Re:Ishta-Devta for Mars and a Story from Uddhava Gita

May 17, 2004

Dear Hari, Sarbaniji and Saaji ji,

I thank you all for taking interest and putting your efforts to help me clarify

my concerns and doubts.

The interest that you had shown and your responses has encouraged me and to

write more, share some more information and seek clarification on some more

concerns.

1. The information shared by Hari i.e ishta-devta considering lord of the

sign in the navamsa, which in my case is Mars in Taurus, Taurus being a female

sign indicates Chamundi-devi or Bhadrakali. This sounds astrologically correct

as I had also gone through Sanjay Rathji’s article on Atmakaraka and

Ishta-Devta.

2. The information provided by Sarbaniji soundly logically correct that the

ultimate of the ishta-devta is to obtain salvation (moksha). The information

provided regarding Satvik, Rajasik and Tamasik worships is a wonderful piece of

information.

But it is also true that we are born on this earth to carry out some duties

which we have been assigned, and while performing these duties we often face

obstacles. When we pray to our ishta-devta our object is not only to get the

moksha, but to gain the strength to face the problems that we are facing or

likely to face. It is said that one cannot change its destiny but one can

certainly adopt some remedies, which may help to gain the strength to overcome

the obstacles.

You have rightly said that “The second is Rajasik, where the worship is

motivated for selfish purposes be it siddhi, moksha, wealth, knowledge etc.”

And in that case, from whatever I said above it is easily understood that even

my objective is Rajasik but certainly not Tamasik.

Yes, I wish to pray ishta-devta so that I can get the strength (the shakti) to

face whatever befalls on me and continue to do my duties towards my family (and

not get shattered and be a cause of worry to them) and for which purpose which I

am born on this earth.

3. Saaji ji: regarding Kartikeya not being worshiped by females. Here is a

small story, of which even you may be aware of, which is well-known in

Maharashtra from which place I belong where the females do not pray kartikeya.

Both Kartikeya and Ganesha was to get married to Riddhi and Siddhi

respectively. Now the question was who was to marry first. So the condition was

that whoever first completes the “parikrima” of mother earth will be the first

to marry. Ganesh being intelligent he makes “parikrima” of his mother parvati

as mother is equal to mother earth and marries Siddhi. Kartikeya comes after

several years after completing parikrima to the mother earth and gets wild on

Ganesha and Parvati for having cheated him. He argues with parvati, decides

never to marry and settles in South region. It is believed that he is angry

with the women. Well, this is what the story in Maharashtra, I don’t know how

much of this is true.

Any other explanation for the reason is most welcome.

4. Mantra- Pronunciation:- I agree that the mantras need to be pronounced

properly and often one tend to make mistake as all are not familiar to Sanskrit

words.

These words are only to reassure that Sanskrit words wont be a problem to

me…though I am not a Sanskrit scholar myself but I can take the help of my

mother.

I await your response to whatever I have stated above.

I value your comments, advise, suggestions and if there is anything in my mail

which sounds offending I request you to excuse me because my intention is not

to harm anyone or to prove anybody wrong - but I only seek clarifications to my

doubts and concerns so that I pray to correct ishta-devta, who can give me the

strength the fight the battles of my life.

Best wishes to you all.

Regards,

Shubhangi

>Sarbani Sarkar <sarbani (AT) (DOT) org> wrote:

>Dear Shubhangi (and Hari),

>

>We are taught in our parampara that the the ultimate goal is the paramam padam

or Vishnu. In order to relieve the burden of our sins and lead us towards

moksha; to forgive and protect us at all times; the one in whom we take sharana

in our darkest hour, is the Ishta Devata. We always worship the Ishta Devata as

Vishnu in one of the dasavatar forms as only Vishnu will lead us to moksha, as

he is the ultimate end or satya. The mantras we use for Ishta Devata prarthana

is from the Bhagavat Purana with prefixes of Om Namo Bhagavate...In your case,

Mars as Ishta Devata indicates Nrisimhadeva and the Ishta Mantra for the same

is Om Namo Bhagavate Nrisimhadevaya.

