shrAvapaurNamI pUrvastha shukravArE cArumatIprabrtibhih pUjitAkArE

[Venkatraman.Chandrasekaran at NOKIA.COM]

Thanks for the Notes Sri Ravi.
Yes.. For pitr~ karmas we don't wear new clothes.. We put for drying the clothes 
the previous night (in India). Here in US, owing to lack of space for drying clothes, 
and since the drier machines here are pretty powerful, I take advantage of it and 
soak the clothes in the morning and put in the drier and pick up the dried clothes 
after bathing in wet clothes. I have been lucky since the common drier in our 
apartment is just in front of my door outside.:) So this procedure has been working 
so far. 
And yes... again using silk clothes is least desirable. One could use "veN paTTu" 
(artificial silk) in its place.
 
Regards,
chandrasekaran.
 
-----Original Message-----
From: ext Ravishankar Venkatraman [mailto:sunlike at HOTMAIL.COM]
Sent: Sunday, August 25, 2002 9:39 AM
To: ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG
Subject: Re: shrAvapaurNamI pUrvastha shukravArE cArumatIprabrtibhih pUjit AkArE




>it can be essentially worn for puja and considered pure: 

> - not been worn without bathing 
> - not been washed even once 
> - not been worn while having food 
> - not been worn while in bed 
> - not been worn or kept in unclean premises of the house 
 
"madi"  is external purity to promote good vibrations needed to do karmas. Mental purity requires a minimum level of purity in the ambience associated with the body. You do not feel comfortable after travelling for several continuous hours without taking a shower, or you cannot have food in a place which is dirty or with some fowl smell and so on. The mind is connected with the body, for people like us. 
 
For doing pitru karmas, we need to have utmost "madi" (ultra cleanliness of body). Pitrus are supposed to be dissatisfied when karmas are done without sincerity.  Even a silk dhoti is not acceptable. For deva pujas, new clothes not washed even once or silk clothes are all right. For pitru karmas, we have to wash the required clothes in advance (the previous night before the event), and dry it. The person doing this should have taken a shower (complete head bath) and do it with wet clothes. That may sound extreme, but it does make sure that we are not lackadaisical in promoting positive vibrations. 
 
For deva karmas, we can use silk or wool clothes. In Andhra, people use wool sometimes and silk sometimes - I think the climate plays a role here. In Tamilnadu, people use silk. The custom varies. Silk loses its madi when you eat or sleep wearing it, or wear it when there is a body discharge.
 
In some families, they do not wear silk as they are made by killing thousands of silk worms. Especially,  followers of Kanchi Mahaswami's preachings meticulously do not wear silk at all, even in marriages. They use "ahimsa pattu" (non-violent silk). This can be treated the same way you would treat silk or a new cloth.
 
I hope this helps.
 
Ravi
 

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