Guest guest Report post Posted December 9, 2004 Dear swamis, Regarding Gayatri japa, it is said in Agni purana in Tulakaveri mahatmya Adhyaya 14 that japamala should not be used for counting Gayatri mantram. It should only be counted on the parvas or the folds of the right hand fingers. Starting from the middle fold of the ring finger, going down and left and upwards on the little finger and going right on the top folds and down the index finger giving 10 counts. For counting 28 or 108 therefore one has to count in tens on the right hand and note each cycle with the help of chalk markings or pebbles or left fingers. It is said that the lower two folds of the middle finger are called Meru and the counting should be done circumambulating them. It is said that since Gayatri is the root of the Vedas and the Vedas are recited using the above-mentioned method for counting the sooktas, Gayatri should also be counted likewise. The following sloka is quoted in authority. parvabhir gaNayEt sankhyAm nAkshamAlAdibhir nripa; GayatryA vedamUlatwAd vEdah parvasu gIyatE. There are many more do's and dont's quoted therein which are interesting to note and follow. Dasan Ramanuja On Fri, 3 Dec 2004, Karthik Ragavan wrote: > > Dear Swamis, > > I have a clarification in the usage of malai during > Gayathri japam. During my daily sandhyavandhanam, I > have the practice of using Rudraksha malai during > Gayathri Japa & Spatika Malai during Ashtakshara japam > and wear the same after the japam is completed. I > remove the malais during my night prayers before going > to bed. > > I heard somebody advising that it is not right to wear > the japa malai and it is supposed to be kept back in > the sannadhi after the japa is over. The malais used > for daily wearing after snanam should not be used for > Japa. > > I am confused on this and seek the stalwarts of this > group to clarify on the same. > > Regards, > > Karthik Ragavan > > > > Tired of spam? Mail has the best spam protection around > > > > > > Sponsor > > click here > > ______________________________ > Links > * > / > > * > > > * > > -- *********************************************** M. N. Ramanuja Department of Physics Indian Institute of Science Phone: 3092722 (Lab) *********************************************** Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted December 10, 2004 Dear BhakthAs: Sriman (Dr.) M.Ramanuja of Bangalore had a useful postign in a sister list that might be of interest to you all . I seek Dr.Ramanjua's permission to share it with you . V.Sadagopan > Dear swamis, > Regarding Gayatri japa, it is said in Agni purana in > Tulakaveri mahatmya Adhyaya 14 that japamala should not be used for > counting Gayatri mantram. It should only be counted on the parvas or the > folds of the right hand fingers. Starting from the middle fold of the ring > finger, going down and left and upwards on the little finger and going > right on the top folds and down the index finger giving 10 counts. > For counting 28 or 108 therefore one has to count in tens on the right > hand and note each cycle with the help of chalk markings or pebbles > or left fingers. > > It is said that the lower two folds of the middle finger are called Meru > and the counting should be done circumambulating them. It is said that > since > Gayatri is the root of the Vedas and the Vedas are recited using the > above-mentioned method for counting the sooktas, Gayatri should also be > counted likewise. The following sloka is quoted in authority. > > parvabhir gaNayEt sankhyAm nAkshamAlAdibhir nripa; > GayatryA vedamUlatwAd vEdah parvasu gIyatE. > > There are many more do's and dont's quoted therein which are interesting > to note and follow. > > Dasan > Ramanuja Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted December 13, 2004 SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha !SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha !Srimate Sri Lakshminrisimha Divyapadukasevaka Srivan Satakopa Sri NarayanaYatindra Mahadesikaya namaha ! Dear Bhagavathas, While I appreciate the explanations given based on the sloka by swamin Ramanuja , I feel , in today's fast world , if we try to bring in all do's and dont's as per the books , we would only drive the youth away from doing the Nithya karmas .. Our Acharyas themselves have diluted a lot for us , to make people get attracted to come for making Saranagathi to Sriman Narayanan , only to save all our souls ( Panchasamskaram and Baranyasam) . As such we on our part should not put in all restrictions in the initial stage itself. Once people start getting used to doing Japa , they would be tempted to read connected books and then , they themselves will follow the rules of the game. In the meanwhile , it would be easier for the youth of today , who is living in the computer world and addicted to all mechanisation , to use Tulsi or Rudraksha or spatika mala for counting purposes during japa. What is most important is that , when such chanting of mantras are done with the help of beads , the beads themselves get some power in them due to the greatness of Bhagavan nama and so they are to be handled carefully. So it would be better for one to keep those japa malais in Perumal sannathi instead of wearing all through the day , since , during our other works , we may lose our body purity . This is one of the reasons , the elders in the family used to tell us to wash ourselves , especially hands and feet before entering Perumal sannadhi in the house . If people want to wear malais after bath for the whole day , they may do so with a different set instead of the one used for the Japa counting. This also will give us a feeling of holiness while chanting mantras , since we ourselves would be disciplined by our actions. We should never forget that we have not reached a stage of Alwars or other devotees , who could freely play with the Lord and the mantras. They are important for our salvation and have got to be handled very carefully with all sincerity and holiness. Please do not get me wrong that I am trying to go against the sampradayam. My only anxiety is the youth of today have got to be roped as they will be the torch bearers of our sampradayam tomorrow. Trust this explanation could be appealing to all. Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan- G.Sampath. "M.N.Ramanuja" <mnr wrote: Dear swamis, Regarding Gayatri japa, it is said in Agni purana in Tulakaveri mahatmya Adhyaya 14 that japamala should not be used for counting Gayatri mantram. It should only be counted on the parvas or the folds of the right hand fingers. Starting from the middle fold of the ring finger, going down and left and upwards on the little finger and going right on the top folds and down the index finger giving 10 counts. For counting 28 or 108 therefore one has to count in tens on the right hand and note each cycle with the help of chalk markings or pebbles or left fingers. It is said that the lower two folds of the middle finger are called Meru and the counting should be done circumambulating them. It is said that since Gayatri is the root of the Vedas and the Vedas are recited using the above-mentioned method for counting the sooktas, Gayatri should also be counted likewise. The following sloka is quoted in authority. parvabhir gaNayEt sankhyAm nAkshamAlAdibhir nripa; GayatryA vedamUlatwAd vEdah parvasu gIyatE. There are many more do's and dont's quoted therein which are interesting to note and follow. Dasan Ramanuja On Fri, 3 Dec 2004, Karthik Ragavan wrote: > > Dear Swamis, > > I have a clarification in the usage of malai during > Gayathri japam. During my daily sandhyavandhanam, I > have the practice of using Rudraksha malai during > Gayathri Japa & Spatika Malai during Ashtakshara japam > and wear the same after the japam is completed. I > remove the malais during my night prayers before going > to bed. > > I heard somebody advising that it is not right to wear > the japa malai and it is supposed to be kept back in > the sannadhi after the japa is over. The malais used > for daily wearing after snanam should not be used for > Japa. > > I am confused on this and seek the stalwarts of this > group to clarify on the same. > > Regards, > > Karthik Ragavan > > > > > > > > > > Sponsor > > click here > > ______________________________ > Links > * > / > > * > > > * > > -- *********************************************** M. N. Ramanuja Department of Physics Indian Institute of Science Phone: 3092722 (Lab) *********************************************** Send holiday email and support a worthy cause. Do good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
