Mahaganapathi homam update (short & super-short procedures)

December 31, 2007

Namaste friends,

The latest version of "Sri Mahaganapathi Homam Manual: Laghu Paddhati (Short Procedure)" is available at the link below. The procedure has been fine-tuned some more for a better results and some explanations have also been refined.

Also, a super-short procedure with bare minimum mantras is included as an appendix, as per the advice of my guru. The short procedure taught earlier was still too complicated for many people and contains several Sanskrita mantras, some from Veda. The newer super-short procedure will allow more people to take advatantage of homam. One can do a quick fire worship of Ganapathi in 15-20 minutes using this super-short procedure.

The section on the benefits of homam has also been enriched more.

A new MP3 audio file that matches with the procedure given in the document will soon be uploaded.

Best regards,NarasimhaDo Ganapathi Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homamSpirituality: Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org

January 8, 2008

Dear Ramadas ji,

> So why we have to cut short the methods ?

If I tell someone to make a twenty course meal and eat it, one will be able to make it only once in a blue moon. If one eats a delicious feast once every year or six months and starves at other times, what good is it? Will it give one much strength?

On the other hand, if I tell someone to boil lentils (dal) and rice and eat them with a pinch of salt, one will be able to make it everyday and eat it. It may not be too delicious, but it will taste good and will give one strength for sure.

The instruction we received was to spread a very simple Mahaganapathi homam procedure that can be done everyday by busy people of this age. Homam is a very efficient sadhana. Everything is impure in kali yuga, but fire is always pure. Worshipping Ganapathi in fire every morning has an amazing cleansing effect on one. However, any spiritual sadhana needs regularity for effectiveness.

I have performed long homas, like an 8-hour long Mahaganapathi homam and a 12-hour long Chandi homam. I have also performed short homas on a regular basis, like a 45-minute long daily Mahaganapathi homam and a 2-hour long daily Chandi homam. My experience is that a regular practice does much more to one than a one-off biggie.

BTW, the 45 minute long "short" procedure I taught in the manual is quite close to an authentic and perfect procedure. Regarding the 15-20 minute long "super-short" procedure, we too are not too excited by it. But we feel that something is better than nothing and that this will be a stepping stone to the other 45-minute procedure for a lot of people that are going to come and benefit from homam.

So many saintly souls are born into challenging circumstances in this age and a great amount of bad karmas is accumulated in the mad rush of this age. The amount of sadhana that is needed to burn those karmas is difficult to manage within the limited time most people allocate to spiritual sadhana in this age. Worship using an external fire is of great help and accelerates the process of burning karmas and cleansing self.

Some higher beings have decided that several spiritually inclined souls are to come to earth in the coming years and benefit from a regular practice of Mahaganapathi homam. They instructed my guru to spread a short Mahaganapathi homam procedure. The divine Mother also appeared to him and clarified that instruction. We are just laying the foundation as per the instruction received by us. We are just instruments in a big plan. The reason for the instruction we received may become clearer after more time

January 9, 2008

Dear Ramadas ji,

Thank you for your comments and I will give some quick replies.

> But my intention is when we do some traditional Yajnas like this,

What is taught in the manual is *not* a "traditional Yajna". Though we sometimes use the words yajna and homa exchangably, they are quite different. A yajna is bigger in scale, has many many strict rules and is performed to achieve some specific goals and performed only occasionally. A homa can be big or small, more flexible with rules and can be performed as a spiritual sadhana on a daily or weekly basis.

My manual is only for those who want *internal* purification and upliftment in the presence of a god in live external fire every morning. If someone has specific *external* goals (e.g. getting control over a person, defeating an enemy, killing a person, achieving wealth, getting a child etc), it is doable but a lot of rules are imposed on the procedure and it is not easy to learn. I am *not* serving such people with the manual.

> we should follow the methods given in the original Homa procedure.

Well, there isn't really any single "original Homa procedure". There is a set of several procedures that are used in several traditions for several purposes. All procedures given when there are specific tasks involved have some complications and inappropriate to spread on the internet.

However, there are some simple homam procedures used in the past as a *daily spiritual sadhana* and the "short" procedure in the manual is one of them.

