QUES ANSW DIVINE 84
Dearfriends, These areinformation posted by members compiled as QA by me in 1998’s-2004’s and storedin my computer. At this date I have no information of the members posted. BEING COMPILATION THERE MAY BE ERRORS. Sincerely, R. Gopalakrishnan, 78, Former AGM Telecom Trivandrum dated 24-12-2021 Q1 How many human days are equal to a pithruday? A1 In theworld of the departed souls - the pitrus-here, a human month equals the length of a day.The brighter half of a Lunar month constitutes the pitru's daytime and thedarker half their night. Q2 How many human days are equal to a Devaday? A2 In therealm of the Devas or the Gods, a human year constitutes a single day. The brighter half of the year Uttarayanammakes up the day time hours of the Devas while the darker half Dakshinayanammakes up the nighttime hours. Q3 What is kalpa? A3 measureof time is Kalpa. The puranas are named after kalpas; thus we have the matsyakalpa, koorma kalpa, lakshmi kalpa, sweta varaaha kalpa, shiva kalpa, bhrahmakalpa, vishnu kalpa and so on. Each Bhrahma's term lasts for a period of 7 kalpas. The current period in time is said to belong tothe sweta varaaha kalpam, which is in the second half of the life of Bhrahma. A kalpam oran epoch is made up of 14 manvantaras and each manvantara spans 71 caturyugas Q4 What is mahalayapaksha? A4 The brahmothsava that is beingcelebrated in pithru lokas is called the malayapaksha. Just like our kumb mela it is celebrated withgreat enthusiasm by devas and pithrus in “malayabooshitha loka”. This malaya bhooshithaloka is the loka that is bornout of the sankamam of suryagraha or athithya mandala and chandra graha or somamandala. It is alsoknown as somathiya mandalam. In thisloka the amavasai devas and pithrus gather to celebrate the festival just like mahamaham festival.Their lord is sree narayana Thisstart from the first day after the poornima and end on the amavasai day , whichis called malaya paksha amavasai. It is the day on which the somathiya mandalais created. In this mandala the jeevasakthis of pithrus are kept in a kalasaand worshipped. Just likeby using the jeeva sakthi of jeevas from the kumbha , srishti is done in thesame way. Pithrus jeevasakthi originates from the amutha kalasa lying in thismalaya booshitha loka. It is said that on the malayapaksha daysthe maharishis, the other jeevas ,the devas, the pithrus , all come to booloka( our mother earth) and assemble along the sacred river beds, the sea shores., in Gaya, Rameswara, and rivers like Bhavani.Kaveri, Allahabad, thriveni sankamam, and like places of punya nathi threethasand they do the tharpana poojas. So the vasus,rudhras,athihtya,and pithrudevas, all do tharpana on thisday , one need not express then how sacred and important day it isfor all. Ourforefathers/ancestors cannot come to this world whenever they think except onamavasai, sraddha day and the starting day of every month and during malayapaksha. So they all come in"sookshma" (means not visible to naked eyes) dehas and if we offer them the til and water they acceptthat, and bless us directly In normaldays “ swaha devi” the wife of agni bhaghavan carries the tharpana water fromus to the worlds where our ancestors are. On malaya paksha day as they all gather in somathithyamandala she sees all of them in one place and her job becomes easyand the result is more fruitful as it immediately reaches our ancestors ,theeffect of it is felt by the forefathers even if they have taken rebirths andhelps them in the present births also. This tharpanam can be done by allwithout caste or creed on malayapaksha. As we don’t properly do the tharpanamas per dharma sastra on the specified days pithrus suffer a lot in the lokaswhere ever they are. Atleast if one doestharpana on this malayapaksha , amavasai or during malaya their sufferings ar ereduced . And they will bless us. This malaya paksha is considered aspithrupaksha and so the food that is offered by us reaches them. As this malaya paksha is considered as thebrahmothsava of the amavasai graha mandala the benefits/good result of thetharpana or annadhana turns manifold. We arethe decendants of great maharishis which fact we have forgotten today. Although the tharpana pooja isdone for the sake of fore fathers etc, it is we who get more benefit out ofthis karma in the form of blessings from them. It is the duty of the wife to insisther husband to do tharpana without fail andhelp them to the maximum extent possible by doing all required arrangements. The waterwith “ellu” or gingley seeds “ when poured from in between the pointer (thefinger of guru) and thumb (the finger of sukra) it drains through the pithruboomya rekahs ,and .it goes up by its power working against the gravitationalpull of the earth and it reaches the world of pithrus who are crores and croresof miles away Onenew fact which we may not be aware is that, pithrus like snake guard “pudalangaiin tamil” because it acts as medicine . In the “pitla marga”. Cow milk curd is also considered as very sacredand it also pleases the pithrus. So it goes without saying that we canuse these while cooking So let usall do the tharpanam during this malayapaksha period and on malayapaksha dayand also do anna dhanam and other dhanams according to ones capacity