Homaanushtana Chandrika

[Guest guest]

Dayananda Saraswati" src="http://lakshman.s.tripod.com/Annivers.jpg"

width="325"> Swami Dayananda I finally found time for your long pending

desire to know more about Homas and their efficacy.What you have asked is a

huge science and I might write a big tome on the subject later! Homa is

derived from the Sanskrit word 'Soma'. I verified this with one scholar by name

G.Vijayaeeshwara sharma of Chennai. He showed me a few ancient

books and was surprised that a young boy like me was interested in such things

and spared his valuable time (nearly 7 hours!) for this single topic.

(Soma Kunda being given..homa kunda comes from

this)....(Many think soma means just wine...actually it a liquid which looks

fiery) I had many insights into the Homa vishaya gnaana. A few techniques he

told me under oath, so unfortunately

I cannot reveal those but the others I can. Homa is called Havan in the north.

Now a days Havankunds and Homakunds come as 'electric homakundas'. While I

appreciate the creativity in the design and concept, I do not think that making

Homa a mechanical thing and a 'jolly-convinience' is not be sought after by

spiritual aspirants. Maybe tommorw we will have digital/collapsable Mahamerus

and Lingas! But one thing here though the above sounds funny...faith is to

be there in everything we do. If we do something with faith one can really move

moutains and ignite fires so to speak. The connection with soma is remniscent

of the vedic times when homas was a regular

feature. The Gurukkal from whom Iam learning my Navavarna puja elaborately

does a nithya samidhadhanam for gruhasthas known as Avapausanam and then

sthaali homam once in a few days.There are however many conditions and Niyamas

to be followed. ( Typical Keralachara homa with Tantreeka rangoli,

Malayala Muggu) Fire is sacred energy. As, I have said so in my past

postings. It is the only element which natrually goes up. Symbolizing the union

of the atman and the Paramaatman. The fire/Homaagni is a visible manifestation

of the divine energy in our souls. Always the principle in Vipareetha Shaktha

is First externality and then internality. This is in consonance

with the working of our sub-conscious and cosmic conscious minds. I was

once invited to do a Chandi Yaaga and the people there requested me to speak on

the Homa vishaya. After finishing the homa laong with my Veda master, I was

blasted with a surprising event-one gentleman there asked me how

does an external fire help the inner process.I was happy as the people there had

been sleeping during the lenghty homam and thus his question sort of woke up

people! I just told it in his idiom as he was a psychologist and an NLP

practioner. "It affects your subconscious with a positive affirmation

involving the Kinesthetic,visual and auditory senses ". He was immensely

satisfied and has become a Homa enthusiast these days! The Kinesthetic --Yes,

with your hands doing the swaha mantras with the Homa-ladle pouring ghee or

unguents

into the homaagni The visual--Yes, very much seeing the fire and feeling that

something divine is happeneing The auditory--Yes, hearing the mantras and

impinging the positive vibrations onto your inner psyche. But there is more

to Homa than NLP Homa shakthi energises the soul.It is verily divine and goes

beyond the realms of logic or mind. Homaagni is the mediator between your soul

and the bening entitites above. Homa is performed either in a Kundam(Homa

Kundam) or a built platform. However since the homakunda is an inverted pyramid

it is important to make it perfectly else detriments will follow. One

interesting thing I came to

know Prasanna Gaaru , from Vijayaeeshwara Sharma is that an inverted pyramid is

representative of the evil in us.No one has ever heard about this before

anywhere and Iam revealing this to the modern world now in this posting. The

inner evil is represented by the inverted pyramid and this when ignited by the

holy fire(it becomes holy with proper mantric chants) is transmuted to the

ordinary pyramid and thus the evil in us is burnt. Vimalandana Aghori(his

name was different) in Aghora series of books says that "In this kaliyuga only

fire can be easily done a sadhana upon. And only it can burn the sins faster

and give accelerated results". I believe this. There is no refuting this

statement. PERIOD. That is why I do the violet fire invocation in my heart

withsome mantras. Whatever sins and bad karmas I have commited in the past

lives and also this life will be reduced. I can actually see sometimes a black

'paapa purushaa' going out from my body. In the aavarana puja before you

start you actaully do a Shushkam, dahana and then amritadharanam of tthe papa

shareera with the syllable "Ram...etal) and then pour amrita on to it with"vam"

