skanda shashti

                         Skanda Shasti 

A very auspicious day for that beautiful and powerful God Subramania or Murugan..

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..

touch of the divine feet..

In fact I was starting to write about a blessed experience I had during my childhood.. There are three great advaitic mutts, headed by nambuthiri asecetics of the Shankara Order, thekee madom, naduvil madom and thrikkekatti madam( in Tanur, near parappanangadi.). My father had worked almost as a servant in that Thrikkekatti madam.. before he became a government employee , married and I was born.
I was then two years old..
The pontiff.. Sri Arithottathu Thirumanassu .. was very benevolent to my father. One day he sent word that my father should pay him a visit along with me the child.. It was a hot day in the sun and my Mamappa (my mother's uncle) was carrying me, my father walking in tandem.. All walking from Parappanangadi to  Tanur.. five kilometres away..
We all reached the madam in time for bhiksha.
Then the Pontiff did a great thing... Usually the sannyasi does not touch anyone. And more so if the other person is not a nambudiri of the highest order.. When I was placed in namaskarams pose before him, he raised both legs and placed them on my head and said "Sriramo Rakshatu..."
It was an unusual gesture..
I trust that blessing has remained with me for ever..

Durga Sooktham

जातवेदसे सुनवाम सोममरातीयतो निदहाति वेदः।
स नः पर्षदति दुर्गाणि विश्वा नावेव सिन्धुं दुरितात्यग्निः॥१॥
तामग्निवर्णां तपसा ज्वलन्तीं वैरोचनीं कर्मफलेषु जुष्टां।
दुर्गाम् देवी शरणमहं प्रपद्ये सुतरसि तरसे नमः॥२॥
अग्ने त्वम् पारया नव्यो अस्मान् स्वस्तिभिरति दुर्गाणि विश्वा।
पूश्च पृथ्वी बहुळा न उर्वी भवा तोकाय तनयाय शंयो॥३॥
विश्वानि नो दुर्गहा जातवेदः सिन्धुं न नावा दुरितातिपर्षि।
अग्ने अत्रिवन्मनसा गृणानोऽस्माकं बोध्यविता तनूनां॥४॥
पृतनाजित सहमानमुग्रमग्नि हुवेमपरमात्सधस्थात्।
स नः पर्षदति दुर्गाणि विश्वा क्षामद्देवो अति दुरितात्यग्निः॥५॥
प्रत्नोषिकमीड्यो अध्वरेषु सनाच्च होता नव्यश्च सत्सि।
स्वं चाग्ने तनुवं पिप्रयस्वास्मभ्यं च सौभगमायजस्व॥६॥
गोभिर्जुष्टमयुजो निषिक्तं तवेन्द्र विष्णोरनुसंचरेम।
नाकस्य पृष्ठमभि संवसानो वैष्णवीं लोक इह मादयन्तां॥७॥
महानारायणोपनिषत्  तैत्तरीयसम्हितायाम्  दुर्गासूक्तं।
jātavedase sunavāma somamarātīyato nidahāti vedaḥ|
sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśvā nāveva sindhuṁ duritātyagniḥ ||1||
tāmagnivarṇāṁ tapasā jvalantīṁ vairocanīṁ karmaphaleṣu juṣṭāṁ|
durgām devī śaraṇamahaṁ prapadye sutarasi tarase namaḥ||2||
agne tvam pārayā navyo asmān svastibhirati durgāṇi viśvā|
pūśca pṛthvī bahuḻā na urvī bhavā tokāya tanayāya śaṁyo||3||
viśvāni no durgahā jātavedaḥ sindhuṁ na nāvā duritātiparṣi|
agne atrivanmanasā gṛṇāno'smākaṁ bodhyavitā tanūnāṁ||4||
pṛtanājita sahamānamugramagni huvemaparamātsadhasthāt|
sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśvā kṣāmaddevo ati duritātyagniḥ||5||
pratnoṣikamīḍyo adhvareṣu sanācca hotā navyaśca satsi|
svaṁ cāgne tanuvaṁ piprayasvāsmabhyaṁ ca sauabhagamāyajasva||6||
gobhirjuṣṭamayujo niṣiktaṁ tavendra viṣṇoranusaṁcarema|
nākasya pṛṣṭhamabhi saṁvasāno vaiṣṇavīṁ loka iha mādayantāṁ||7||
mahānārāyaṇopaniṣat  taittarīyasamhitāyām  durgāsūktaṁ|
jātavedase sunavāma somamarātīyato nidahāti vedaḥ|
sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśvā nāveva sindhuṁ duritātyagniḥ ||1||
tāmagnivarṇāṁ tapasā jvalantīṁ vairocanīṁ karmaphaleṣu juṣṭāṁ|
durgām devī śaraṇamahaṁ prapadye sutarasi tarase namaḥ||2||
agne tvam pārayā navyo asmān svastibhirati durgāṇi viśvā|
pūśca pṛthvī bahuḻā na urvī bhavā tokāya tanayāya śaṁyo||3||
viśvāni no durgahā jātavedaḥ sindhuṁ na nāvā duritātiparṣi|
agne atrivanmanasā gṛṇāno'smākaṁ bodhyavitā tanūnāṁ||4||
pṛtanājita sahamānamagni huvemaparamātsadhasthāt|
sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśvā kṣāmaddevo ati duritātyagniḥ||5||
pratnoṣikamīḍyo adhvareṣu sanācca hotā navyaśca satsi|
svaṁ cāgne tanuvaṁ piprayasvāsmabhyaṁ ca sauabhagamāyajasva||6||
gobhirjuṣṭamayujo niṣiktaṁ tavendra viṣṇoranusaṁcarema|
nākasya pṛṣṭhamabhi saṁvasāno vaiṣṇavīṁ loka iha mādayantāṁ||7||
mahānārāyaṇopaniṣat  taittarīyasamhitāyām  durgāsūktaṁ|

