[Advaita-l] Chanting Gayatri overseas

[Ramachandra Sastry]

Namaste,

In the recent Dharma shastra discussions which was held in Bangalore, the
above Brahmins sea crossing was also one of the topic which was discussed.

Nevertheless, there was no common opinion which came out the discussions,
however, there were few pointers from the sastras which came out of the
discussions.

1) In the year 1885 , there was a discussion held in Bangalore
(Kalyanapuri) on "Samudrayana Mimamsa", there were more than 50+ scholars
from south india who were present and have discussed the above topic and
the proceedings are published in a book in telugu script.

2) Mysore Asthana vidwan Sri Vedaratnam Venkataramadhani has published a
book in kannada script " Samudrayayi Prayaschittam" . There is no pdf of
this book available , however i have a hard copy of the book.

3) Apart from Boudhayana dharma sutra 2.2.2 which details the prayashchitta
for the sea crossing, Hemaadri suri and Vaidyanatha dixitar have also
provided the same prayachitta vidhanam.

Regards
Ramachandra

On Thu, Oct 5, 2017 at 8:57 AM, Venkatesh Murthy via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste
>
> https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3065
>
> 'The difference of practice on the issue among the various Hindu
> denominations is based on the scriptures each considers authoritative.
> Harsha Ramamurthy in his erudite article on the issue (
> kamakshi16.tripod.com/samudrayana.html
> <https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/kamakshi16.tripod.com/
> samudrayana.html>),
> explains that, according to Baudhayana Sutra, the highest authority in
> deciding a question of dharma is shruti, our primary scriptures, the Vedas
> and Agamas. Next is the smriti, the secondary scriptures, which include the
> Dharma Shastras. Third is sampradaya, the teachings and practices of a
> specific lineage. He concludes, "Though there seems to be no direct ban on
> ocean travel in shruti, because of the bans in smriti and sampradaya, such
> travel is considered a banned activity." He said in communication with
> Hinduism Today that the ban is observed both by the Madhva Sampradaya and
> Smarta Sampradaya (which includes the Shankaracharyas of Sringeri, Kanchi,
> etc.), as both adhere closely to the Dharma Shastras. He added that the ban
> applies to all three upper castes, and not just brahmins. It also applies
> to sannyasins, who--in his tradition--can only be from the brahmin caste.
> He pointed out that other Vaishnava Sampradayas, such as the Srivaishnavas,
> who follow the Pancharatra Agama, travel freely. He gave the example of
> Chinna Jeeyar (www.chinnajeeyar.org/), a follower of Visishtadvaita, who
> travels extensively. Similarly, the swamis of the Vaishnava Swaminarayana
> sect travel extensively.'
> <https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/www.chinnajeeyar.org/>
>
> 'In the Baudhayana Sutra, the ban is discussed in the context of a
> description of the geographical limits of India which concludes that within
> its boundary "spiritual preeminence is found." Generally, two reasons are
> given by scholars for the ban. The first is that it is impossible to
> maintain one's required daily religious observances on a ship, particularly
> thrice-daily personal worship. The second is that one will incur the sin of
> mleccha samparka, usually politely translated as mixing with foreigners.'
>
> 'Dr. A.V. Ramana Dikshitulu, head priest of the Balaji Temple in Tirumala,
> one of India's most respected and popular pilgrimage destinations, said,
> "None of our priests who serve in the main sanctum can cross the ocean.
> Neither I nor any member of my family have done so, despite lucrative
> offers from abroad. Serving the Lord here is most important to us. The
> Balaji Temple is governed by the Vaikhanasa Agama. It says that the people
> outside India are akin to mlecchas, barbarians, who do not follow any rules
> or code of conduct, and therefore it forbids visiting such places. These
> places have habits, food, relationships and other things which could make
> us corrupt and impure."
>
> "According to the Agama, all brahmins are supposed to worship at sunrise,
> midday and sunset, called trikal gayatri sandhya," he explained. "This
> trikal sandhya cannot be performed on a plane or ship; it must be done on
> the earth." Dr. Ramana Dikshitulu does not specifically rule out "crossing"
> an ocean, for he himself flies occasionally from Chennai to Kolkata, a
> flight which goes out over the Bay of Bengal. But as that flight is only
> two hours long, he does not miss his trikal sandhya as he would on a longer
> flight or a voyage by ship, and he does not land outside India.'
>
> On Thu, Oct 5, 2017 at 8:36 AM, Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Namaste
> >
> > 'The Baudhayana Sutra
> > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudhayana#The_Dharmas.C5.ABtra>, one of
> > the Hindu Dharma Shastras
> > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma%C5%9B%C4%81stra>, says that "making
> > voyages by sea" (II.1.2.2)