etal. Infact I do this powerfully with the violet fire. I was watching the

Baygon advertisement in India and suddenly I got an idea when I saw that the

Baygon spray sort of blasts the coakroach with a violet fire! I was just then

thinking of how better I could visualise and then causally flipped the news

channels (i rarely watch the idiot box)and then this ad came up and since then

I use that powerful idea for my visualisation. I also do a antar yagna with the

violet fire with golden streaks. Rm Swarna udaanagnim swaha(udaanaha is

violet

in sanskrit) The homa samithaani(samvithaha...that which which a connection is

sought to be made) are of different types...it can be from Bel tree, Homatree,

Pulasa, Pippala etc. Mango tree wood is popular in Northindia. Samagri or

the powder put into the homaagni with ghee is of different types too for

different purposes. There are 36 types of herbal ingredients used to purify the

atmosphere and increase good vibrations. It is beleived that one person in

Chennai over did the Varuna Dhanvantiri homa and thus chennai is now in spate

of floods. He had to appease it with other prayaschitta. I do not know the

truth of the story but one point which I want to drive home is that "Never play

with Homa-fire" In other words do not over do things. The ghee should be

preferably from cows and that too fresh. The homagani produces the

homadhoopa(the holy smoke which comes from the homa), this purifies the doer of

the homa, and impacts certain areas of his body and clears certain channels for

higher spiritual growth.The devas present in those body parts are pleased and

accept the dhoopa and the offerings into the fire etherically and give benfits

to the doer). Also the enviroment is purified with the smoke because of the

maantric content. Normally if one burns a mango tree the enviroment is

affected but if the same is done in a Homa with the mantras then the case is

different. I have a copper kunda in my house which I take with me if I go out

and I do all types of mantra ahutis in it. I clearly remember when I got first

interested into the Homa. That was when I was in seventh standard and I had

obtained the Mahashodasi mantra. I then playfully tried to experiment it with a

homakunda and then did some homa mantra ucchatana ahuti into the sacred fire and

that night. I saw a fire burning in the place where I did homa in the dream. It

was so surrealistic that I ran in the dead night to see whether the house

caught fire! From then on I stopped playing with fire. Amba was compassionate

else my house would have been burnt down! That was Her way of warning not to be

'funny'. There are popularly two main bifurcations in the Homachara...Tantreek

and Vaideeka. Both are powerful if done with shraddha but Tantreeka is more

powerful

but is fraught with dangers. For example while doing a tantreeka homa (during

the days) if there is a night fall for men or white discharge for females then

the repurcussions will be heavy.I know one person had a Homa-bhanga(break in

the homa with the nightfall) and he dies the next day! I still remember vividly

how Swaprakshananda(my father's guruvugaru) warned him not to do the home

because of the heat it generates. Homa vedhi(fire place) must also fit some

critera for a successful homa. The success of the homa is said to be in full

fruition if a rain comes immidieately after the homa. I also had fruitful

talks with Pranav Pandyaji of Haridwar kunj-Gayathri Pariwar. He showed me a

machine which measures the benefit of doing a gayathri homa. Please visit his

website and also Haridwar if posssible to know more. I purchased some Hindi

books on the subject and also about Gayathri Tantra and Yajur veda samhitas.It

all made a good reading and was a wonderful divine experience. A posting on

Homas will not be complete unless I mention about Homasapthamam Homa

Sapthaham is a powerful ancient vedic fire ritual. 1. Danvantri Homa to cure

physical ailments that could not be diagnosed by medical tests. A special

distance healing for the participants. 2. Navagraha Homa to correct horoscopic

doshas and to reduce the negative effects of planets Saturn & Mars. 3.

