Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Volume 1
Published: May 2012
www.periva.org
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 3 About the Authors .......................................................................................................................................... 5 1.0 Background - Religion and Rituals .......................................................................................................... 7 2.0 What is Sanatana Dharma? ................................................................................................................... 8 3.0 What is the purpose of our religion?......................................................................................................... 9 4.0 Who created the Vedas? ........................................................................................................................... 9 5.0 The Situation .......................................................................................................................................... 11 6.0 Surging Interest ...................................................................................................................................... 13 7.0 Why Rituals? .......................................................................................................................................... 13 8.0 Types of Rituals ...................................................................................................................................... 13 9.0 Efficacy of Rituals .................................................................................................................................. 14 10.0 Respect for Mother Nature ................................................................................................................... 16 11.0 Reincarnation and Karma ..................................................................................................................... 20 12.0 The Power of Rituals ............................................................................................................................ 21 13.0 Rituals and Practices............................................................................................................................. 21 14.0 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 22 15.0 Voice of God ........................................................................................................................................ 23
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This book is not exhaustive and may not answer all your questions nor meet your expectations in full measure. However, this e-book may fuel your curiosity and encourage you to explore more on the topics presented. We welcome your views and feedback for enlarging the scope of future editions of the ebook and improve the quality of presentations. Feedback about the e-book may be shared with us at kanchiperiva@gmail.com or with the authors directly at their email addresses given in their profiles that follow. For those who are not familiar about our website and forum, we welcome you to visit www.periva.org for a collection of rare videos and complete online library of upanyasams of Sri Maha Periva. Please also register on the forum www.periva.proboards.com to stay updated on devotees experiences and to receive our regular newsletters. We also invite you to view the exclusive video footage of Sri Maha Periva divya darshan by clicking on the below link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynAQBHJxNjg We humbly submit this first e-book at the lotus feet of Shri Maha Periva. Administrator - Kanchi Periva Forum kanchiperiva@gmail.com
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Our religion is known as "sanatana dharma". "Dharma" is the term used by the ancient scriptures to denote all the moral and religious principles that constitute the means to obtain fullness of life. The pursuit of dharma is first meant for happiness and well-being in this world. We have fourteen basic Sastras that pertain to dharma. The fourteen basic Shastras that are "abodes" of dharma and knowledge are: the four Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvanaveda); the six Angas or limbs of the Vedas (Siksa, Vyakarana, Chandas, Nirukta, Jyotisa and Kalpa); and four Upangas (supporting limbs) Mimamsa, Nyaya, the Puranas and Dharmasastra. While all the fourteen Sastras are basic and authoritative texts, the Vedas form their crown. The Vedas are fundamental importance; the Angas (limbs) and Upangas (supplementary limbs) derive their importance from them. Just as Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam have the Tripitaka, the ZendAvesta, the Bible and the Qur'an respectively as their scriptures, Hindus have the Vedas as their prime scripture. Our religious traditions are based on Vedas. The word Veda is derived from the Sanskrit root vid which means "to know". The Vedas form the core of our religion and are the direct authority for our dharma and for all our religious rituals. Since our religion follows the vedic injunctions, it is known as "Vedic Religion".
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Rituals have existed since times immemorial not just in India but all over the world. In the ancient world, in Persia, Egypt and Greece, a ritual was considered holy and the primary way that provided communication between humans and unseen powers beyond immediate human existence. To make the unseen more visible and approachable they created images for veneration and/or worship. The images of the unseen are often placed in a particular site which in time becomes a sacred site where the people may go to perform certain rituals thereby rendering the unseen closer and less remote. In ancient times, like in India, Chinese people attached great importance to the worship of the heavenly bodies - the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars, and also the earth. Revolving around the theme of long life, Chinese performed all of the rites related to a birth, from the praying for the inception of a child when a woman is not yet pregnant to the time when the baby has reached the age of one full year. Like observers of other religions, Christians also practice domestic food rituals. Many Christians, for instance, pray before meals, giving thanks to God for their daily bread. Particularly in the United States, many churches organize informal fellowship meals for their members, designed to strengthen the community within the church. In many cultures, proposing a toast is a common. It is a well-known ritual in which a drink is taken by a person as an expression of honor or goodwill to others. When a toast is made, the practice of simultaneously drinking by a gathering of people seems to enhance the communal connection. Other rituals you may have witnessed amongst Christians are the tolling of church bells and throwing of rice at the couple in weddings. Even for the most secular among us, life is often guided by rituals. Everyday activities guided by rules and conventions seem to offer us both practical results and a sense of meaning. For the religious person, there seems to be a deep connection between religious practice and the way life is lived. Religious rituals are not just window-dressing for the core beliefs of a religious tradition; ritual practices form identity and sustain tradition. The value of a ritual comes from "its ability to connect you to a larger context that clarifies your relationship to yourself, others and your place in the universe.
