naaraayaNa gaayatrii

[Vaidya N. Sundaram]

Namaste;
 I am sure jaldhar Vyas does not understand the basics of what a
discussion is all about as is evident from his posting on this topic.
Well, leave alone basic language constructs like crap etc as used so
frequently by him, I seriously think he has no idea of what constitutes a
proper puja.
 I only have to think about the story of KannApa NAyanAr to realise how
much mercy God has on his devotees. KannApa NAyanAr was a hunter by
profession, never had a bath, yet was attached to a SIva Linga.  Not
having a vessel to carry water for abhishekam of the lord, he used to
carry water in his mouth and spit it on the Lingam. Not having anything to
cook with, he offered raw meat to the Lord. Not having anything to clean
the Lingam with, and having his hands full of meat and and with a bow and
arrow on the other hand, he used to clean the Siva Lingam with his feet
and slippers. And when he saw tears of blood from the eyes on the Lingam
he sacrificed one of his eyes by plucking it right out of his face, and
the second time, when he would not have his second eye also and would have
to place it on the Lingam, he placed his leg where the eye of the lingam
should be. And he is one of the most celebrated of all the Nayan-mars.

 Good for KannApa NAyanAr that jaldhar vyas was not around, stopping him
from offering puja in this fashion. Infact, good for jaldhar that he was
not around then stopping KannApa NAyanAr, for Lord Siva has stated in
several occasions that he will not brook any interference in the matters
of how a devotee should offer prayers.

> There are certain practices mandated by the shastras which are
> _mandatory_.  If we do not see them being done, it is a comment on the sad
> state of the Kali yuga not an indication that it doesn't need to be done.
> Even for those who are not entitled/not familiar with Vedic sandhya, there
> are alternates.  Again if this is not known, it doesn't mean it is any
> less valid.  There is some room for choice yes, but one cannot randomly
> pick bits and pieces and call that a puja.  Some of the suktas mentioned

 If Jaldhar thinks he knows so much about the alternates and that random
bits and pieces should not constitute puja, I suggest he go and take
lessons on what the mantras of the Sandhya vandana mean. There are slokas
from the Mahabharata, recited by Draupathi. there are slokas recited by
the fore fathers of Jarat-kArvar. there are slokas from Siva purana. And
if all these can be put to gether and be HOLY as a Sandhyavandhana, then
why not the nArAyana gAyathri ??

 Infact, the gayathri as recited by most people in the Sandhyavandhana
today is NOT the gayathri as taught by Vishwamitra. What we do today is
called nij~rth gAyathri -- meaning the gayathri from which some thing has
been plucked out. And all for what purpose?  that we may easily attain
 ** That by which everything else is known **

> are Vedic in nature and those Gayatris are for the purpose of Upasana.
> I'll say it nicely this time.  There is no spiritual benefit from their
> incorrect use.

 says who? what do mean by incorrect use. What is that which makes the
reciting of the slokas at any prayer incorrect? It is a well known fact
that ANY and ALL forms of prayer has defects. Discussion on this topic
comes up even when Dakshan is doing his Vajpayee yajyam ignoring Siva.
Even one as arrogant as Dakshan himself agreed that any Yajyam has
defects. There is a lot of importance attached to what is called
-prayaschitam- correcting mistakes. The simplest form of prayaschittam is
where one says:
 mantra hInam kriyA hInam bhakthi hInam hudhasanA
  yadd-uthanthu mayA deva paripurnam thathasthute
oh Lord, please ignore completely all my short comings with respect to
the mantras, the offerings and also lack of bhakthi. Inspite of all my
mistakes please make my prayer complete.

> I say this in the nicest possible way.  Good intentions count for
> _nothing_.  My Father told me a story that once, when he was President of
> India, S. Radhakrishnan came to visit our town.  Rather astonishingly
> there was a huge crowd of people from the surrounding villages come to see
> him.  It turns out that somehow they had got the impression that
> Radha-Krishna had come to town!   What faith those people must had! What
> pure hearts!  What ignorance!

 I'd rather have one such ** ignorant ** person who thinks of Sri Krishna
and Radha even when the name Radha krishna is uttered than a billion
people who have read parts of the vedas, and who have such a holier than
thou attitude. and if it is any consolation, even prayers offerd by people
with such holier than thou attitude will also be accepted by Lord
nArAyanA.

Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam
 all you grammar and all your rules will not come to your aid at the time
of reckoning.
 -- Sri Sankara.

Vaidya.


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 Kandavar Vindilar      : Those who have seen (Brahman) have not spoken
  Vindavar Kandilar     :   those who speak (about It) have not seen (It)
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