The shatterer of Vighnas.. or impeditments..

The shatterer of Vighnas.. or impeditments..

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The great hymn on Lord Subramania of Tiruchendur, penned by Shankarabagavatpada himself is among the holiest of prayers in the annals of Hindu spirituality..

The hymn is rich in imagery and literary techniques, 

and at the same time soaked in deep devotion for Skanda..

It is believed that Shankaracharya was afflicted by a problem in the stomach, and this hymn was composed by Him in praise of Skanda .. to get relief from that malady..

It is believed that Shankara camped at Jayantipuram or Tiruchendur composes the hymn and partook in the holy ashes prasadams distributed in leaves received from the temple and got cured ..

Till date the prasadams and the hymn Subramania Bhujangam are both considered as sacred among the most sacred..

The first sloka in the Bhujangam is a prayer of Lord Ganesha.

सदा बालरूपापि विघ्नाद्रिहन्त्री महादन्तिवक्त्रापि पङ्चास्यमान्या।

विधीन्द्रादिमृग्या गणेशाभिधा मे विधत्तां श्रियं कापि कल्याणमूर्तिः॥

आचार्यैः शङ्करभगवत्पादैः प्रणीते सुब्रह्मण्यभुजङ्गे॥

sadā bālarūpāpi vighnādrihantrī mahādantivaktrāpi paṅcāsyamānyā|

vidhīndrādimṛgyā gaṇeśābhidhā me vidhattāṁ śriyaṁ kāpi kalyāṇamūrtiḥ||

ācāryaiḥ śaṅkarabhagavatpādaiḥ praṇīte subrahmaṇyabhujaṅge||

Meaning

May that Glorious Divinity which has the name Ganesha bestow on us all wealth and welfare..

That Divine form.. though looking like just a child is capable of shattering huge mountains of difficulties for the devotees.

That Divine form though having the face of a huge elephant is viewed with awe and respect by the natural enemy and adversary, the lion

That Divine form which is sought after with great respect by Lords Brahma and Indra and other deities and gods too.

( Panchasya.. means Shiva.. Himself with the five Heads. Sadyojatham, Vamadevam, Eashaanam, Tatpurusham and Aghoram.. So panchasyamaanya.. could mean the divine form which is given great affection by Lord Shiva Himself.. Ganehse is also the ultimate in Knowledge.. Panchasya is also an epithet for scholars.. so it could mean that Ganesha is respected by all the learned people too..)

the contrast is more important..

He is just a boy, but he will shatter a mountain.. 

Baala indicates infant.. not grown and stron.. but the mountain is old and sturdy.. and the lord in infant form can shatter the tough mountain

Mahaadanti vaktra means having the face or a big elephant.. And elephant is always an enemy of a lion..

Her panchaasya means a lion.. Even though He is elephant faced, he is respected by a lion.. Panchaasya has the meaning of Shiva also.. so it implies the affection of lord Shiva too .. but that is secondary..

vidhi.. brahmadeva.

Indra lord Indra the king of the gods..

Vidheendraadhimrigyaa.. vidhi indra aadhibhiH mrigyaa.. sought after by the greats like Brahma and Indra..

Ganesha abhidhaa.. having the name of ganesha..

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I had already posted on the greatness of the ashes distributed in Tiruchendur.. in panneer leaves..

I am repeating the same.

Skanda Shasti 

a very auspicious day for that beautiful and powerful God Subramania or Murugan.. is just two days away

I would love to share a few words on the glory of the Holy ashes adorning that cute warrior..

the words which are endorse by Shankaraacharya Himself

Lord Subramania was born to fight the Cruel Demons Like Soora, Simhavaktra and Thaaraka..

The Lord vanquished Soorapadma on the Skanda Shasti day, and gave Moskhsam to the demon by permitting him to be his mount the peacock and also the insignia in His flagstaff the rooster..

This happened in Lanka and the Lord Murugan (Skanda) stood on the shore of the Bay of Bengal, at Jayanti puram of Tiruchendur.. with his spear of Shakti pressed on the ground and held in one hand and casting a challenging glance westwards to see if anyone was left behind to challenge him in a battle..