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Ritual takes many forms, it may consist of simple routines like bowing to others out of reverence, lighting a lamp, offering prayers or doing Sandhyavandana which an individual submits to on a daily basis or it may be of more complex ceremony as in a birthday, marriage or a funeral.
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We cannot expect to convince people that the chanting of the mantras (even without knowing their meaning) is beneficial. The hymns for each function are different and also different in significance. If we appreciate this fact, we will realise that there is a scientific basis for them. Besides, they have an emotional appeal which will be evident only when we know their meaning. So to know the meaning of the mantras is to have greater involvement in the functions in which they are chanted. That is the reason why the mouthing of syllables purposelessly has come to be [irreverently] likened to the chanting of "sraddha mantras" (rites for dead ancestors) without knowing the meaning. The meaning of the mantras (including those chanted at sraddhas) must be understood by the priest as well as by the performer of the rites; we must evolve a scheme for this purpose. First, the priest himself must know the meaning of the mantras and the significance of the rituals at which he officiates. Today the majority of priests are ignorant of the meaning of what they chant. If a karta or a yajamana (the man on whose behalf a rite is conducted) asks his priest, "What does this mean?" the latter is unable to give an answer. How would you then expect the karta (performer) to have faith in the rites? I believe that many middle-aged people today are keen to know the meaning of the mantras. I also think that if they tend to lose faith in rituals it is because they have to repeat parrot-like the hymns chanted by the priest. So we need to make efforts to ensure that those who officiate at rituals (the upadhyayas) acquire proficiency in Veda- bhasya to enable them to explain the meaning of the mantras. If we know the meaning of the mantras chanted at a function, we stand to gain more benefits from it. We go through rites because we do not have the courage to give them up. Similarly, we must come to realise that it is wrong to perform a rite without knowing the meaning of the mantras chanted; we must therefore take the help of a pundit (expert) in this matter. In truth, no partiality can be ascribed to the Vedas. A Vedic rite is admittedly beneficial to the man who performs it. But, at the same time, it does good to the entire world. If I light a lamp in the darkness here, does it not bring light to all the people present and not to me alone?
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"Naimittika" rites are those conducted for a specific purpose or reason or on a specific occasion. For instance, when there is an eclipse we must bathe and offer libations to our fathers. When a great man visits our home he has to be honoured ceremonially - this is also naimittaka. Nitya and naimittaka rites are to be performed by all. Kamya - A kamya-karma is a ritual that has a special purpose. When there is a drought, we conduct Varuna-japa to invoke the God and seek His blessings in the form of rain. When we are desirous of a son, we perform the "putrakamesti"(sacrifice to beget a son). These belong to the kamya category. The Vedas speak about things not easily comprehended by the human mind. If we perform rites imposed on us by them, the fruits thereof will naturally follow. Sound has always existed: it has indeed no beginning and the Vedas are this sound. Like time and space they are ever-present. Sandhyavandana, a simple Puja at home and the like are everyday rituals. The nonperformance of nitya-karma is a sin; performance means we will not incur any demerit. That apart, there will be the benefit of general well-being of the performer and the community around. If we repay a loan in installments it means that we shall no longer remain indebted to the lender (here we see a gain); additionally we earn a name for being honest and trustworthy. By performing nitya-karma no sin will attach to us and, besides, it should mean some good to us. Thus there are two types of gains.
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Popes and saints seldom shake hands. The namaste communicates, I honor or worship the Divinity within you. The namaste gesture bespeaks our inner valuing of the sacredness of all. It recognizes that all souls are divine. This simple way of greeting others including prostration to elders is neat and hygienic without any physical contact. Many of the rituals are not written down. They have been handed down as practices by ancient sages. One has to trust them. The great Sage of Kanchi offers the following explanation and advice: How can anyone claim, as a matter of right, that all subjects ought to be brought within the ken of human reasoning? Man is but one among countless creatures. Take for instance the experiments conducted by a physicist in his laboratory. Does a cow understand them? If the scientist formulates certain laws on the basis on his experiments, does the cow say that "These laws of physics do not exist"? But how do humans ignorant of physics get to know about such laws? They trust the statements made by people proficient in the subject. To illustrate, take the example of any common appliance. Let us assume that you are told that it works on the basis of certain principles of science. Don't you accept these principles by observing how the appliance works? In the same way we must have faith in what great men say about the Vedas, great men who live strictly adhering to the Sastras. We must also place our faith on our scripture on the basis of the fruits or benefits yielded by them, the benefits we directly perceive. One such "fruit" is still there for all of us to see. It is Hinduism itself, the religion that has withstood the challenges of all these millennia. Our religion has produced more great men than any other faith. People have been rewarded with the highest inner well-being [the highest bliss] as a result of their faith in the Vedic tradition. There is no insistence on their part that everything on earth must be brought within the realm of reason or direct perception. The Vedic mantras do good to all creatures in this world. We must have implicit faith in this belief. It is not proper to ask whether what we ourselves cannot hear now with our ears was heard by the seers. There is such a thing as the divine power of seeing and hearing. Our sight is dependent on the lens in our eyes. If this lens was different, what we observe would also be different. We must not inquire into the Vedas with our limited powers of perception and with our limited capacity to reason and comprehend. The Vedas speak to us about what is beyond the reach of our eyes and ears and reasoning- that is their purpose. There are things that we comprehend through direct perception. We do not need the help of the Vedas to know about them.
