DIVINEINFORMATION PART 25 Dear friends,
While going through one of my external memorydevice, I came across some good information stored from websites. I thought of sharing interestingones from them as a series. In part 25 , Iam starting with 84 h item in thisposting. 84 Different types of marriages Which are the different types ofmarriages? Historianshave documented eight different types of marriages in ancient India. These eight types are described in this section. Not all of the types of marriages of ancient India had religioussanction. So the list above does not represent "HinduMarriages". Clearly, the first four types listedbelow were accepted to varying degree and the later four were condemed. The eight marriage types are : Brahma Marriage The fatheror guardian gave away his daughter, "decked with costly garments andjewels" to a carefully chosen bridegroom well versed in the vedas andendowed in noble qualities Daiva Marriage Daugher"duly decked with ornaments", was given in gratitude to a priest for performingsome important worship rituals. This was extremely rare Arsha Marriage Bride’sfather received a gift of milk cow and a breeding bull from the bridegroom.This was not considered dowry, but a token of respect Prajaapaatya Marriage Bride’sfather gave his daugher to the bridegroom with the traditional blessing"May both of you perform your duties together Gaandharva Marriage Bridegroomand bride married secretly without the knowledge of their parents. This was consideredinferior because caused by lustful impulses Asura Marriage Bridegroomvoluntarily gave as much wealth as he could afford to the bride’s relatives,not in accordance with the injunctions of the scriptures because it was like buying thebride, which was prohibited Raakshasa Marriage Woman wasforcibly taken away from her family and then persuaded to marry. This wasconsidered inferiorbecause caused by lustful impulses Paishacha Marriage Personmarried a woman whom he had seduced while she was asleep, intoxicated orinsane, this was prohibited 85 EXPLANATION OF DIFFERENT HOMAMS Ganapathy Homam Ganapathy Homam is usually performed before the start of any auspiciousendeavour to beget the Lord’sblessings and remove all the obstacles and ensuring success. Whateverventure we are taking up, say going in for finalizing any important matter inthe house, in business, or going for any legal actions, to the see that ourendeavour get accomplished without any obstacle, Vighneswara – Ganapathy is theonly God to be worshipped, as He is considered to be the lord of Vighnas. Performing a GanapathyHomam is recommended to clear off all the vighnas, (obstacles) from the way andget the blessings of Maha Ganapathy. Maha Sudarsana Homam SudharsanaChakra or the divine disc, resting in the lotus hands of Lord Maha Vishnu isone of the prominent weapons in annihilating evil forces. It is also stated in theAhirbhudniya Samhita that Lord Sudharsana blesses and protects the devotees,when they are suffering from the afflictions caused by incurable diseases,sorcery, or enemies. When the last rites of the dead are notperformed properly it might sometimes result in the sufferings of the progenybelonging to later generations. Scripturesstate that performing the Sudharsana homa could alleviate the sufferings ofthis nature and provide salvation for the departed souls by performing "Thila Havanam". Thisalso protects the individual from evil spirits and the other sufferings, alsoperformance of this homa also stops the danger or perils which may possiblyoccur in future. Performanceof the Sudarshana Homam confers health, wealth and Prosperity on the seeker (inthis case the person who performs the Homam). At the conclusion of the Homam, abeautiful Chakram formation of the flames (fire in the Homa Kundam) couldbe viewed. Mrutyunjeya Homam MahaMruthyunjaya Homam is dedicated to Lord Shiva to avoid untimely death. The MruthyunjayaHomam is performed toachieve Jaya or Victory over Mritya or death. Theobject of worship of this homa is Lord Shiva and it protects the personsuffering from the ailments and untimely death. The hymns are devoted to Mrityu,another name of Lord Shiva, the God of death, praying for long life. These hymns are used in the purnahuti or the final offering inthe famous Soma sacrifice. This homa also alleviates Mrityu doshaand grants longevity to the devotee. AmritaMruthynjaya is Lord Siva. This homam is performed to please Lord Siva. Thepurpose is for getting long life. When there is elderly persons in the family or when illness haunt thehouse, for quite some time, on one or more members of the family, MruthyunjayaHomam is performed for getting the blessings of the Lord and get piece in thefamily. Vaasthu Homam ThisHomam is performed to remove the ill effects arising from the errors of themeasurement during the construction