"May we pay oblations of Soma juice to Jaataveda the fire.  May the all-knowing  Agni destroy all that is not in our favour. He, is the divine fire leads all through his energy and resplendence.  While so leading us may He protect us  by carrying us across all perils of life even as the captain of a ship leads his ship all through the vagaries of the weather.  1

I take refuge in Goddes Durga, who is having the lustre of fire, and is radiant  with yogic penance, who is the Pover of the supreme being who manifests itself in many forms, who  is manifesting herself in all actions and the results thereof   O Mother Durga, You , the expert in showing good path and taking us through difficult terrains, may You be pleased  to take us through the well of mundane existence, which we will not be able to cross by our own skills..2

Oh, Fire, you are worthy of all praise by us.  With your happy methods,  you may be pleased to take us  beyond all difficulties.   May our homes, towns and homeland become extensive  and may our arable plots of land be ample and well nourished.  May You be pleased to join us, our children, and their children all in joy together.  3

May lord Jataveda the Agni, who is  the destroyer of all our sins and sorrows,  be pleased to lead us away from all sins and troubles and protect us in the manner of one who leads people across the ocean in a boat without the passengers feeling any fear or difficulty.  May Agni the Jataveda be pleased to protect our bodies, ever mindful of its safety, just like Sage Atri, who is always repeating in his mind  that "May everyone be whole and happy"  4

We, assembling ourselves in the highest forum. invoke the fire God who is the highest leader of all among us and even beyond us.  The Jataveda, the Agni, charges against and vanquishes all our enemies, with His fierce valour.   May that fire God Jataveda be pleased to  protect us and make our path bereft of all difficulties and wrongs that come by nature to us, and may He be  pleased to wean us away from all that is perishable to lead us to immortality. 5

Oh Agni, the Jataveda, You are lauded in all sacrifices and in turn you bless us with happiness.  In the place of sacrifice you abide as the person who performs the sacrifice, ancient and recent, and even as the place of sacrifice.  Oh Agni, may You be pleased to recognize always as Your own kin  and therefore be pleased to make us happy always.  May you be pleased through your magnificence, to endow us with fortune coming from all sides.  6

Oh Agni, you are unconnected with sin and sorrow and destroy them wherever they manifest.  You pervade all sacrifices in the shape of all that is present in the place of sacrifice.  We serve you, Oh Agni,  desirous of being blessed with good fortune of having  a lot of cattle.  May we, overflowing with blissful devotion to You, serve you without any interruption.   May Gods in the highest region of Heaven share their happiness and delight of sharing devotion to Vishnu with me. May such shared worship bring delight and fortune to me on earth. 7"

Devi Durga in Vedas is worshiped as one with the God of fire.  So every fire, every oblation that goes to the sacrificial fire ultimately is shared by Durga..And all our prayers to Agni the Jatavedaa goes to  Devi Durga.

The Vedic hymn clearly indicate that the people of that period depended for their happy life on cattle and wide expanse of arable land.. Absence of rancour to anyone, and complete sense of happiness and peaceful co-existence, leaving  themselves to the will of the benevolent God, who, they believed would lead them in the right path, was the hall-mark of the Vedic epoch.

--

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.

pranams to Lord Ganesha

संपूजकानां परिपालकानां जितेन्द्रियाणां च तपोधनानां।

देशस्य रष्ट्रस्य कुलस्य राज्ञः करोतु सिद्धिं भगवान् गणेशः॥

saṁpūjakānāṁ paripālakānāṁ jitendriyāṇāṁ ca tapodhanānāṁ| 

deśasya raṣṭrasya kulasya rājñaḥ karotu siddhiṁ bhagavān gaṇeśaḥ||

may Lord Ganesa who is the fountainhead of all glory, ensure the welfare of the devotees who worship Him, the noble men who look after and protect the establishment of lofty ideas and projects, the sages who have won over their sense organs and are rich in penance. May He also bless our region, our beloved country, the clans and the king (the established government).

Pranams to the Supreme Lord on Chaturthi day

Lord Ganesha symbolizes knowledge, simplicity, universal love and brotherhood, victory of virtue over evil, self control, penance, and all lofty ideas human brain could conceive of. Millenniums ago the worship of Ganesha has started, perhaps even before the start of codified and well defined religions. All around the globe wherever we go we are sure to find some symbolic worship of this great Lord..For us in India, Lord Ganesha is the symbol of our national pride and we can never forget the role played by Ganesha worship in our struggle for independence. Whatever we offer Him, He accepts with love and returns to us thousandfold. The tattwa of Ganapathi transcends and will outlive all religions and cults.

Let us offer our profound love to the most adorable Godhead represented by Ganesha. 

His blemishless creation

can we create so much of whiteness? only He can do it

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