Vidhaya Homa to improve intelligence, knowledge,concentration and memory

retention. 4. Kubera Homa to remove negative energies and curses, which block

proseperity and finacial growth. 5. Mangala Samskarana Homa to succeed in our

efforts, to be blessed with children, to attain Moksha. 6. Gayathri Homa to

liberate us from negative karma and past life vasanas, to set right

relationship, to achieve high goals, to end all negative fate that has ruled

our life so far. 7. Vishwa Shanthi Homa to bring peace in all relationships,to

bring sacredness to our mind, body & soul, to maintain brotherhood, to bring

eternal peace & harmony to thewhole world. The nanganallur temple performs

under the auspicies of Swami Rajagopala all the seven homas for those who

desire. Swami Rajagopalar performing the Chandi Yaga in the temple.

The contact information of the swami and the temple are to be found in the first

file of our group. In this connection the now-popular Navagraha homam draws

my attention.Many a times we hear people say our time is running bad. These bad

times are attributed to the different Grahas (Planets), and their position in

the current time. These Grahas can be appeased by performing the Graha shanti

Homam. However, I am not unaware of the nefarious uses of Homas too like

Marana Homa,sthambhana Homa etal. One chettiar near Maasaaniamman koil in

Tamilnadu did a marana homa. The target/victim dies but the chettiar became

insane and committed suicide by poruing kerosene and immolating himself. See,

this is the working of karma--you kill by fire and fire kills you.

new roman" color="#800000"> Also some people think that by doing a Prathyangira

Ugra kritya Homa they can vanquish their enemies. Yes, they can but first three

thumb rules must be followed. Prathyangira devi wants utmost devotion

to Her. The enemy must be really evil (one must learn to forgive even Hitler

for what he has done, though it is very hard) The doer must take the

reponsibility of the bad karma involved in the krityaa(which is actually a homa

emnating energy of prathyangira whcih can take any shape from a one-eyed etheric

man to a lightening bolt...at the whim and fancy of the Devi at the Homa and

attack the 'enemy'). Actually if you see Prasanna gaaru, there is no 'enemy'

nor 'friend' in this jagath. Everything happens by the workings of Karma -Who

knows what the person has done to the 'enemy' in his past lives? One place

which I can recommend apart from Nanganallur temple, where they do proper

homas (however the cost is on the higher side) is Bhuvaneshwari Ashramam. The

pontiff of the mutt is no more but his son too does a

very good job. Bhuvaneshwari Swamigal of Chennai There are many many types

of Homas the most popular being Mahaganapathi Homa Kubera Homa Avahanti Homa

Dhanvantari Homa Sudarshana Homa Navagraha Homa Rudra Homa Gayathri Homa Vasthu

Homa Durga Homa Loka Kalyana Homa Vidya Homa Mrityunajaya Homa Lakshmi Homa

Ganapathi Homam is very popular in Southindia and I had given an earlier posting

on the same at the request of Aparna Ma. Please chek all my postings on Homa for

more 'Vishayagnaana'. GANAPATHI HOMAM ( GANESH HAVAN ) Lord Ganesh or

Ganapathi is the deity which every hindu worships, before starting any new

thing. The Ganapathi Homam is the homa or havan dedicated to lord Ganesh. By

doing this homa, the devotee gets blessing from Lord Ganesh which improves

family relationship, overcomes disease , attains once goal without any

hindrance,overcomes the enemies, and overcomes all life problems. MRUTYUNJAYA

HOMAM ( MRUTYUNJAYA HAVAN ) This homam is done to get the blessings of almighty

god " Shree Shankara ". By doing this homam one gets the blessing of living long

life with good health and overcoming untimely dangers. NAVAGRAHA HOMAM (

NAVAGRAHA HAVAN ) This homam is done to worship the nine planets i.e. The Sun,

The Moon, The Mars, The Mercury, The Jupiter, The Venus, The Saturn, The Rahu,

and The Ketu. Every planet has its own importance. Sun is the king of planets

which gives health. Moon is the planet which rules over mind and gives success.