and let usbe relieved of our dhoshams if any we have done either knowingly or unknowingly. Q5 What are the importance of Jayaathi Homam, PravesaHomam& Sesha Homam ? A5 The Jayaathi Homam is performed to propitiate theGandharvas and other deities. PravesaHomam is done to solemnise the bride's entry into the husband'shome. Thesacrificial fire is brought along by the bride. Sesha Homamis a Fire oblation with the residual ghee, a little of which is sprinkled onthe bride's head four times. Q6 Who has to give he ceremonial first betelto the couple to chew? A6 Thegirl's brother gives the ceremonial first betel to the couple to chew. Q7 What is the literal meaning of upananyanam?Who has toinitiate a child to Gayathri mantra? When he has to be initiated? A7 Literally, the word means, taking(NAYANAM) near (UPA). The father take his son near the Gayathri Mantra. One should be initiated to theGayathri mantra before the onset of adolescence or before the innate biologicaltendencies start expressing themselves. Q8 Why Gayathri is so important to Brahmins? A8 Literally, Gayathri means that which protects him, who chants it. All the good things aBrahmin may do are of no avail, if he fails to perform his Sandhyavandanam andGayathri Japa regularly. Q9 Is it correct to attach keys etc to upaveetham? A9 No. Any object, like a key or a coin,tied to the sacred thread, can deplete the carefully accumulated spiritualpower of the Gayathri. Q10 What is the very special told by Bhishma laying in thesarasayya about Gayathri’s importance? A10 In the Mahabharata, Bhisma extolsthe greatness of the Gayathri from hisbed of arrows saying that Where the Gayathri is chanted, untimely deaths, involving the performance ofobsequies for children by their elders will not occur. Q11 What is the humourus Grahanam brought by Krishna? A11 To quote from Mahabharat to say Shri Krishna performed Amavasya onChaturdasi And some will say that Krishna was justified because first hebrought Surya and Chandra together. Q12 When Tharpanam has to be performed as perscripts? A12 Neither the amaavaasya or other tharpanams tothe pthrus, nor the shraaddham, should be performed until after the kartha hasperfomed the requisite maadhyaanikam Q13 Do the Aditya refereed in Tharpanam is the sun god werefer in Sandhya vandanam? A13 Yes.When you perform the pithru tharpanam, you do it for the parent, grandparentand great-grandparent. You invoke themas Vasu, Rudra, and Aadithya. The highest state is Aadithya,for this rite. You invoke yourgreat-grandparent as having reached this state. But who is the Aadithya to whom weperform the daily thri-kaala sandhya-vandanam? The chief of the Navagrahas, Aadithya. To whom do we do the first tharpanam. To Aadithya, then only to the othereight planets; and then we perform the tharpanam to the Kesavaathi deities. The daily maadhyanikam is specially directed toAadithya, the Sun. He hasto be honoured first, before the Vasu, the Rudran and the pithru Aadithya. Not the other way round. Which is the first sandhya-vandanamevery Brahmachaari has inculcated into him immediately after he is elevated andtransformed into a dvijan? The maadhyaanikam. Q14 What is the importance of doing Tharpanam in time? A14 We have a saying that a rite performed out of time islike offering aahuthi to a pit of ashes instead of to the bright fire of thehoma-kundam. Similarly, a pithru-tharpanam offeredat 6 am not only becomes a null rite, it evokes the displeasure of both the pithrus and of the Navagraham,not least their chief, the great Aadithya. Tharpanam is a Sraddham in a condensed form. This is to be done after Madhyahnikam. Q15 Can we perform Tharpana in the early morning? A15 With our changed lifestyles andoffices starting at 8 A.M., etc., when we have to leave home before 6.30 or 7AM, it has become mandatory for us either to perform early or not perform atall. The Vadhyars have to cooperate with theYajamanas and proceed accordingly, as it is their bread and butter. Anyway, it is better to feed the Pithrus at6 AM than starving them. It hasbecome more of a matter of convenience. When we perform the Grahana tharpanams, we do necessarilyhave to perform it at odd hours, and the Pithrus are receiving it, we hope. Q16 Why sraddaha is necessary and not poor feeding on theday? A16 There are many of the youngergeneration who do not believe in Sraddhom at all. They think, "Why do we have to spend somuch of money in buying Veshtis, engaging a cook, and paying enormous amountsas dakshinas to the Vadhyars? Insteadof that, let us contribute that money to some Anadha-ashram and ask them tofeed some poor people." If our parents come home and ask us to feed them, can wetell them that we have already fed some poor people, and show them the door? When man is born, he is born withthree duties (indebtedness) or Runas towards 1) Devas, 2) Rishis and 3)Pithrus. The duty towards the Pithrusstands first, then only the others. On a Sraddhom day, one should perform Pooja to Gods onlyafter performing the Sraddham. This should not be confused withSandhyavandanam and Madhya hnikam, which are part of our Nitya-karmas or dailyroutine duties to be performed. -- 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/1795314092.803797.1640304781958%40mail.yahoo.com.