>

>Mars when otherwise indicating deities in any of the charts, can represent

Kartikeya, Hanuman or Chamunda. Usually women don't worship Kartikeya, the God

of War, although Subramania Swamy is greatly revered in the south. Hanuman is

very much worshippable as he removes all 'sankata' and removes ugra mangala

doshas. Chamunda, the presiding deity of the Devi Mahatmya, is the goddess who

sits in our hearts and who has the utimate power to deliver even the most

tortured souls roaming the universe. She is the great goddess whom Rama

worshipped with the Chamunda Hrdaya mantra (a navarna mantra which Rama

transformed into a dasakshari by adding pranava) immediately prior to embarking

on his final battle with Ravana. She is trigunatmika, very pure and supremely

divine and she is not associated with black magic. That her immense powers are

invoked for tamasik practices is another matter. For that matter even

Dakshinamurty and Dattatreya are invoked for black magic practices. In fact the

> Dattatreya Tantra is one of the worst in such matters.

>

>Let me share a story with all of you from the Uddhava Gita. Krishna says that

there are three methods of worship. The first is Satvik, where the focus is

entirely on Krishna (read: Supreme Being in any form) and is utterly without

any purpose or selfish motivation. The second is Rajasik, where the worship is

motivated for selfish purposes be it siddhi, moksha, wealth, knowledge etc. and

the final type is Tamasik, where the worship is motivated for selfish purposes

along with the intention of harming or causing injury to another. Ishta Devata

worship can never be anything else but Satvik...and for that matter all other

worships as well.

>

>Best Regards,

>

>Sarbani

>

> Shubhangi Naik [shubhangi_naik (AT) rediffmail (DOT) com]

>Monday, May 17, 2004 11:11 AM

>vedic astrology

>[vedic astrology] Ishta-Devta for Mars

>

>Dear Sirs,

>

>I have been reading all the mails on Ishta-devtas and Atmakarakas.

>

>I have some queries and concerns regarding ishta-devta for planet Mars.

>

>I understand that hanuman,kartikeya,chamunda-devi and narsimha all represents

mars – except kartikeya all 3 are married in their respective original forms.

>

>All of them except kartikey are incarnations of :

>Hanuman - shiva

>Chamunda - gauri/parvati

>Narsimha - vishnu

>

>Generally Hanuman is not advised because he never married and is a celibate. If

this be than even rest 3 were not married and also the incarnation was with

specific objective or purpose.

>

>I pray hanuman as a representation of mars because know much of hanuman who is

worshiped all over India but have little or no knowledge or information about

kartikeya who is more so famous in south as Subramaniym or Chamunda-devi i know

for sure that her name is used while performing some evil/black-magic kind of

and Narsimha is the one who came to rescue bhakt pralhad..

>

>Also except for hanuman who is also symbolised as "das" and who assisted Rama

to attain his objective..the others are warrior gods...

>

>Generally one would advise to pray kartikeya, chamunda and narsimha...but how

is it possible to pray all for one Mars (since all of them represents mars)

and it would only mean thinking on whether we are praying to a right devta or

not.

>

>I request the members to help me clarify my doubts and concerns.

>

>I am enclosing my birth-chart for reference if need be.

>

>Is simply praying ishta-devta and regularly performing pooja enough or one

needs to recite mantras also?

>If mantras are necessary, may I request to recommend a mantra to me?

>

>I await your response.

>Thanking you.

>

>Regards

>Shubhangi

>

>....... May Jupiter's light shine on us .......

>

>|| Om Tat Sat || Sarvam Sri Krishnaarpanamastu ||

>

>....... May Jupiter's light shine on us .......