Mars or Mangala is the planet which gives prosperty and wealth. Mercury is the

planet

which gives knowledge, Jupiter gives education, Venus gives the knowledge of

art, music etc.Saturn gives happiness also teaches vairagya.Rahu makes the life

stronger.Ketu prospires the family. All these nine planets are important, so in

order to worship them this homam is done. AYUSHYA HOMAM ( BIRTH DAY POOJA )

This homa is done to worship the god of life ( Ayur Devatha ). By doing this

homa , one gets longlife blessings from Ayur Devatha. SUDARSHANA HOMAM (

SUDARSHANA HAVAN ) This homa is done to worship Sri Sudarshana Chakra Devata.

This Chakra is a weapon which lord Krishna, the incarnation of God Shri Maha

Vishnu used to protect his sister Draupadi.By doing this homa, one can

win over enemies , be settled in life and becomes successful in business. CHANDI

HOMAM ( CHANDI HAVAN ) This homa is done to worship lordess Sri Durga Devi.

This homa is generally done during Navaratri. By doing this homa one can gain

self-confidence, peaceful life and win over enemies. Homas can be done

either in one's own home or in a temple.It can also be done near a river

bank,punyasthala. The Homaground must be made

shubra and 'Samathala'(even). Unless one does a Kaapalika Homa in Smashana

articles like skulls and bone pieces must not be there in the Homa Ground(One

might recollect the Ramayana incident where Vishwamitra performs the Homa/Yagna

and Lord Rama protects the Asuras from throing pieces of bones, skulls and blood

to destroy the homa.(Homabhanga). The homaground must be made 'parishubra'

with Gomayam(cowdung) mixed with turmeric.(All this has a scientific basis with

regard to antiseptic nature of the ingredients). Inside the homa kunda some

yogis and aghoris place yantras or draw them mantrically. I will not advise

this for ordinary people unless they know what they are doing. Because the

'bali'(anna or otherwise) involved will be heavy in such cases. If the

meaurements of the Homakunda go awry then great 'arishthas'(misfotunes) beset

the doer. Better to keep quite and chant the name of Amba or Rama or Krishna

than venture into these areas ignorantly.(Telugulo cheppalante' : Bathikunte'

chippakoodu traagi bathakavacchu.Edhaina anartham jaruguthe itu bathikina

brathukoo ledhu atu chache chaavu ledhu!) The

homa placve must be beautifully decorated with flowers and rangoli. Then Kunda

samskaara(the rites for the homa kunda) with the mantras must be performed.

Along with Paatraasanaadhihi and shatpatravidhi one should light the holy

Homaaagni. The Indian fig tree bark is used for Dattatreya Homam, raavi for

Budha Graha and Dakshninamurthy Homam. But both these tree barks are used in

south along with Mango tree bark. One must then start the vedaghosha behind

to protect the area after doing the special bhoothochatana for driving away

evil entities from the place. One must select Homadravya carefully.(MDH

Masala company has come with a Homadravya samagri, it is good but not for all

types of havans/homas) I can write one seperate tome on the quality and uses

of Homadravyas so this posting will not be sufficient to do any great justice

to this big subject. Also, the upaangadevatas must be pleased with correct

mantraahutis and jayadi homam must be done. Finally the poornaahuti must be

done according to the deity. In all these matters as I always say one must

atleast get the permission of one's Guru before one does Homas elaborately.