> Fire or Agni is pure.

And, Agni is *not* to be feared. Agni is to be loved, as he can be used as a medium for invoking divine presence to purify oneself.

Neither Agni nor the god in Agni is to be feared. If one is asking for a specific external goal, one better be prepared for punishment when something is messed up. But, when one only loves god and Agni and only wants to purify oneself in god's presence in Agni, I declare with confidence that there is *nothing* to fear. Any homam procedure one uses from the manual or elsewhere will only help one in that case.

> I am closing this discussion.

Thank you for bringing up some points which enabled me to write things that I did not get a chance to write before. It is the comments from people like you that enable me to refine the "explanation" part of the manual and answer more concerns of people! It is the kindness of Mother that there are friendly critics helping me to refine the document and thereby serve more people.

Best regards,NarasimhaDo Ganapathi Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homamSpirituality: Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org

> O SHRI RAGHAVENDRAAYA NAMAH> OM SHRI LAKSHMI NRUSIMHAAYA NAMAH> Dear Chi.Narasimha,> I am not against the method which you have given in your link.

> But my intention is when we do some traditional Yajnas like this,

> we should follow the methods given in the original Homa procedure.

> I dont want to elongate this discussion.I have given my views and

> others may differ as you said in this Kali Yuga everything is impure

> and Fire or Agni is pure.So as per me we have to follow the age

> old methods to perform this Agni Mukhena Ganapathy Homam.> I am closing this discussion.> With Shri Hari Vaayu Guru Naama Smarana,> Ramadas Rao.

> Dear Ramadas ji,

>

> > So why we have to cut short the methods ?

>

> If I tell someone to make a twenty course meal and eat it, one will

> be able to make it only once in a blue moon. If one eats a delicious

> feast once every year or six months and starves at other times,

> what good is it? Will it give one much strength?

>

> On the other hand, if I tell someone to boil lentils (dal) and rice and

> eat them with a pinch of salt, one will be able to make it everyday

> and eat it. It may not be too delicious, but it will taste good and

> will give one strength for sure.

> The instruction we received was to spread a very simple

> Mahaganapathi homam procedure that can be done everyday by

> busy people of this age. Homam is a very efficient sadhana.

> Everything is impure in kali yuga, but fire is always pure.

> Worshipping Ganapathi in fire every morning has an amazing

> cleansing effect on one. However, any spiritual sadhana needs

> regularity for effectiveness.

>

> I have performed long homas, like an 8-hour long Mahaganapathi

> homam and a 12-hour long Chandi homam. I have also performed

> short homas on a regular basis, like a 45-minute long daily

> Mahaganapathi homam and a 2-hour long daily Chandi homam.

> My experience is that a regular practice does much more to one

> than a one-off biggie.

>

> BTW, the 45 minute long "short" procedure I taught in the manual

> is quite close to an authentic and perfect procedure. Regarding the

> 15-20 minute long "super-short" procedure, we too are not too

> excited by it. But we feel that something is better than nothing and

> that this will be a stepping stone to the other 45-minute procedure

> for a lot of people that are going to come and benefit from homam.

>

> So many saintly souls are born into challenging circumstances in

> this age and a great amount of bad karmas is accumulated in the

> mad rush of this age. The amount of sadhana that is needed to

> burn those karmas is difficult to manage within the limited time

> most people allocate to spiritual sadhana in this age. Worship

> using an external fire is of great help and accelerates the

> process of burning karmas and cleansing self.

>

> Some higher beings have decided that several spiritually inclined

> souls are to come to earth in the coming years and benefit from

> a regular practice of Mahaganapathi homam. They instructed my

> guru to spread a short Mahaganapathi homam procedure. The

> divine Mother also appeared to him and clarified that instruction.

> We are just laying the foundation as per the instruction received

> by us. We are just instruments in a big plan. The reason for the

> instruction we received may become clearer after more time.

>

> The proof of the pudding is in eating it. If one tries a procedure

> given in the manual for a few months, one will know what it does.

>

> By the way, I have no problem with people doing longer

> procedures at all. There are many traditions and many

> procedures. While we are here to spread one particular

> procedure, we do respect all traditions.