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What cannot be explained by reasoning and what is beyond the reach of our intellect these seers have gifted us in the form of the Vedas with their divine perception. We have to accept the Vedas in good faith. Develop faith in them and youll experience for yourself the fruits yielded by them. In due course of time, you will be convinced about the truths told about them. Sometimes, the "Varunajapa" (ritual for rains) may not succeed in bringing rains. But this is no reason why all mantras should be rejected outright as if they have no value. Sometimes, sick people die even after the regular administration of medicine. For this reason, do we condemn medical science as worthless? We have an explanation for the patient's failure to recover: May be his illness has reached such an advanced stage that no medicine could be of any avail. Similarly, no mantra or ritual is of any help when it has to contend against the working of powerful karma. There is also another reason. If you are not strict about your diet, the medicine taken may not work. Similarly, if we are lax in the observance of certain rules, the mantras will not produce the desired result. (Source: Deivathin Kural) More than 5000 years ago, ancient sages of Sanatana Dharma had stressed the importance of nature and worshipped Mother Nature through various rituals. In a nutshell, rituals have been handed over by our ancestors and authors of Dharma Sastras who had a profound understanding of the world we live in and human nature.
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the world is now destroying the very same CFCs. Today the whole world talks about the need to preserve the environment and that green house gases are detrimental to the well-being of our planet. Our ancestors who followed the Vedas always respected natural resources and encouraged their worship through Vedic rituals. Although Hinduism encompasses so many different beliefs, most Hindus share the importance of striving to attain purity and avoiding pollution. This relates to both physical cleanliness and spiritual well being. Consider the element of water Water, called Aapo in Sanskrit, represents the nonmanifested substratum from which all manifestations arise. In India, water has been an object of worship from time immemorial. Water is Akshitham (imperishable). In the matter of purity it is like ones eyes. Hence it is also known as Akshitharam. Water is a purifier, life-giver and destroyer of evil. It is life- preserving power par excellence. Water cleanses, washes away impurities and pollutants, and enables an object look fresh. The belief that water have spiritually cleansing powers has given it a central place in the practices and beliefs of many a religious ritual. Physically and mentally clean person is enabled to focus on worship. Water is, therefore, an important constituent in Hindus rituals. Before performing rituals, water is used to purify hands with sacred water. Agni (Fire) is considered as one of the most important of the medium in Vedic rituals. Agni is worshipped as the messenger of the gods, the acceptor of sacrifice. Agni is in everyone's hearth, he is the vital spark of life, and so a part of him is in all living things, he is the fire which consumes food in peoples' stomachs, as well as the fire which consumes the offerings to the gods. Agni is the fire in the sun, in the lightning bolt, and in the smoke column which holds up the heavens. Agni, as sunlight, plays a vital role to sustain and nourish various forms of life. It has the power to cook food, provide light and energy to carry on with life sustaining functions. The stars are sparks from his flame. About 200 hymns in the Rig Veda are addressed to Agni, with praises dedicated to him. Parsis worship the Fire as their God. In fact, they worship all the five elements! Fire is just the symbol. In every Fire Temple, there is the Fire, but there is also a well and a tree, which are also worshipped! The Gayatri mantra, the most mighty of the Vedic mantras, is a prayer to the Sun god to alleviate one from all human sins, physical dissipation and to bestow knowledge,
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health and longevity. Gayatri mantra is a vandana prayer to everlasting light of lights and extols the Almighty Suryanaryana as the soul and spirit of the moving and static objects, with a supplication for proper application and direction ones buddhi or intellect in all matters. The Gayatri Mantra forms a part of the Rig Veda Samhita, Mandala III, 62 10. Gayatri is the mantra to be repeatedly recited during the Sandhyavandanam ritual which is essentially a Vedic prayer. "Sandhya" means the time when day and night meet and "Vandanam" means 'Thanksgiving." So the expression Sandhyavandanam means the prayer of thanksgiving to God during the morning and the evening twilight. Is it not important that we should thank the Sun God for unfailingly providing us with light and energy? For the Hindus, the Earth is sacred as the very manifestation of the Divine Mother. She is worshipped as Bhumi Devi, the Earth Goddess. One of the reasons that Hindus honor cows is that the cow represents the energies and qualities of the Earth, selfless caring, sharing and the providing of nourishment to all. Hindu rituals work with the forces of nature to bring a higher consciousness and energy into the world. They are