Many people these days do even Gayathri Homas reading books and some

organisation's exhortations by themseleves. This will do not good in the long

run. Homa is also an integral part of the mantra purascharanavidhi. There is

a system, in India especially, known as Purascharana of a Mantra, which has

a greater effect than the usual chantings of it. The belief is the Mantra should

be chanted as many times as there are letters, in lakhs of numbers. The

recitation of a Mantra, as many lakhs of times as there are letters in a

Mantra, systematically with the discipline mentioned, is supposed to be a

Purascharana; and every Purascharana completed is supposed to break one knot of

our bondage. Some say there are three knots, some say there are seven knots, and

so on and so forth, whatever they are. The knots which tie us down to earthly

experience will be broken open by each Purascharana performed. There was one

ShreeRam Sharma Acharya, well known to many of you, who performed twenty-four

Gayatri Purascharanas. He lived in Haridwar, near Saptarishi Ashram. Rama

Sharma Acharya was a great saint and sage, and a very unassuming,

unostentatious Sadhaka. He told people that he has done more than twenty-four

Purascharanas of Gayatri. The Gayatri Mantra contains twenty-four letters, and

he had

to perform twenty-four lakhs of recitiation of this lengthy Mantra to complete

one Purascharana, and he has completed 24 lakhs - how many years he has taken,

God only knows. He must have spent all his time in doing only this. Then you

yourself become a Mantra Shakti in yourself. You do not any more become a

Sadhaka, or remain as a Sadhaka; you are an embodiment of the deity, a force, a

strength, a power, and a fire, as it were. Such is the mystery of a Mantra Japa.

Shreeram Acharyaji of Gayatri Pariwar The Maharashtras are

very fond of Gayatri Purascharana. There are in Poona and other places persons

who have performed Purscharana several times. Sri Pandita Madana Mohana

Malaviyaji was a votary of Gayatri Purascharana. The success in his life and

the establishment of a grand Hindu University at Banaras, is all attributable

to his Gayatri Japa and the benign grace of the blessed

Mother Gayatri. Swami Vidyaranya, the reputed author of the celebrated

Pancadasi, performed Gayatri Purascharana. Mother gave him Darshana and granted

Vidyaranya a boon. Swami Vidyaranya asked -"Oh Mother, there is a great famine

in the deccan. Let there be a shower of gold to relieve the immense distress of

the people." Accordingly there was a shower of gold. Such is the power of

Gayatri Mantra. Yogis and pure-minded persons only can have Darshana of

Gayatri by doing one Purascharana only. As the minds of vast majority of

persons in this Iron Age are filled with various sorts of impurities. One has

to do more than one Purascharana according to the degree of impurity of the

mind. The more the impurities, the greater the number of Purascharana. the

famous Madhusudana Swami did seventeen Purascharanas of Krisha Mantra. He did

not get Darshana of Lord Krishna on account of the sins committed in killing 17

Brahmins in his previous births.

But he had Darshana of the Lord when he was on half-way the eighteenth

Purascharana. The same rule applies to Gayatri-Purascharana also. After

the Purascharana is over, perform Havana and feed Brahmins, Sadhus and poor

people to propitiate the Goddess. Those who wish to do Purascharana may

live on milk and fruits. This makes the mind Sattvika, One will derive great

spiritual benefits. There are no restrictions of any kind when you repeat a

Mantra with Niskama Bhava for attaining Moksha. Restrictions or Vidhis

come in only when you want to get some fruits, when you do the Japa with Sakama

Bhava. When a Purascharana of Gayatri is done on the banks of the Ganges,

underneath an Asvattha tree or the Pancavrksa, Mantra Siddhi comes in rapidly.

If you repeat Gayatri 4,000 times daily, you can finish the Purascharana in

one year seven months and twenty five days. If you do the Japa slowly it will

take 10 hours to finish 4,000 daily. The same number should be repeated daily.

You must observe strict Brahmacharya when you do Purascharana. Then you can

have Darshana of Gayatri easily, those who are unable to practise strict

celibacy should be very moderate in family life as second best thing. The

practice of unbroken silence during Purascharana is highly beneficial. Those

who are not able to practise this, can observe full Mauna for a week in a month

or on Sundays. Those who practise

Purascharana should not get up from the Aasana till they finish the fixed

number. They should not change the pose also. Counting can be done through

Mala, fingers or watch. Count the exact number that you can do in one hour.

