamanaaya cha... a send off with fond hope that the lord will comeback to visit us again.  The padma should be disturbed with hand, and the mixture of rice and turmeric powder can be used as a material for tilakam. 

Of course if some vaadhyar is doing the Homam for you you should offer him  dakshina.

This is a bare minimum ganapathihomam affordable to all and may not cost more than Rs75 to Rs 100.

infinite mercy of Krishna is His crowning glory

निष्कम्पे नित्यपूर्ण्णे निरवधिपरमानन्दपीयूषरूपे

निर्लीनानेकमुक्तावलिसुभगतमे निर्मलब्रह्मसिन्धौ।

कल्लोलोल्लासतुल्यं खलु विमलतरं सत्त्वमाहुस्तदात्मा

कस्मान्नो निष्कळत्वम् सकळ इति वचस्त्वत्कलास्वेव भूमन्॥४॥

श्रीमन्नारायणीये  दशकं॥१॥

niṣkampe nityapūrṇṇe niravadhiparamānandapīyūṣarūpe

nirlīnāneekamuktāvalisubhagatame nirmalabrahmasindhau|

kallolollāsatulyaṁ khalu vimalataraṁ sattvamāhustadātmā

kasmānno niṣkaḻatvam sakaḻa iti vacastvatkalāsveva bhūman||4||

śrīmannārāyaṇīye  daśakaṁ  ||1||

The quality of the sattwam.. the most exalted and the purest of the qualities, is eternally still and all pervasive, is remaining in the form of the sea of eternal ecstacy, and since innumerable blessed souls have already submerged in such sea, it is the most covetable one..and  the learned  seers say that the manifest satwa guna is only the gentle ripplelikes waves in the ocean of Brhmam which is exclusively manifested as sudhdhasatwa.. You are the manifestation of such motionless formless sattwa  and you are indeed formless but for the benefit of us you have appeared before us exhibiting sacred and divne signs,  you  who pervade the whole word is appearing as a deity in a limited idol for the benefit of the lucky devotees.

The description is rather abstract.  The brhman that is guruvayurappan is only an all pervasive manifestion of sattwaguna and he can very well choose to be aatmaarama (just contemplating in ones own exalted state and enjoy the ecstacy)  but He has manifested himself with some divine signs on this earth for the benefit of us, the lucky ones.   The infinite mercy of Krishna is His crowning  glory.. only  because of that mercy he has chosen to appear in guruvaayuur.  Devotees, never miss a chance to see Him there.

absolutely resplendent but completely uncomplicated

सत्त्वम् यत्तत् पराभ्यामपरिकलनतो निर्मलं तेन तावद्
भूतैर्भूतेन्द्रियैस्ते वपुरिति बहुशः श्रूयते व्यासवाक्यं।
तत्स्वच्चत्वाद्यदच्छादितपरसुखपर्चिद्गर्भनिर्भासपूर्वं
तस्मिन् धन्या रमन्ते श्रुतिमतिमधुरे सुग्रहे विग्रहे ते॥३॥
श्रीमन्नारयणीये दशकः १
sattvam yattat parābhyāmaparikalanato nirmalaṁ tena tāvad
bhūtairbhūtendriyaiste vapuriti bahuśaḥ śrūyate vyāsavākyaṁ|
tatsvaccatvādyadacchāditaparasukhaparcidgarbhanirbhāsapūrvaṁ
tasmin dhanyā ramante śrutimatimadhure sugrahe vigrahe te||3||
śrīmannārayaṇīye daśakaḥ 1

It has been declared by great Vyaasa that your form is made up of only Sattwa (the most noble and unblemished Guna (character) and there is no contamination by the rajas ( the characteristic which triggers avarice, arrogance and self-importance) or tamas(the bundle of bad things like anger, tendency for unwanted aggression and destruction etc.,) in the the formation of your holy body. Because of that uncontaminated sattwa nature your form shines for th in the mind of the devotees without any distortion or concealment and provides the ecstasy of eternalalight and well-being for them. The extremely lucky devotees who have reached the point of realization, always contemplate on such form of yours which gives sense of sweetness when contemplated upon and also greater sweetness when contemplated upon.
Bhagavan is Sudhasattwa....the blemishes that are the legacy of us the mortals never contaminate His holy Form. This has been agains descried in detail in Srimad Bhagavatham. The staunch devotees find it very easy to contemplate on Krishna’s form since it is absolutely resplendent but completely uncomplicated.. complications arise only when someone is adulterated with ego and anger. The lucky ones are those who can enjoy the manifestation of Guruvayurappan’s lovely form in their hearts when it is described in words and reach their ears as sweet nectar.
Here Sravanam, Kirtanam and Smaranam, the ingredients of Bhakthi are covered..Hearing, praising and contemplation.