> > <http://www.hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/hinduism/dharma/
> baudh2.asp#fr_1078>
> > is an offense which will cause *pataniya*, loss of caste. It offers a
> > rather difficult penance: "They shall eat every fourth mealtime a little
> > food, bathe at the time of the three libations (morning, noon and
> evening),
> > passing the day standing and the night sitting. After the lapse of three
> > years, they throw off their guilt."
> >
> > On Tue, Oct 3, 2017 at 11:19 PM, Sujal Upadhyay via Advaita-l <
> > advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >
> >> Pranams
> >>
> >> Have a look at biographies of priests
> >> http://svbf.org/our-priests
> >>
> >> Also noted that they perform shrādha either at temple or at home. You
> can
> >> check second last page of calender. They also have rates card which
> >> mentions seva-s like  different kinds of pUja-s, homa-s, and also
> shrAdha
> >>
> >> All these in a matha in USA which it says is affiliated with sringeri
> >> matha.
> >>
> >> Confused, surprised, happy, sad all mixed emotions in me. What to
> say!!!!
> >>
> >> Sorry Sri Vidyasankar ji for mentioning your name. Never took it
> >> sarcastically. No offenses please. I personally feel you did a great
> >> service. I am saying it from the bottom of my heart.
> >>
> >> Secondly, Sri Rajiv Malhotra ji is working very hard to defend our
> dharma.
> >> Now Indian Govt is helping him indirectly. Sri Ravi Sankar Prasad, a
> >> cabinet Minister gave a speech in his conference .
> >>
> >>  Importantly he is getting support from Sri Mani Dravid Srastringal and
> >> his
> >> students. He even gave awards to him or may be his disciples for their
> >> contribution. Rajivji lives in USA and he has given award to Disciples
> of
> >> Sri Mani Dravid Srastringal. They accepted this award.
> >>
> >> What traditionalists could not do he did it. He opposed Wendy and her
> >> children I.e. her disciples, shendon Pollack and others. But he may be
> >> impure as per our shāstras.
> >>
> >> Can't go against shāstras. Can't stop appreciating his hard work.
> Problem
> >> hai. What to do.
> >>
> >> On a lighter note Sriramji, I am reminded how much you love Dr. Zakir
> Naik
> >> (PBUH). Even my blood used to boil when I saw his videos. I guess
> >> traditionalists didn't responded well or did They or they are not
> required
> >> to?
> >>
> >> Honestly it is always west that stood up against such attacks on our
> >> dharma.
> >>
> >> Look at the site dedicated to Srila Prabhupada. They have done hard work
> >> to
> >> upload bhagavat Purana and others scriptures. Nothing if that kind from
> >> India for a long time. There is fit a supersite.  Still there is no
> >> bhagavat Purana in a way it is put by them. It's s western effort.
> >>
> >> Yes it has nothing to do with nitya karma or rules laid down by shāstras
> >> but practically it counts. Such portals are an assets for those
> interested
> >> in comparative study or to study our own dharma and find references.
> >>
> >> OM
> >> Sujal
> >>
> >> On Oct 3, 2017 10:45 PM, "Sujal Upadhyay" <sujal.u at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> > Pranams
> >> > Please find link of sringeri matha USA
> >> > http://svbf.org/contact
> >> > It's in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Detroit and Texas. Those living in
> USA
> >> > can talk to them. Have a look at the activities carried out by them.
> >> Have
> >> > look at calender. It can be downloaded from home page.
> >> >
> >> > Also note that the prestigious work to put our AchArya's prasthAntrayI
> >> > commentaries (which includes Brahms sUtra-s) is also supported by some
> >> > volunteers living in foreign land.
> >> >
> >> > One of them, if I remember is our very own Sri Vidyasankar jio, who
> >> lives
> >> > in USA.
> >> >
> >> > Any thoughts on this ??
> >> >
> >> > Hari OM
> >> > Sujal
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Oct 3, 2017 8:15 PM, "Sujal Upadhyay" <sujal.u at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > Pranams Sri Sriramji
> >> > I cannot understand Telugu or any South Indian language
> >> > I am Gujarati.  I can understand Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi and English
> >> >
> >> > Please either translate the essence or kindly give Hindi translation
> of
> >> > video
> >> >
> >> > Thank you
> >> > OM
> >> > Sujal
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Oct 3, 2017 3:48 PM, "Venkata sriram P via Advaita-l" <
> >> > advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > Dear Sujalji,
> >> >
> >> > Our Sarma Sastrigal's plea to NRIs
> >> >
> >> > ..............
> >> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At6tnQbZWhg&t=417s
> >> > ..........
> >> >
> >> > regs,
> >> > sriram
> >> > _______________________________________________
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> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Regards
> >
> > -Venkatesh
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Regards
>
> -Venkatesh
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