Suppose you can do in one hour 400 Gayatri Mantras then Japa for 10 hours means

10 x 4,00. There is more concentration in counting through watch. There are

three varieties of Gayatri pictures for meditation in morning, noon and

evening. Many meditate on the fivefaced Gayatri only throughout the day. The

dasama bhaga(one tenth) rule for havan in mantra purascharana applies.

Kaplavruksha Mantra Homa vishyam(to give an

example): Kalpavriksha Mantra The Kalpavriksha is a celestial tree that

grants any boon. In the human body, it is the Kundalini shakti in the spinal

cord. The roots of the celestial tree are in the Mooladhara chakra in the base

of the spine and its branches and

leaves with fruits in the Sahasrara chakra in the brain. In the metaphysical

sense, the roots of the kalpavriksha are in heaven and its fruits are in this

world. Jyotish teaching The Kalpavriksha mantra is given below. It is the

well known seventeen syllable seven word mantra. The energies of the seventh

house comprising all desires and thoughts of the consciousness that are the

roots of the troubles are diverted to the fifth house of prayer and poorva

punya. The Devi sits in the third house of parakrama and destroys all evils,

removes troubles like sleeplessness, bad dreams and all sorts of problems

paving the way for a healthy, free life towards spiritual

growth. Generally, the Durgä sapta-sloki (seven sloka) is recited before the

Japa of this mantra. Seven rosaries of this mantra (7 X 108 beads) should be

recited everyday for 40 days for purascharana. Om hreem Shreem Kleem

Durgathinaashinyai

Mahaamaayayai Swaha! This is powerful mantra and needs initiation. I have just

supplied this mantra to give an example.Mantra Manjari contains this mantra and

homa vidhana. One must be a celibate for the mantra mandala(seven weeks) and

one must do one tenth of the sankhya (number) for homa ahutis.

black"> Below I have given a general procedure followed in Homachara by almost

all. But this will be different in Tantreeka homa and srividya homas. During a

homa, various rituals are performed successively in order to activate various

energies and to also develop the right emotion to perform the homa. Some of

these rituals are common and must be observed before every homa. After these

rituals are performed, the main homa would begin wherein the rituals differ

depending on which deity you invoke. The common rituals for every homa are as

follows: Pavitra Dharanam & Prarthana At this time, the performer as well as

the other persons who are participating in a homa pray for the

cleansing of their hearts and seek divine blessings of their ancestors and other

divine beings. Having prayed thus, they wear a ring made of Darbha grass

new roman" color="#800000">, which is known to repel negative energies, on the

ring finger of their right hand. Achamanam & Siromarjanam: Specially made

copper vessels called Panchapatras are kept filled with water. (Note: during a

homa, iron or steel vessels are not used because of their low spiritual

energies. Silver, copper, bronze, brass or clay is preferred.) Water is taken

with the left hand with a special copper spoon called udraneeya on to the

cavity of the

new roman" color="#800000">right palm and sipped three times chanting the names

of Lord Vishnu. This procedure is to cleanse our body and mind & is followed by

siromarjanam wherein the performers take water in the udraneeya and sprinkle

water on their heads with their right thumb. The mantra chanted here means, ‘

whatever be the condition of my body, sacred or unsacred, by the very chanting

of your divine names, I sanctify this body of mine in order to receive

auspicious energies.’

Sthala Shuddhi This is a ritual wherein the performer takes water unto his

right palm and chants a mantra which says, ‘ all you negative spirits who are

trying to hinder our spiritual practices, immediately be gone and give way for

the auspicious energies to enter our lives. Thereafter, the water is sprinkled

all around to ward away these evil forces. Then the performer takes a vessel

filled preferably with turmeric water and chants mantras inviting higher beings

and sages and simultaneously sprinkles the water with mango leaves or Darbha

grass in all eight directions. Sthala shuddhi is a purificatory rite.