>

>|| Om Tat Sat || Sarvam Sri Krishnaarpanamastu ||

>

> Sponsor

>

> Links

>

>vedic astrology/

>

>vedic astrology

>

>SBC - Internet access at a great low price.

May 17, 2004

Hi,

Lord Muruga married two wives - Sri Valli and Sri Devayani. (He is

not a bachelor Actually, Sri Hanuman is an avataar of Lord Shiva,

and by remaining unmarried, signifies the attribute-less Brahman? It

is said pure Brahman is attributeless and is devoid of any gunas. But

when we go down the hierarchy of deities, we notice that the gods and

demi-gods are not attributeless but are with attributes, such as

Muruga is associated with Courage and valor (a Kshatriya quality -

Rajasic), Sri Ram is associated with selflessness and humility -

Sattwic, etc. So this suggests to me that the wife (vs). wives (vs)

bachelorhood of a god/demi-god is more of the manifested power

(energy) of the sublime being (god/demi-god). Since the energy is

Shakti or female form, the manifested power(s) are symbolically

represented in the form of wives. Even Hanuman stands for courage and

valor, but maybe he symbolizes godhood in its essence, devoid of

attributes, and hence without wife? (He is a devotee of Sri Ram, in

whose name 'Ra' means 'without' 'ma' means 'self' and since he is

always reciting SriRama nama, he is devoid of anything to call his

own, such as a wife?) > I think Hanuman remaining a brahmachari

conceptualizes the essence of Sri Rama being a para-Brahman, whereas

Rama had to take a wife to fulfill the duty of killing Ravana, the

reason for his incarnation.

I don't think it should matter if a god with or without wife is

prayed to, as I think the difference is only in whether god is prayed

to as para-Brahman or with attributes.

Just my thoughts,

Thanks & regards,

Jayashree

vedic astrology, "Shubhangi Naik"

<shubhangi_naik@r...> wrote:

> Dear Hari, Sarbaniji and Saaji ji,

>

> I thank you all for taking interest and putting your efforts to

help me clarify my concerns and doubts.

>

> The interest that you had shown and your responses has encouraged

me and to write more, share some more information and seek

clarification on some more concerns.

>

> 1. The information shared by Hari i.e ishta-devta considering

lord of the sign in the navamsa, which in my case is Mars in Taurus,

Taurus being a female sign indicates Chamundi-devi or Bhadrakali.

This sounds astrologically correct as I had also gone through Sanjay

Rathji's article on Atmakaraka and Ishta-Devta.

>

> 2. The information provided by Sarbaniji soundly logically

correct that the ultimate of the ishta-devta is to obtain salvation

(moksha). The information provided regarding Satvik, Rajasik and

Tamasik worships is a wonderful piece of information.

>

> But it is also true that we are born on this earth to carry out

some duties which we have been assigned, and while performing these

duties we often face obstacles. When we pray to our ishta-devta our

object is not only to get the moksha, but to gain the strength to

face the problems that we are facing or likely to face. It is said

that one cannot change its destiny but one can certainly adopt some

remedies, which may help to gain the strength to overcome the

obstacles.

>

> You have rightly said that "The second is Rajasik, where the

worship is motivated for selfish purposes be it siddhi, moksha,

wealth, knowledge etc."

> And in that case, from whatever I said above it is easily

understood that even my objective is Rajasik but certainly not

Tamasik.

>

> Yes, I wish to pray ishta-devta so that I can get the strength (the

shakti) to face whatever befalls on me and continue to do my duties

towards my family (and not get shattered and be a cause of worry to

them) and for which purpose which I am born on this earth.

>

> 3. Saaji ji: regarding Kartikeya not being worshiped by females.

Here is a small story, of which even you may be aware of, which is

well-known in Maharashtra from which place I belong where the females

do not pray kartikeya.

