Guest guest Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 Origin and meaning : One origin of the word Dushehra is from dashhara. ‘Dash’ means ten and ‘hara’ means defeated. Nine days prior to Dushehra, that is, in the nine days of Navratra, all the ten directions are charged with the energy of the Goddess, meaning they are under Her control - there is control over the dikbhav (Deities of all ten directions), Gan (assistants of Deities), in all ten directions or victory is established over all these directions.Leaves of Shami and Apta trees and Kshatradharma1. Leaves of Shami (Indian Mesquite tree) : On the Dushehra day, leaves of Shami should not be exchanged, but should be kept in the premises instead. This helps in purification of the environment in the premises. Shami is predominant in Tej-tattva (Absolute Fire Principle) and also dominant in Tama and Raja components; the particles which are emitted through it create a subtle fire in the atmosphere. The subtle flames of fire help in awakening of Kshatrabhav (spiritual emotion of a warrior). This Kshatrabhav leads a Jîva towards Kshatravrutti (attitude of a warrior) on the strength of atma-shakti (energy of the soul). Lord Ram had hidden His weapons in a hollow of a Shami tree while leaving for the forest. The heat generated from the trunk and the leaves of Shami tree, which is rich in Tej-tattva keeps the latent Marak (destroyer) energy of the weapons constantly in an activated state. Though Lord Ram had put down His weapons, He had in fact directed the Marak energy on to the evil-doers through the medium of these weapons and had performed mission of the Marak Principle in the entire Universe, with the help of Shami leaves. On Dushehra day, the Tarak (Saviour) Principle of Lord Ram and Marak Principle of Lord Hanuman are active and the Shami leaf performs the important function of attracting these Principles and transmitting them into the atmosphere.2. Apta leaves : These are related to particles of Apa (Absolute Water Principle) and Tej and hence, the frequencies which are transmitted by Shami leaves are absorbed by Apta leaves and on the strength of Apa-tattva, they are imparted momentum.That is why it is advised that we should keep Shami leaves in our house and purify the atmosphere on the Dushehra day and then exchange the Tej-tattva through the medium of Apta leaves with each other and keep the Kshatrabhav necessary for the establishment of the Divine Kingdom, in an awakened state.- A Scholar (Through the medium of Mrs. Anjali Gadgil, 16th May 2005, 7.37 p.m.) Top E-mail This Pitrupaksha Begins Bhadrapad Kr. 1 (5th Sept.) Among the basic doctrines for God-realisation mentioned by Hindu Dharma, one is the repayment of the four debts, namely towards Deities, Rushis, ancestors and society. Shraddh is necessary for repayment of the debt to the ancestors (Pitrurun).Shraddh is a rite required for the pleasant and trouble-free journey of the departed souls of parents and the near and dear ones and also for their upwardly progress. The mantras chanted during Shraddh have a subtle concealed energy of imparting momentum to the ancestors. The ancestors are pleased with the food offered during Shraddh.If Shraddh is not performed, the desires of ancestors are not fulfilled. It is likely that such ancestors are then captured, converted into slaves and utilised by negative energies to trouble the family members. Due to performance of Shraddh, the ancestors are relieved of such distress and our life also becomes bearable.Even though the ritual of Shraddh is so important, it is being neglected today or is considered to be unrealistic and unreasonable ritual because of the paucity of Dharmashikshan amongst the Hindus, their misconcepts about Spirituality and their thought process impregnated by the blind following of Western culture. Therefore, it becomes mandatory to describe how the ritual of Shraddh is as important as other spiritual rites and rituals.Importance of ShraddhA. It is easier to repay Devrun and Rushirun, once Pitrurun is repayed through the ritual of Shraddh : Rushis are more short tempered than the Deities; they can curse a Jîva (embodied soul) and put him under bondage. Whereas, Pitrurun is dependent on action and is much easier and simpler to repay through the ritual of Shraddh. In order to repay other debts properly, everyone should have recourse to Pitrurun which serves as link between Deities and Rushis and try to ascend the path of Moksha (Final liberation) by pleasing them through this ritual.By performing the ritual of Shraddh, we can slowly reach the Deities and Rushis with the help of our ancestors. With the combined help of three Deities, namely Vasu, Rudra and Aditya [Vasu means Ichha or volition, Rudra means laya or dissolution and Aditya means Tej (radiant energy) or action], it is possible to uplift the father, the grandfathers and great-grandfathers, in that order and receive the blessings of Deities.B. Getting liberated by cutting the bonds (of debts) : The term Shraddh completely connects Maya (Great Illusion) and Brahma (Absolute Truth) through bonds of debts. A Jîva gets momentum in the direction of Moksha only when he is released from the bonds of debts in the form of give and take accounts. Maya in the form of Pitrurun also has a basic goal of going towards Moksha. Therefore, it is possible to get liberated in the presence of Vishnuganas, by cutting interconnected bonds of debts through the ritual of Shraddh.How is one protected from the distress due to ancestors, by performance of Shraddh ?The energy generated through ritual of Shraddh resembles the energy of three subtle components (Trigunas) embedded in the lingadeh (subtle-body) of the departed. Therefore, the lingadeh crosses the Martyalok within a short time, propelled by energy generated through the ritual of Shraddh. [Martyalok is Mrutyulok or the region of the dead. It is situated between Bhulok (Earth region) and Bhuvalok (Nether region)]. Having crossed the Martyalok, the lingadeh cannot re-enter the earth’s orbit to trouble the common man on earth. Hence, the ritual of Shraddh is very important. Lingadehs which are entangled in the cycle of desires can otherwise create obstacles in the spiritual practice of a person and can turn him away from spiritual practice.