Mahaganapati Pooja In the Hindu scriptures, the elephant headed God, Ganesha is

always worshipped in the beginning of any ritual, for his blessings ensure that

the whole procedure would move smoothly unhindered by any external obstacles at

any stage. Lord Ganesha is invoked into a conical

roman" color="#800000">figure made by mixing turmeric powder and water. Turmeric

is considered very auspicious and is therefore used to represent

roman" color="#800000">Lord Ganesha. Thereafter, a method of worship involving

sixteen steps is performed to please Lord Ganesha. This is called

Shodashopachara Pooja. All these steps are symbolical representations of the

various forms of expressing reverence

new roman" color="#800000"> like offering the deity a golden throne to be

seated, washing his feet, washing his hands, offering him water to drink,

ceremonial bathing with sacred waters, offering new clothes, anointing him with

sandal paste

new roman" color="#800000"> and other perfumes, adorning of jewels, worshipping

with flowers, offering of fragrant incense, lighting

the lamp, offering food, fruits and sweet drinks, chanting his praises, offering

Arati and finally prostrating to him and seeking his blessings. This

Shodashopachara Pooja is done to all the important deities in every

homa. 5. Kalasha Pooja This is a very important step in the homa for

it is here that we invoke the main deity of the homa. If it is a Gayatri

homa, Goddess Gayatri is invoked; in a sudarshana homa, Lord Sudarshana is

invoked and so on. The deity is invoked and worshipped in the Kalasha, which is

a copper pot filled with water. A coconut is placed over the mouth of the

Kalasha and the coconut is surrounded by five or seven mango leaves. This

kalasha is further decorated with flower garlands and a cloth is draped over

it. The Kalasha is placed at the North- Eastern corner of the Homa kunda or the

sacrificial pit. Shodashopachara Pooja is performed to the respective deities in

the kalasha. Yet another significance of the Kalasha is that it absorbs all the

positive energies generated during the homa and hence the divine water in the

Kalasha is sprinkled upon and distributed to the participants at the end of the

homa. This water becomes charged with all the

divine energies and has immense healing powers. 6.Agni Pratishtapanam,

Dhyanam & Agni alankaranam

Navami Lotus Puja" hspace="0"

src="http://www.karunamayi.org/News/images/04OCT03--MAHANAVAMILOTUSPUJA.dat"

width="640">Here, the sacrificial pit or Homa kunda is sanctified by chanting

mantras, before the fire god Agni is invoked. Sticks from select trees are only

used for homas

roman" color="#800000">. Mostly, the stisks of the Pipal tree are used. They are

called Samidh in Sanskrit. Samidh is burned in a vessel

till it is red hot and then the main performer goes to the south eastern corner

of the homa kunda and slowly pours the red hot samidh into the kunda over the

pile of samidh and darbha grass which is already placed inside. Then, amidst

chantings, the performer gently

blows the red-hot samidh and the fire rises up. Thereafter, ghee is offered and

the participants meditate upon Agni. The success of a homa very much depends

upon how the participants relate to the fire god Agni , because he serves as

the medium between this mortal world and the other mystical worlds. After agni

dhyanam or meditating on Agni is done, the fire god is decorated by placing

flowers on the eight corners of the homa kunda amidst chantings. Water is

sprinkled on all the four sides of the kunda and thus Agni becomes ready to

accept the offerings offered to him. 7..Sankalpam: Sankalpa sutram must be

done.( Tanme' manaha Shivasamkalpamasthu...) This is like the heart of the

homa. The entire

roman" color="#800000">homa depends upon the Sankalpa or the strong will of the

participants. Each homa is performed for a definite purpose and it is this

purpose that the performer and participants clearly hold within their hearts as

they take Sankalpa. The Sankalpa mantra

new roman" color="#800000"> itself is a very clear declaration stating ‘

According to the Indian Solar Calendar, in this particular year named thus

(Indian astrology considers a cycle of sixty years with sixty distinct names),

in this month, in this season, on this day of the brighter/darker phase of the

moon, at a time when this particular constellation is ruling (each day is

supposed to be ruled by one of the twenty seven important stellar

constellations called Nakshatras);

roman" color="#800000">I am performing this particular homa to invoke and please

this deity under the guidance of Sri Kalki &

Amma for this individual/family, who is/are born under this sign of the zodiac

and ruled by this Nakshatra.’ 8.. Pradhana homa Pradhana homa means ‘the main

homa’. This is when the main mantra pertaining to the Pradhana Devata or the

main deity is chanted 108 times continuously.