and direction of the house, the fault of Vaasthu karnam etc. Thisblesses the house and householders with peace, success and prosperity. Afterthe Vaasthu homam, "Pancha Sira" sthapanam is also done to ensurepeace and prosperity in the house. Maha-Mrityunjaya Homam MahaMruthyunjaya Homam Dedicated to Lord Shiva toavoid untimely death The Mrityunjaya Homa is performed to achieve Jaya orVictory over Mritya or death. It isperformed for longevity. It is performed on birthdays. Itis also done for extending life time. Itis performed for cure for chronic illness and healthy life Ayusha homam This isperformed on the birthday, i.e. Janma nakshatra day, of patron or his/herfamily members. Janma Nakshtram day, (i.e. birth day as per iyer system) iscalculated based on the Nakshatram of the Malayala / Tamil month, in the iyersystem. This day one can ask for performing Ayushya Homam for getting blessings from AyurDevata for long life and prosperity. Ayushya Homam will be performed by invoking Ayur Devata for getting Hisblessings for long life and prosperity of the yajamana. Navagraha homam Nava Grahas,viz. Aditya, Soma, Angaraka, Budha, Brihaspathy, Shukra, Shani, Rahu and Kethu,are the deciders of ourBhagya. The positions of the Grahas in relation to our time of birth haslots of effects on our bhagya chakra and life. To keep themalways happy so that no adverse thing happens to self and the family, and tobring prosperity in our life, Navagraha homam is performed. This will help in clearing thebad effects of the planetary positions on our life. Sudarsana homam This homamis performed for Shatrunasha – to win over the enemies and bring all round success in allmatters concerning business or in family life and bring prosperity and peace. 86 Bhagavathi sevai It is thecustom in the Kerala Iyer amilies to perform Bhagavathi Sevai, particularlyduring the month of Karkataka (Aadi) atleast once in a year for bringing inprosperity. This is thearadhana of Saanthi Durga Parameswari to be performed with all nishtha, on thePadmam and Lamp, for getting blessing of Devi to ward of enemies and bringprosperity in the house. 87 What is Homam? Homams arepujas performed for a particular deity by invoking Agni - the God of fire. It is said that when Lord Brahma (the creator amongthe Trinity) created man, he also created "Homam" for man'slivelihood and his attainment of spiritual desires. Thefundamental premise of Homam is derived from the Vedams, although, according to "PurushaSooktham", it is the other way around - Vedams originated from Homam! Anyhow,Vedams and Homam are eternal truths having neither beginning nor end, and are "Apourusheyam"(divine, not the creation of humans). Karmam (work or action) is an integralpart of living. Right and wrong Karmams can hardly bediscerned by human intellect, and has to be guided by knowledge. Vedams,indeed, contain the highest form of knowledge. The singular goal of Vedam is toguide man through the correct path. The goal ofall Homams is the prosperity of the people at large by energizing andprotecting the environment. The Sun is considered as the main source of energysupply, and fire is considered as a representation of the Sun's energy. According to the ancient texts on Homam, any offerto Fire as a god, is actually an offer to Sun.Any such offer is either to enrich energy in the environment or to destroy theundesirable elements in the environment, and thus, in both ways, environment isprotected. Thus, the ancient texts proclaim that "Such Vaidika Karmams areresult-oriented, and meant to lead to Sreyass or spiritual attainments". 88 How Homam is performed? Each Homamis performed strictly according to scriptures. These are conducted by fullylearned and experienced vedic scholars. The ingredients required for thesehomams are different for each homams. Each homam is performed after praying (Shankalpa) for thespecific relief / benefit desired for each individual. After eachhomam, pundits are fed with vedic prayers. 88 Yagnas Yagnas arean elaborate system of Vedic rituals passed down through the ages. Their effectiveness is basedupon the purity of the consciousness of the Pundits (Vedic scholars) performingthem. Whencorrectly performed they are very effective in mitigating karma and attractingthe good things of life. While some Yagnas are designed to alleviate karma,meaning the results of actions we have taken in the past that affect us in thepresent and will do so in the future. And otherYagnas are designed to attract fulfilment of desires and wishes and areperformed for one to reach a level of joy and contentment. Yagnasrequire a great deal of time, preparation, knowledge and skill. Much of thisskill is in consciousness. I will continue in next posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1792233703.1922646.1622788554562%40mail.yahoo.com.
