Dharma

[Dr. M. Giridhar]

>My knowledge is sanskrit is poor, I may make many mistakes due to my
>tamizh bias. Please correct me.  The fire ceremony brahmachAris do is
>"samidhA dAnam or samhitAdAnam?.

        It is samidhaa daanam. saMhita means compilation or collection of
texts. It also means sandhi or combination. There is also an other word
called samiddha meaning blazing.

        We had planned put up the hymns in sandhya (and samidha daanam)
for the rig, yajur and sama vedas for the smartha, srivaishnava and madhva
sampradayas. I think Shrisha was co-ordinating the project.

        In this thread of dharma, we have not mentioned dharmas which are
common to everyone but just stuck to rituals. Let us remember that common
dharmas like ahimsa, satya etc. should also be followed to the best extent
possible. And let us indulge in dharmic activities with an attitude of
surrender and arpanam to Ishvara, since it is He who even allows us to
indulge in such activities.