Photo of Sri Dhanvantari

Drawn by Sri.K.K.Raman, Mumbai

Sri Dhanvantari is the presiding deity of Ayurveda

Fight between Yama and the rest of devas

Krishna Yajurveda Kanda 2, prasna 1, anuvaka 4

devashcha vai yamaschsminlolespardhanta sa yamo devanamindriyam veeryamyuvata tadyamasya yamatvam te deva amanyanta yamo idamabhoodyadvayagum sma iti te prajapatimupadhavntsa etou prajapatiratmana ukshavashou niramimeeta te deva vaishnavaruneem vashaamaalabhantaindramukshanam tam varunaenaiva grahayitva vishnuna yajnena pranudantaindrenaivaasyendriyamavrunjata

The devas and Yama fought over this world; Yama is the power and strength of the devas. That is why he is called Yama. The gods realized that 'Yama has captured their position.They approached Prajapati. Pajapati created from his body the bull and the barren cow. Devas sacrificed the barren cow to Vishnu and Varuna, and the bull to Indra. This caused Yama to be seized by Varuna and Vishnu. Thus he was driven away.

God's own ways

God takes care of everything. He provides to everyone. However, he has his own ingenious ways of doing it. He would create an ego in you ( don't confuse with pride, ego is self awareness, the "I" in you )and make you think that you are responsible for your own upkeep and you are the one responsible to run the family / society etc.etc.

This will make you to work earn and acquire the means to this end. God delegates. He doesn't distribute food packets to everyone. Ego is the mechanism with which he keeps the world running. Ego is the engine that drives the world. But for ego, there wouldn't be breadwinners, protectors, creators, leaders, followers, performers or saviors. Don't try to fight or destroy ego. It is useless. It will exist in some form or the other till the time the body lasts. The hunger and thirst are ego in physical form. The raw ego can not be done away with.

Just understand its ways. It could be a mad world. That's the way God wants to run it ( run himself ? ) as of now for his own reasons. Understand and accept everything.

Importance of sraadha during pitrupaksha or mahalayapaksha

Atrismruti says -

surye kanyagate kuryaacchraadham yo na gruhashramee

dhanam putrankulam tasya pitrunisvasapeedaya

kanyagate savitari pitaro yanti satsutaan

shunya pretapri sarvaa yavadvrushchikadarsanam

tato vrishchikasampraptou nirashaah pitaro gataaha

punah svabhavanam yanti shaapam datvaa sudaarunam

putram va bhrataram vapi douhitram poutrakam tatha

The pitrupaksha is the period from the krishna pratipada to amavasya when sun is transiting kanya rasi. At the commencement of this period the pitrus leave pitruloka and reach their descendants. The pitruloka becomes empty then. They remain on earth till sun enters vrsichika rasi. They come with great expectation. If they are not propitiated by the performance of sraadha in the pitrupaksha, they get greatly disappointed and their sigh of grief will destroy the wealth, children and kula of the descendants. They return after issuing terrible curse upon the non performing relatives such as sons, brothers and grandchildren.

What is the ideal time to perform sraadha

Vasishtasmruti says -
divasasyashtame bhage mandeebhavati bhaskraha
sa kaalah kutapo nama pitrunaam dattamakshayam

The day duration from sunrise to sunset should be divided into 15 equal portions. The 8th portion called the kutapa kala is ideal for offering to pitrus.

Nakshatras for karnavedha (piercing the ear)

Asvini, Mrigasirsha, Punarvasu, Hasta, Chitra, Anuradha, Shravana, Dhanishta and Revati

Daana materials for the nine planets

The following danas are performed for propitiating the nine planets.

Surya - Surya pratima in copper or gold, brown cow with calf, wheat, copper, gold, ruby, red sandal, saffron clothes

Chandra - White rice, pearl, white silk clothe, vessel with milk, vessel with ghee, Chandra pratima in silver, camphor, sugarcane

Angaraka - Red bull, Tur dal, red clothes, gold, copper, pratima in gold or copper

Budha - Moong dal, gold, emerald, green silk clothes, sugar, ghee, artifacts made of ivory (illegal ?), pratima

Guru - Chana, Yellow silk clothes, yellow sapphire, turmeric, jute, lemon, gold, salt, sugar, pratima made of gold

Sukra - Sukra pratima in silver, rajamasha, white silver clothes, diamond, white cow with calf, perfumes

Sani - Sani pratima in iron, til, black cow with calf, blue sapphire, black clothes, black grains, annadaanam to the poor

Rahu - Iron, Black gram, Gomedaka, Horse, Blue clothes, Til, Gingelly oil in iron vessel

Ketu - Horsegram, goat, weapons, vaidoorya, red or black silk clothes, Ketu pratima in gold, silver or pancha loha

Samits of the nine planets

Samits are the sticks with which ahutis are given during the yajnas. It is one of the homadrvyas.