With another hand he offered Bilva leaves to his Father, the Supreme Lord Shankara..

The lord Stands there in His most ferocious form -- the Supreme Commander of the Army of Gods just after concluding a victorious campaign .. 

No force could dare to stand facing him..

He is also manifest in his six-faced form in Tiruchendur

After the glorious victory he is manifesting himself in all Royal glory..

The Vedas themselves wanted to praise Him and took the shape of a tree with lots of branches full of leaves.. and flowers ( The tree according to the local lore is called Panneer tree) and the Lord is worshiped with these flowers and each leaf represents a great mantra of the Veda, it is believed..

Adi Shankara, was once afflicted by an incurable abdominal ailment.. and all medicines and yogic powers could not give any relief.. 

So the Saint Visited the Shrine of Skanda at tiruchendur and praised the Lord with a hymn. Subramania Bhujangam.. a beautiful piece of literature in elegant Sanskrit, composed in Bhujanga Metre..

It is believed that Shankara got cured of all His ailments by the mercy of Subrahmnya of Tiruchendur..

The main prasadam at the temple is the holy ashes which bathe the idol of the lord and is distributed in the leaves of the Panneer tree..

The greatness of this ash on the leaf.. "patrabhooti " is underlined at stanza 25 of Subramanian Bhujangam

अपस्मारकुष्ठक्षयार्शःप्रमेह ज्वरोन्मादिगुल्मादिरोगाः महान्तः।

पिशाचाश्च सर्वे भवत्पत्रभूतिम् विलोक्य क्षणात् तारकारे द्रवन्ते॥२५॥

॥श्रीमद् शङ्कराचार्य विरचिताद् सुब्रह्मण्यभुजङ्गात्॥

apasmārakuṣṭhakṣayārśaḥprameha jvaronmādigulmādirogāḥ mahāntaḥ |

piśācāśca sarve bhavatpatrabhūtim vilokya kṣaṇāt tārakāre dravante ||25||

||śrīmad śaṅkarācārya viracitād subrahmaṇyabhujaṅgāt||

Shankara Says, 

Oh Slayer of the demon Tharaka, ( Muruga) 

on just seeing the holy ashes placed on leaves in your presence, powerful and incurable diseases like epilepsy, leprosy, tuberculosis, piles, diabetes, fever, mental disorders, delusions, and enlargement of spleen just vanish within split seconds, and the demons afflicting people flee for their life..

Notes..

The diseases which are cured by the Lords Holy ashes in the leaf given at Tiruchendur temple

Apasmaara.. epilepsy.. 

Kushta leprosy 

Kshaya Tubeculosis 

ArshaH piles 

Prameha Diabetes 

Jvara..fever unmaadi.. mental disorder, delusion 

gulma.. the abdominal disorder.. enlargement of spleen

and if any evil demi gods or demons have afflicted the body of the visitor to the temple, those depart and bolt away on the sight of the holy ashes..

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സദാ ബാലരൂപാപി വിഘ്നാദ്രിഹന്ത്രീം മഹാദന്തിവക്ത്രാപി പഞ്ചാസ്യമാന്യാ 
വിധീന്ദ്രാദി മൃഗ്യാഗണേശാഭിദാമേ വിധത്താം ശ്രിയം കാഽപി കല്യാണമൂര്‍ത്തിഃ

ശങ്കരഭഗവദ്പാദരുടെ സുബ്രമണ്യ ഭുജന്ഗത്തില്‍ നിന്ന്‍

ശക്തി കുറഞ്ഞ ഒരു ബാലന്റെ രൂപമാണെങ്കിലും വിഘ്നങ്ങളുടെ വലിയ പര്‍വതങ്ങളെപ്പോലും തകര്‍ക്കാന്‍ കഴിയുന്ന 

വമ്പന്‍ 

ആനയുടെ മുഖമാണ് എങ്കിലും സ്ഥിരം ശത്രുവായ സിംഹത്താല്‍ പോലും ബഹുമാനിക്കപ്പെടുന്നയാള്‍

ബ്രഹ്മാവ്‌ ഇന്ദ്രന്‍ എന്നിവരാല്‍ എപ്പോഴും തേടപ്പെടുന്ന 

ഗണേശന്‍ എന്ന പേരുള്ള ഒരു മംഗള രൂപമുള്ള വസ്തു നമുക്ക് സമ്പത്തുകള്‍ നല്‍കട്ടെ..

