[Advaita-l] aruNa prashna for sUrya namaskaara

[Vivek Shankar Natarajan]

aruNa prashna for sUrya namaskaara 

   Sir, is it possible for someone here to let us know which of the mantras are vidhi statements? Thus, one can know what is to be avoided  during kriya ceremonies. All help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


advaita-l-request at lists.advaita-vedanta.org wrote:
Send Advaita-l mailing list submissions to
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
advaita-l-request at lists.advaita-vedanta.org

You can reach the person managing the list at
advaita-l-owner at lists.advaita-vedanta.org

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Advaita-l digest..."


Today's Topics:

1. aruNa prashna for sUrya namaskaara - A Scholar's Opinion
(S Jayanarayanan)
2. Re: aruNa prashna for sUrya namaskaara - A Scholar's Opinion
(Jagannath Chatterjee)
3. New member introduction: Meenakshi Lakshmanan (Jaldhar H. Vyas)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 12:55:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: S Jayanarayanan 
Subject: [Advaita-l] aruNa prashna for sUrya namaskaara - A Scholar's
Opinion
To: advaita-l 
Message-ID: <20050907195501.60570.qmail at web50804.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

I had occassion to question Pandit Mallikarjuna Sharma
(mentioned in
http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/2005-September/015730.html
) regarding the use of the aruNa prashna for sUrya namaskaara.
This was his opinion on the subject:

1) The aruNa prashnaH has mantras for several deities, including
ApaH, sUryaH, agniH, indraH, marutaH, parjanyaH, etc. It is
within the realm of possibility to interpret the main deity of
the prashnaH as sUryaH, with the other deities being invoked to
honor the presence of sUryaH. Therefore, to say that only ApaH
is the main deity of the aruNa prashnaH and that sUryaH cannot
be the main deity is not quite correct.

2) However, the objection to the use of the entire aruNa prashna
for sUrya namaskaara on account of there being vidhi sentences
(injunctions - one kind of brAhmaNa sentences) in the prashna is
cent percent correct! Vidhis are commands of the form "Do this
action", and should NEVER be recited during the performance of a
KriyA. This includes all vaidIka karmas such as homas and yaGYas
(including the rAjasUya yaGYa) - none of which contain recital
of vidhis.

The SOLE EXCEPTION to the above rule is the Brahma yaGYam, where
the recital of Vedic statements (including vidhis) constitutes
the kriyA. Barring this single exception, the rule of mImAmsA to
never recite vidhis during a kriyA stands.

Since the aruNa prashna abounds with dozens of vidhi statements,
performance of the sUrya namaskaara reciting the vidhis is a
violation of a fundamental rule of mImAmsA, and is definitely an
error in traditional practice.

3) More important is the question of whether this practice ought
to be stopped because it violates the rules of mImAmsA.

The fact is that in the world today, only a small percentage
perform vaidIka karmas. Among those who do so, only a fraction
know the meanings of the Vedic statements that are being used
for the karmas. Among these, a very small precentage know the
difference between mantras and vidhis. And a still smaller
fraction know that vidhis ought not be recited during a kriyA.
In fact, only a handful of Pandits in the world today are aware
that the sUrya namaskaara as practised in South India violates
the rules of mImAmsA.

Given that the ignorance of Vedic dharma is so prevalent, is it
really necessary to throw the BrahmAstra of mImAmsA analysis of
Vedic statements and destroy this practice? (Pandit MS noted
that even a great scholar like Anna Subramanian was unaware of
the mImAmsA rule of not using vidhis during a kriyA, and has
popularized the entire aruNa prashna for sUrya namaskaara
without realizing that it is error in the tradition.)

So the final conclusion on this subject is:

"Even though the performance of sUrya namaskaara reciting the
entire aruNa prashna is a violation of certain mImAmsA rules,
most scholars have permitted the practice to go on unhindered.
But it would definitely be a good thing for those who know
better to avoid reciting the vidhis when they perform the sUrya
namaskaara, and recite only the mantra portion of the aruNa
prashna instead."

-Kartik

-----------------------------------------------------------
Work for the Employer with the best benefits! Work for God!

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 


------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 01:51:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jagannath Chatterjee 
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] aruNa prashna for sUrya namaskaara - A
Scholar's Opinion
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta

Message-ID: <20050908085112.33483.qmail at web33107.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Thank you for this information Jayanaryanan ji. Yes, we are so ignorant of Vaidik vidhis. Today most of us are ruing over the fact but that is like locking the stables after the horses have fled. There was a news item on the TV yesterday about how a Vaidik Institution in South India is somehow scraping through despite financial crisis. 

South India has always been the bastion of Vedic rituals. But modern education has almost ensured the end of that era. I am on this group purely because I like the holy company of people who try to keep the flame alive.

Regards,
Jagannath.

S Jayanarayanan wrote:
I had occassion to question Pandit Mallikarjuna Sharma
(mentioned in
http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/2005-September/015730.html
) regarding the use of the aruNa prashna for sUrya namaskaara.
This was his opinion on the subject:



---------------------------------
Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 10:45:03 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Jaldhar H. Vyas" 
Subject: [Advaita-l] New member introduction: Meenakshi Lakshmanan
To: Advaita-L 
Message-ID:


Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

Namaste.
I was asked to send a few details about myself when I subscribed to
the Advaita-L list. These are given below...

My name is Meenakshi Lakshmanan. I'm 29 years old and live in Chennai, India.

The following is a brief about my background in the advaita-vedAnta tradition:

I come from a traditional family that is devoted to the Sringeri
parampara. My own Sadguru is Srimad Abhinava Vidyatheertha
Mahaswamigal, who was the 35th pontiff of the Sringeri Sharada
Peetham. I am a student of Bhagavatpada's works and have studied/am
studying, with a group of friends, some of His works like the
Satasloki, the PrabodhasudhAkara and the
Sarva-vedAnta-siddhAnta-sAra-sangraha.

Thanks.
Meenakshi



------------------------------

_______________________________________________
Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/

To unsubscribe or change your options:
http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l

For assistance, contact:
listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org


End of Advaita-l Digest, Vol 29, Issue 8
****************************************



Vivek Shankar Natarajan

 809,West Abram Street,#103,

Arlington,76013.

Tel:817-548-8863

Arise ,Awake and Stop not till the Goal is Reached !

 






__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com