- A Scholar (Through the medium of Mrs Anjali Gadgil,1st March 2005 ,6.43 p.m)(Please read Sanatan’s Holy Text - ‘Death and Post-death rites’) Top E-mail This Navaratra Begins Ashwin Shukla 1 (19th Sept.) Keep a Lamp burning during the festival of Navaratraelebrating Navaratrotsav means worshipping the brilliant Adishakti (primordial energy) who has arrived in the Universe, represented by a pot, along with Her destroyer Chaitanya through the medium of uninterrupted flame of a nandadeep (A lamp kept in front of a Deity day and night).--During Navaratrotsav,?Sri Durgadevi completely destroys the distressing frequencies on the Earth !During the nine days of Navaratra, Sri Durgadevi moves around in the Universe with the help of Tej-tattva (Absolute Fire Principle) carrying her nine major weapons. This movement of Adishakti with a new form everyday amounts to destroying the distressing frequencies on the earth coming from Sapta-patal (seven regions of hell) in serially higher order every day. During these nine days, a battle takes place between the distressing frequencies transmitted by the negative energies and the destroyer Chaitanya-laden frequencies of Adishakti. The atmosphere becomes hot during this period and the radiance of the Tej Principle contained in the weapons of Sri Durgadevi attacks the subtle negative energies with tremendous speed. Worship of the pot and the nandadeep within, is symbolic of this battle. The hot atmosphere generated within the pot due to the lamp resembles the hot atmosphere generated during the day and night battle occurring in the Universe during these nine days. The lamp is symbolic of the radiance generated by the weapons of Adishakti.When the pot is worshipped in the house, the destroyer Chaitanya of Sri Durgadevi gets activated and destroys the distressing frequencies in the premises.--What is the science underlying playing of Garba ?‘Playing Garba’ means worshipping the Goddess with a song which is full of devotion and praise of Her glories, with loud rhythmic clapping. In other words, it means awakening the Goddess from Her meditative state by means of Sagun worship in the form of sound of clapping and invoking Her to assume Her destroyer form to perform a task for the Universe.--While playing Garba, how many times should we clap ?During Navaratra, the destr-oyer Principle of Sri Durgadevi is awakened at three levels. Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are the three main levels of the God Principle. The Energy of Resolve of the Goddess present in the Universe is activated by means of three successive claps, to awaken Her destroyer form on these three levels. It is more favourable and beneficial to praise the Goddess through the rhythmic movements of three claps. The meaning of three claps is as follows :1. The first clap is related to the Brahma Principle, that is, Ichha-shakti. Therefore, frequencies of Brahma will get awakened and fullfil the wish of the Jîva (embodied soul) as per his bhav.2. Through the second clap, the Action-frequencies in the form of Vishnu directly help a Jîva by supplying it with the energy necessary for the accomplishment of the task as per its desire.3. Through the third clap, the frequencies of Knowledge in the form of Shiva actually accomplish a task and bestow the desired fruit to a Jîva through its result. Through the sound of three claps the Energy of Resolve for the establishment of the Divine Kingdom is proclaimed three times and thus the resolve is rendered true.It is possible to awaken the destroyer form of a Deity through the Tej generated from the striking of claps. Clapping denotes the worship of Tej. Singing devotion filled songs invoking the Goddess Principle, while at the same time clapping and turning round and round in a circle helps awaken the bhav towards the Devi.- A Scholar (Through the medium of Mrs. Anjali Gadgil, 5th October 2005, 12.47 p.m.)--Curb malpractices during Navaratra and preserve the sanctity of the festival !In ancient times, during Garba dance, songs of the Goddess, Krushna-leela and compositions of Saints only used to be sung. Today, this collective dance worship of the Lord has acquired a distorted form. The Garba is danced with obscene body movements and to the tunes of film songs. There are instances of chewing tobacco, alcohol consumption and noise pollution at the site of the puja of the Goddess. These malpractices are harmful to our Dharma and culture. Today, putting an end to these is a part of abiding by Dharma. For many years now, Sanatan has been conducting public awareness camp-aigns against such malpractices; you too can participate in these campaigns !(For more on this subject, please visit : www.HinduJagruti.org) Top E-mail This Sattvik Rangolis to be drawn during Navaratra Top E-mail This Regards A.SrinivasanEshwari Computers#15, Pattalamma Temple StreetBasavangudi, Bangalore - 560 004Cal: 41312207, 93412-11246 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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