കുറിപ്പ് 

പഞ്ചാസ്യന്‍ എന്ന വാക്കിന്നു ശിവന്‍ എന്നും അര്‍ത്ഥമുണ്ട്.. സദ്യോജാതം, വാമദേവം ഈശാനം തത്പുരുഷം, അഘോരം എന്നീ അഞ്ചു മുഖങ്ങള്‍.. 

പണ്ഡിതന്‍ എന്ന അര്‍ത്ഥത്തിലും പഞ്ചാനനന്‍ പഞ്ചാസ്യന്‍ എന്നൊക്കെ ഉപയോഗിച്ച് കണ്ടിട്ടുണ്ടു

ഈ പ്രാര്‍ഥനയില്‍ ആചാര്യസ്വാമികള്‍ ഗണേശന്‍റെ നിഷ്കളങ്കവും എളിയതും ആയ രൂപവും അതേ സമയം അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്‍റെ അളവില്ലാത്ത ശക്തിയും തമ്മില്‍ താരതമ്യം ചെയ്യുകയാണ്.

ante naryanana smritiH..

ante naryanana smritiH..

अन्ते नारायणस्मृति:

Was just reading a book on mantrams.. or holy chants.

Yes, mantrams do work.. mantrams are potent..
whenther I belive in them or not they ar not abracadabra..

And the minimum guarantee is that a mantram can never harm me..

As a fairly devout brahmin, I was initated into the great mantram of Gayathri.. more than half a century ago..
and it was an unavoidable duty nd ritual to chant that mantram, whether I like it or not,
at least a few times a day

during the worship of Sandhya,

and during pooja

and during preparation for taking food etc..

So whether with faith or just as a mechanical affair
Gayatri.. mother Gayatri ..is a part of my life..
as good as my own mother..

Of course, this is the case with every brahmin.. I am sure about that at least till the last generation.

But Gayatri can be chanted only under prescribed conditions.. not any time and anywhere.. at least that is the prescription and promise handed out when we are initiated into that mahamantram by our elders.. and I had made this promise to my father more than half a century ago, although he is not there to remind me of that promise any more.. A promise is a promise..

But my father, a devout but a naive and rather ignorant person with no initiation into Sanskrit or Vedas,
but extremely rich just is his faith,
had got the mantram of Rama from a guru
and he instructed me too to repeat that..
but again for a limited number of times in the morning and evenings..

But he used to ask me and my siblings to sit together at least for five minutes in the evening every day and chant "Naraynana"

Of course, no rules are prescribed..
The time and number given by him are just the minimum..
Yes, Narayana namam can be chanted anywhere, any way, any number of times..

So simple, so profound.. I have not leaned any greater lesson in faith, in spirituality..

Narayana, the owner of the name..
He is presumed to the the Supreme one..
But His name is powerful.. maybe more powerful that Him, I trust..

Of course I have seen Srivaishnavas acquire the holy name in a more formal fashion with more words and beejams attached to it..

Even the mere name is formallly prescribed with dhyanam, rishi chandas etc.. and is chanted at prescribed times and on prescribed occasions..

But we can call out Narayana at any time..
Ajamila is the witness..

The great saints, who have relinquished all worldly possessions,
if they are called upon to affix their signature,
usually invoke
Narayana Smriti..
remembering the name of Narayana

The word seems to cost nothing, but it is of immense value..

Chant Narayana all the time..
Every moment in life can be the last moment..
And the last moment can be blessed only
if we breathe our last
with Narayana in our lips, memory and hearts..

Ante Narayanasmriti..