Along with the chanting of the Moola mantra or the main mantra, various Ahutis

or offerings like nine grains, medicinal herbs, dry fruits, rice cooked in

ghee, cooked rice mixed with jaggery, silver flowers, gold flowers, black

sesame seeds and various others are offered into the fire. The offerings are

never the same and differ from homa to homa because each deity responds to a

particular offering. All these details about the various ahutis for various

homas are

already stated in the Indian scriptures and have been followed meticulously over

the ages by people. The common offerings for every homa are Samidh and ghee. In

the scientific sense, each of these ahutis generate energies or vibrations of a

particular frequency and in that frequency, that particular deity becomes

accessible. So one must not mistake that how can this food be transported via

fire to the deity. It is the vibrations generated that help us communicate to

the deities. 9..Jayadi homa: The name itself suggests that this homa is for

victory; for the success of all that we have done so far. During this

procedure, mantras are chanted to appease the various forces of nature like

wind,

sun, moon, earth, rains, oceans, etc. the performer also expresses gratitude to

all these forces of nature for it is with their cooperation that the homa has

been possible. 10.Purnahuti homa The name itself speaks

‘complete offering’, meaning complete offering away of oneself. The

participants are here made to feel deep within their hearts as to how finally

what they seek for must come as the Divine blessing. They can only put efforts

to a certain extent in the physical realm but beyond that things have to just

happen and they must only surrender to the divine will and wait in gratitude.

Externally, this feeling is symbolized by the final ahuti which includes dry

coconut, nine grains, nine gems, five metals (silver, gold, copper, zinc &

brass), betel leaves, betel nuts,

dry fruits, medicinal herbs, sandal wood sticks, saffron and any other

particular ahutis wrapped up in a silk cloth. The colour of the silk cloth

again varies from homa to homa. Like for Gayatri, sudarshana, durga homas, the

colour used is red. For, vidya homa, rudra homa etc., it is white and for

Kubera

Homa, it is green and so on. This bundle of offerings is drenched in ghee amidst

vedic chantings and then offered into the Homa kunda. The

offering of the Purnahuti marks the completion of the homa. 11.Pradakshinam,

Namaskaram & Prasthanam: Thereafter, the performers and participants get up and

go round the homa kunda three times in the clockwise direction and prostrate

before the homa kunda. Thereafter Prasthanam is done which is the ceremonious

send-off for all the higher beings and deities who have graced the homa.

Mantras expressing gratitude are chanted here and the deities are requested to

return to their respective abodes. Agni meele purohitamyajyasya

deva-mrit-wijam.Hotaaram ratna-dhaatamam - Rig Veda 1:1:6 We praise Agni. We

praise Him Who has been present even before this creation. He is the Glorious

Lord of this Cosmic Sacrifice, and is worthy of our worship in all seasons. We

praise Him Who is the Creator and Supreme Sustainer of all the jewel-like

planets that decorate the cosmic Drama.

justify"> (My Gurunatha) Submitted at the Blue-Lotus feet of my Gurunatha

Shree Rajagopala Anandanatha and my Sweet Mother Rajarajeshwari Shodasi

Mahatripurasundari Devi's Saffron lotus feet.

new roman" color="#800000"> Hope you are satisfied now... Prasannagaaru!

Yours Yogically, Shreeram Balijepalli

Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru/

 

Purity, Powers, Parabrahmam...

 

 

Click to join Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru

for Good - Make a difference this year.