>

> Both Kartikeya and Ganesha was to get married to Riddhi and Siddhi

respectively. Now the question was who was to marry first. So the

condition was that whoever first completes the "parikrima" of mother

earth will be the first to marry. Ganesh being intelligent he

makes "parikrima" of his mother parvati as mother is equal to mother

earth and marries Siddhi. Kartikeya comes after several years after

completing parikrima to the mother earth and gets wild on Ganesha and

Parvati for having cheated him. He argues with parvati, decides never

to marry and settles in South region. It is believed that he is angry

with the women. Well, this is what the story in Maharashtra, I don't

know how much of this is true.

>

> Any other explanation for the reason is most welcome.

>

> 4. Mantra- Pronunciation:- I agree that the mantras need to be

pronounced properly and often one tend to make mistake as all are not

familiar to Sanskrit words.

> These words are only to reassure that Sanskrit words wont be a

problem to me…though I am not a Sanskrit scholar myself but I can

take the help of my mother.

>

> I await your response to whatever I have stated above.

>

> I value your comments, advise, suggestions and if there is anything

in my mail which sounds offending I request you to excuse me because

my intention is not to harm anyone or to prove anybody wrong - but I

only seek clarifications to my doubts and concerns so that I pray to

correct ishta-devta, who can give me the strength the fight the

battles of my life.

>

> Best wishes to you all.

> Regards,

> Shubhangi

>

> >Sarbani Sarkar <sarbani@s...> wrote:

> >Dear Shubhangi (and Hari),

> >

> >We are taught in our parampara that the the ultimate goal is the

paramam padam or Vishnu. In order to relieve the burden of our sins

and lead us towards moksha; to forgive and protect us at all times;

the one in whom we take sharana in our darkest hour, is the Ishta

Devata. We always worship the Ishta Devata as Vishnu in one of the

dasavatar forms as only Vishnu will lead us to moksha, as he is the

ultimate end or satya. The mantras we use for Ishta Devata prarthana

is from the Bhagavat Purana with prefixes of Om Namo Bhagavate...In

your case, Mars as Ishta Devata indicates Nrisimhadeva and the Ishta

Mantra for the same is Om Namo Bhagavate Nrisimhadevaya.

> >

> >Mars when otherwise indicating deities in any of the charts, can

represent Kartikeya, Hanuman or Chamunda. Usually women don't worship

Kartikeya, the God of War, although Subramania Swamy is greatly

revered in the south. Hanuman is very much worshippable as he removes

all 'sankata' and removes ugra mangala doshas. Chamunda, the

presiding deity of the Devi Mahatmya, is the goddess who sits in our

hearts and who has the utimate power to deliver even the most

tortured souls roaming the universe. She is the great goddess whom

Rama worshipped with the Chamunda Hrdaya mantra (a navarna mantra

which Rama transformed into a dasakshari by adding pranava)

immediately prior to embarking on his final battle with Ravana. She

is trigunatmika, very pure and supremely divine and she is not

associated with black magic. That her immense powers are invoked for

tamasik practices is another matter. For that matter even

Dakshinamurty and Dattatreya are invoked for black magic practices.

In fact the

> > Dattatreya Tantra is one of the worst in such matters.

> >

> >Let me share a story with all of you from the Uddhava Gita.

Krishna says that there are three methods of worship. The first is

Satvik, where the focus is entirely on Krishna (read: Supreme Being

in any form) and is utterly without any purpose or selfish

motivation. The second is Rajasik, where the worship is motivated for

selfish purposes be it siddhi, moksha, wealth, knowledge etc. and the

final type is Tamasik, where the worship is motivated for selfish

purposes along with the intention of harming or causing injury to

another. Ishta Devata worship can never be anything else but

Satvik...and for that matter all other worships as well.

> >

> >Best Regards,

> >

> >Sarbani

> >

> > Shubhangi Naik [shubhangi_naik@r...]