The respective samits for the navagrahas are



Surya - arka - Calotropis gigantea

Chandra - palasa - Butea monosperma

Angaraka - khadira - Acacia catechu

Budha - apamarga - Achyranthes aspera

Guru - asvatha - Ficus religiosa

Sukra - oudumbara - Ficus racemosa

Sani - samee - Polygonatum verticillatum

Rahu - Durva - Cynodone dactylone

Ketu - kusa - Desmostachya bipinnata

Propitiation of planets causing affliction

Sage Parasara says all good and bad experiences of living beings are under the control of the nine planets. Therefore one desirous of peace, prosperity, knowledge, longevity, health, power and the like should perform yajnas to propitiate these planets.

The general procedure involves chanting of the respective mantras of the planets for a particular number of times and ahutis amounting to one tenth of the number of chantings done. The ritual also involves daanam and brahmanabhojanam.

The number of chanting and the mantras are :

Planet	Mantra	Number of chanting
Surya	Aa krishnena / Aa satyena	7000
Chandra	Imam deva asapatnam / Apyaayasavasametu te	11000
Kuja	Agnirmoordhaa divah	10000
Budha	Udbudhyasva	19000
Brihaspati	Brihaspate adiyadaryo	19000
Sukra	Annat parisruto / prava sukraya	16000
Sani	Sanno deveerabhishtaya	23000
Rahu	Kayanaschitra	18000
Ketu	Ketum krinnanva ketave	17000

Pleasure & Pain

Are you able to ward off that pain and suffering? If you ever get the feeling that you have successfully manged to avoid it, it was never meant for you. Similarly the pleasures also can not be avoided. They will simply happen if they are meant for you. There is no fear of losing them.

Perception

An ant can not perceive the human being as a collective mass of various organs comprising the human body nor can it perceive its height, weight etc.It may be seeing only a small part of the skin and thinking it to be a road, wall or terrain. Likewise there could exist much larger beings as compared to humans that we can not perceive as a whole. When looking at the sky, you could be possibly staring at the pupil of that blue eyed being.

Two types of relatives

Sapindas - relatives up to 7 generations (paternal)

Samanodakas - relatives beyond 7 generations ( some fix it between 8 and 14 generations, 14th included )

How did the devas reach heaven

Apastamba Dharma Sutra - Prasna 2, Patala 7

Saha devamanushya asmin loke pura babhoovuh. Atha devah karmabhirdivam jagmuraheeyanta manushyah. Tesham ye tatha karmnyarabhante saha devairbrahmana chamushminloke bhavanti.

Formerly men and gods lived together in this world. Then the gods in reward of their sacrifices went to heaven, but men were left behind. Those men who perform sacrifices in the same manner as the gods did, dwell (after death) with the gods and Brahman in heaven.

Going by the above, it can be said that Gods are men who reached heaven by virtue of their meritorious deeds such as yajnas. This must be the logic behind accepting the puranic heroes as Gods subsequent to their reaching heaven. While they were human beings, they performed human tasks like fighting wars and protecting mankind and became Gods at the end of their earthly life.

Voluntary simplicity

It is a lifestyle of returning to simplicity. E.F.Schaumacher says - " Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." Those who practise voluntary simplicity consciously try to reduce their need for money and therefore their need to sell their own time for money. Tracey Smith says - The more money you spend, the more time you have to be out there earning it and the less time you have to spend with ones you love. (source - wikipedia)

Bacteria and realization

Two digestive bacteria were fighting each other over a food particle. Who has the right over it ? Just as we humans do, they went through verbal altercations, physical fight and a protracted legal battle. Suddenly, someone came and told them - they are only serving the purpose of the man in whose stomach they reside. He is only making use of them to get the energy released from the food particle. The fight ended there.

On rebirth

Matter and energy can neither be created or destroyed. They can only change forms. Rather, matter is dense energy. When a body exists ( it is not one body from birth to death, cells die and new cells are formed round the clock ) something has caused all these atoms and molecules to come together and stay together for a period of time. At death, the body disintegrates into the fundamental elements again. Will the underlying cause, which made the body to come together make it to happen again in the same combination ? meaning a rebirth.