>

> Best regards,> Narasimha

January 12, 2008

Dear Ajit,

> Traditions are different in different places of the country. I have> not heard of the installation of dik-palakas as part of> ganapathi-homam before (it is customary to do archana to them since> they adorn the homa-kunda as a part of any homa, and that is found in> Sri. Narasimha's procedure as well).

You are right - there are different traditions. I too have not seen the installation of dik-palakas as part of Mahaganapathi homam before. As you said, we pray to dikpalakas on the 8 or 10 corners of homa kundam as a part of every homa, but installing them before the homa is new.

However, installation of dikpalakas happens traditionally in some other homas such as Chandi homam. In a traditional Chandi homam, we install tens of deities including the ten dikpalakas, in separate kalashas on a big peetham before starting the homam. They are arranged in a specific way on a specific yantra drawn on rice with turmeric and vermilion. We pray to them and then do the fire ritual.

Though I know that I will ruffle some feathers with this, I must make a related point. The point of a homam is to call deities in fire (as fire is a purer and better medium to host their energy than an idol or a water pot) and offer mantras. Though there is some procedure before starting fire, care should taken so that one spends a majority of the time worshipping in fire. That is the basic idea of a homam. While some priests do that, I have seen some who miss the point and do a lot of the procedure before starting the fire and spend a minimal time with the fire. For the best results, maximize the time your spend with fire and offer more and more mantra to the deity in fire.

> In my native place, the traditional homa only takes half that time,> and it is not due to shortcuts.

India's Kerala state (aren't you from there?) used to have a community of learned Brahmanas who would do an half hour Ganapathi homam every morning before leaving the house. What a great sadhana! Even if one is carrying a lot of bad karmas, such a powerful sadhana will eventually free one. Hopefully, such a community - spread across the entire world - will be created in the next 100 years.

This is Kali yuga. Bad karmas are accumulated very quickly. Even a pure soul who took birth with very few bad karmas accumulates enough of them by the age of 20 that it takes heavy sadhana thereafter to burn them! Then what of those who are *born* with many bad karmas?

Whether you do homam or something else, spiritual sadhana to burn karmas and overcome ego is a must for every thinking human being. Use the human birth to do your dharma, purify yourself and overcome ego. Kali does everything to make you forget your dharma, add impurities to your system and feed your ego further. That is the nature of Kali.

Best regards,NarasimhaDo Ganapathi Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homamSpirituality: Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org

> namaste,> > > So as per me this is the correct procedure to perform Shri Ganapthy Homam.So why we have to cut short the methods ?> > I believe this is answered in misconception #2 (found on page 4 of Sri> Narasimha's document).> > Traditions are different in different places of the country. I have> not heard of the installation of dik-palakas as part of> ganapathi-homam before (it is customary to do archana to them since> they adorn the homa-kunda as a part of any homa, and that is found in> Sri. Narasimha's procedure as well). Please do give some details or> how this is performed in ganapathi-homa in your native area.> > > takes place about 1 Hr.Minimum> > In my native place, the traditional homa only takes half that time,> and it is not due to shortcuts.> > bhavadIyaH,> > ajit> > > On 5 Jan 2008 05:14:33 -0000, Ramadas Rao <ramadasrao wrote:> >> > OM SHRI RAGHAVENDRAAYA NAMAH> > OM SHRI LAKSHMI NRUSIMHAAYA NAMAH> > Dear Chi.Narasimha,> > Every year when I go to my native place on vacation, I perform Shri Ganapathy Homam through my Kula Purohit which takes place about 1 Hr.Minimum which includes installation of Ashta Dikpalakas,Installing of Guru Devatha,etc.then putting fire using different types of wood,performing of Homa with Shri Ganapathy Moola Mantra,Chanting of Shri Ganapathy Atharvasheersha etc.offering of Ashta Dravya to Homam,Ghee etc.Finally Pooja will be performed after offering Ashta Dravya Nivedya.So as per me this is the correct procedure to perform Shri Ganapthy Homam.So why we have to cut short the methods ?> > With Shri Hari Vaayu Guru Naama Smarana,> > Ramadas Rao.