> >Monday, May 17, 2004 11:11 AM

> >vedic astrology

> >[vedic astrology] Ishta-Devta for Mars

> >

> >Dear Sirs,

> >

> >I have been reading all the mails on Ishta-devtas and Atmakarakas.

> >

> >I have some queries and concerns regarding ishta-devta for planet

Mars.

> >

> >I understand that hanuman,kartikeya,chamunda-devi and narsimha all

represents mars – except kartikeya all 3 are married in their

respective original forms.

> >

> >All of them except kartikey are incarnations of :

> >Hanuman - shiva

> >Chamunda - gauri/parvati

> >Narsimha - vishnu

> >

> >Generally Hanuman is not advised because he never married and is a

celibate. If this be than even rest 3 were not married and also the

incarnation was with specific objective or purpose.

> >

> >I pray hanuman as a representation of mars because know much of

hanuman who is worshiped all over India but have little or no

knowledge or information about kartikeya who is more so famous in

south as Subramaniym or Chamunda-devi i know for sure that her name

is used while performing some evil/black-magic kind of and Narsimha

is the one who came to rescue bhakt pralhad..

> >

> >Also except for hanuman who is also symbolised as "das" and who

assisted Rama to attain his objective..the others are warrior gods...

> >

> >Generally one would advise to pray kartikeya, chamunda and

narsimha...but how is it possible to pray all for one Mars (since

all of them represents mars) and it would only mean thinking on

whether we are praying to a right devta or not.

> >

> >I request the members to help me clarify my doubts and concerns.

> >

> >I am enclosing my birth-chart for reference if need be.

> >

> >Is simply praying ishta-devta and regularly performing pooja

enough or one needs to recite mantras also?

> >If mantras are necessary, may I request to recommend a mantra to

me?

> >

> >I await your response.

> >Thanking you.

> >

> >Regards

> >Shubhangi

> >

> >To UNSUBSCRIBE: Blank mail to vedic astrology-

> >

> >....... May Jupiter's light shine on us .......

> >

> >To UNSUBSCRIBE: Blank mail to vedic astrology-

> >

> >....... May Jupiter's light shine on us .......

> >

> > Sponsor

> >

> > Links

> >

> >vedic astrology/

> >

> >vedic astrology

> >

> > Terms of

Service.

> >

> >SBC - Internet access at a great low price.

May 17, 2004

Om Subrahmanyaya Namah

Dear Shubhangiji,

I know the story you depicted but with a bit modification. In

the `version' I know it was not for marrying any one, but for a

special mango that Narada Maharshi brought : - ) Rest is the same, he

went to south and `settled' there. If my memory is correct, Skanda

Purana has this version!

In any case there is no restriction for women worship. I'm born in a

brahmin family and we do temple work in a very old Kartikeya(Muruga,

Subrahmanya, Kartikeya, Skanda ...) temple and from that point of

view also I state this. As in everywhere we see more women than men.

(I hope you have seen Hariji's and Jayasreeji's msg as well which

clarifies this point) Shashti vruth is very important for fulfillment

of desires. The same is also good for problems with progeny and happy

married life (See the connection with Mars). If you have seen

Subrahmanya Sahasranamam you can also understand that he's also the

Lord of Jyotish. Infact, eventhough Lord Dakshinamurthy is the Lord

of Jyotish, astrologers also pray to Lord Subrahmanya for intuition.

Nothing more to say. I endorse all other words of Sarbani Ji except

about Lord Hanuman. There seems to be some reservations for his

worship. And, as far as I know, he's associated with Sanidev.

Ultimately everything merges in one, Shubhangiji. See `Sankara

Narayanan' , `Ardhanareeswaran' etc; From this point what you said is

more important, since we are here to do our duties , to avoid

obstacles, we need to worship the prescribed forms of that Adi

Parashakti. As Bhagwan Vishnu is pure Sattvic form we need to worship

Vishnu to control our senses and He ensures us a place in Vaikunda.

Best Wishes,

Saaji