part of a comprehensive spiritual science designed to connect us to higher planes of consciousness and creativity. Hindu rituals form probably the most sophisticated ritualistic approach in the world, allowing us to link up with the inner forces of nature in a systematic manner. Here are some more examples of how our ancient scriptures respected nature: One should not destroy the trees. (Rig Veda Samhita vi-48-17) Plants are mothers and Goddesses. (Rig Veda Samhita x-97-4) Trees are homes and mansions. (Rig Veda Samhita x-97-5) Sacred grass has to be protected from man's exploitation (Rig Veda Samhita vii75-8) Plants and waters are treasures for generations. (Rig Veda Samhita vii-70-4) May those born of thee, O Earth, be for our welfare, free from sickness and waste, wakeful through a long life, we shall become bearers of tribute to thee. Earth my mother, set me securely with bliss in full accord with heaven, O wise one, uphold me in grace and splendor. (Atharva Veda - Hymn to the Earth - Bhumi-Sukta) Earth, atmosphere, sky, sun, moon, stars, waters, plants, trees, moving creatures, swimming creatures, creeping creatures all are hailed and offered oblations. (Taittiriya Samhita i-8-13)
(Courtesy: Vedic Quotes as found in the articles of Dr. S Kannan and Dr. Karan Singh relating to Nature and Hinduism)
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With constant repetition of such Vedic sayings, they become rituals that recognize the importance of natural resources and also offer advice to the chanter and listener on how they treat such resources with respect for these resources provide us with a healthy living environment. Most of the mantras employed in rituals are from the Vedas. Actually rituals (called samskAras) are aimed at developing the eight inner values (Atma guNas), which are: Compassion (dayA), patience (kshamA), free from jealousy (anasooyA), purity (soucham), keeping cool (anAyAsam), not being miserly (akArpaNyam), absence of attachment (aspruhA), and peace (mangaLam). All these are positive qualities to be developed in a human being not only for an individuals well-being but also for the welfare of the community. Arent these highly relevant today? When we start looking at what some people do in pursuit of their faith and dedication to rituals, we can only be struck by wonder and curiosity. Think it over Why in the world millions of people inflict discomfort on themselves to perform certain rituals in the name of devotion? Why would some men sit for hours without any food performing smoke-emitting homam? Why would people of all ages walk hundreds of miles braving inclement weather to take a dip in a holy river or climb up a mountain on foot to offer worship in a temple? Or walk barefoot over a coal bed? Why do people go to so much trouble to fast on some days? These questions (and many more) are addressed through close attention to, and then interpretation of ritual. The underlying cause is implicit faith. The spirit of sacrifice and control of senses pervades in all such rituals. It is clear that people have experienced some satisfaction or mental comfort after such hard rituals because they do it again and again. It is also clear and undisputed that the number of such people is swelling every year.
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Vrataas are observance of sacred Tithis such as Amavasya, Pournami, Chaturthi, Sashti, Ekadasi, etc. Pujas are worships for deities like Ganesha, Krishna, Saraswati, Durga, Shiva, Rama, Hanuman, Skanda, and so on. etc. Customs are those practices followed locally depending upon regional climate and available materials. For example, in Rajasthan dry coconut is used in Pujas as wet coconut is not readily available. This becomes a traditional practice and even when the wet coconut is procurable they will use dry coconut only. Similarly in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, plantain leaf is available in plenty and hence it is used for various purposes. Even in areas where it is scarce or not available, a Keralite or Tamilian will pay a high price to get the same as it is deemed to be their customary practice. While Samskaras, Vratas and Pujas are equally important, people often get them mixed up with local customary practices. Details about performing poojas and some rituals will be covered in the next volume of this series.
14.0 Conclusion
The lures of the present day world are too many. It is not surprising that many people get distracted by the temptation of reaping huge but illegal and dishonest rewards. The white-collar crime in recent years by many educated, high profile and wealthy people is enough proof to indicate a virus that has crept into our society. How to eradicate this virus? Not by prison sentences and by more laws alone - it requires reformation of the human mind. It requires constant disciplining of the mind and the body. Mantras and rituals precisely deal with the mind and hold the potential to reform it. For centuries, mantras and rituals have been practiced in India, and have withstood the test of time despite the rule of several foreigners in India. In present days, people report that observing rituals gives them peace of mind and happiness. If anyone still demands proof of their power, it is simply up to the individual to test these practices and draw conclusions based upon ones own experience.
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