Jeevatma & Paramatma

There is Paramatma which is a full vessel and jJevatma an empty vessel at the beginning. Not one Jeevatma, a number of them becoming Paramatma. Paramatma is filled with every kind of experience and states physical, mental, spiritual and all other dimensions. It is a homogeneous state. Not hot not cold, not bitter not sweet, not happy not sad. Every empty vessel needs to be filled with all of these in order to become full and homogeneous. It is either at the rate of 10 units per day or all in one stroke.Total justice. There are no privileged ones. If you find Mr.X to be happy today, either he has had his share of sadness already or it is waiting for him in the present birth or future ones. Birth not in the sense that religion explains it. Every moment is a rebirth.Not bound by our definition of it. You can neither escape the pleasure nor the pain. You can not stop yourself from becoming Paramatma. It is a process that is unstoppable. There is no going up or coming down the ladder. There are no hierarchies. Only the illusion of sequence and timing . Everybody is at various states of experiencing and filling themselves up. Nobody misses the riches nor the rags. Everybody becomes the murderer and the murdered at some point of time. Everybody becomes the king and the beggar at some point of time.

Participants in yajna

1. Yajamana - Sponsor of the yajna

2. Brahma - Director or Supervisor, he should know all the four Vedas

3. Udgata - Samavedi, he sings the Vedic hymns

4. Hota - Rigvedi, He chants the mantras while oblations are offered

5. Adhvaryu - Yajurvedi, he offers the oblations to the holy fire and takes care of the rituals

6. Brahmanacchamsee & Aagneedhra - Assistants to Brahma

7. Prastota ,Pratiharta & Subrahmanya - Assistants to Udgata

8. Maitravaruna , Acchavaka & Gravastuta - Assistants to Hota

9. Pratiprasta, Neshta and Unneta - Assistants to Adhvaryu

10. Brahmacharis and snatakas

The abode of Lord Ganesa

Just as Vaikuntha for Vishnu and Kailasa for Siva, Ganesha also has his own divine abode called Svanandabhuvanam or Nijalokaha. Ardent devotees of Ganesha reach his abode and they are not born again. This world is 5000 yojanas in area and Ganesa sits on Kamadayini peetha there. It is a bright world filled with gold and gem stones. It is surrounded by ikshusagara or ocean of sugarcane. Ganesha lives with his consorts Siddhi and Buddhi there. There are dwelling places filled with divine artifacts, beautiful gardens, temples, lotus ponds etc. Those who reach there are no longer affected by hunger, thirst, misery, sorrows. They remain youthful ever in that blissful world.

Remedies for those with Rahu in Lagna

Daanam of Wheat, Palm jaggery and copper ( vessel etc.)

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Panchamahayajnas as per the vedas and smrutis

Panchamahayajnas as prescribed in the vedas
Agnihotram, Darsapurnamasou, Chaturmasya, Pasuyajna and Somayaga

Panchamahayajnas as per smrutis
Brahmayajna, Devayajna, Pitruyajna, Manushyayajna and Bhutayajna

When to perform satabhisheka ?

Satabhisheka santhi can be performed on completion of 8 months after 80 years of age.

Vastu Shanti

The story about the origin of Vastu purusha appears in Matsypuranam. During a fight between Lord Shiva and a demon called Andhakasura, another huge demon was born from the perspiration of Lord Shiva. He was Vastu purusha. This happened in the Threthayuga on a Krishnapaksha Triteeya in combination with Krittika nakshatra, Vyateepata nityayoga and Vishti karana. This demon was very huge in size and cruel looking. As soon as he was born, he started feeling hungry. His hunger was insatiable. He started performing severe austerities to propitiate Lord Siva, and when Lord appeared before him, asked for a boon that he should be allowed to consume all the three worlds. The boon was granted. Vastu purusha started out by eating the earth first. The Devas and all other beings found his atrocities unbearable. They approached Brahma. Brahma advised them engage him in a battle at the end of which he fell flat on the earth. Still he was hitting and pounding around causing great destruction. Then all the 53 Devas climbed on top of him sitting on his various organs thus pinning him down. The demon could not move and he prayed to Brahma for relief. Brahma granted him a boon that whenever or wherever a new property is created, a house, palace, temple, fort etc. is built the Vastu purusha can again become active and if propitiated with worship, he will refrain from causing disturbances. Anybody neglecting Vastu purusha and proceeding with construction will suffer the consequences in the form of accident, death, diseases and various obstacles.

Hence at the commencement and completion of any such activity, Vastu purusha is worshiped after invoking the 53 Devas onto his body. This is called Vastu shanthi. which should  be performed before entering a new house.