On worldly usages of Krishna mantras as seen in the 3rd rAtra of the Narada Pancharatra

The 3rd rAtra of the Narada Pancharatra(of the Krishna centred stream) gives various Krishna mantras and their dhyAnas and kAmya usages

  1. 18 and 20 akShara:smR^iti medhA mati balam labdhvA sa kavi vAgbhavet+mukundacharaNa lAbha
  2. bAlagopAla(11 akShara)[seated on yashodA]:gaining one’s desireSh
  3. puntanA-nAshaka(30 akShara):Relief from afflictions like bhUtas,bAlagrahas,loss of memory
  4. shakaTAri dhyAna[as the one who upturned shakaTAsura’s cart]:For vighnanAshana
  5. bAlagopAla(another dhyAna):For AyuH and Arogya
  6. puruShottama(10 akShara):For long life
  7. Krishna(30 akShara):For long life
  8. Poison eradicating mantras and dhyAnas:As dancer on kAliya’s heads
  9. govardhananAtha dhyAna+gopIkrIDA in yamunA dhyAna: For controlling rain
  10. kR^iShNa as the saviour of sandIpani muni’s sons:apamR^ityu nAsha
  11. putralAbha is also referred to
  12. A dhyAna regarding the vanquishing of enemies [Him emitting fire from His mouth,mounted from Gaurda,and also being referred to as the vanquisher of Rukmi]
  13. Krishna as pulling Kamsa from his throne:Destruction of enemies(even those who have taken amR^ita)
  14. Krishna as pArthasArathi on ratha with hand in vyAkhyAna mudrA/vishvarUpa dhyAna:For dharmavR^iddhi/explaining all shAstras respectively.

All the above are to be learned by sadguru to be effective,and I apologize if I have been misleading or anything wrong has been done.

brahmA,viShNu and shiva’s praise of vinAyaka in the 13th chapter of the gaNesha purANa

Description of Ganesha when the devas praised Him(the core essential points)[in the 12th chapter]
koTisUrya pratIkAshaM tejorAshi puro mune|

raktAmbaraprabhAvAttu jirA sandhyArkamaNDalam|
kaTisutra prabhA jAlai jeta hemAdrishekharam||
kha~Nga kheTa dhanuH shakti shobhichAru chaturbhujam|
sunAsaM purNimAchandra jita kAnti mukhAmbujam|
aharnishA prabhAyuktaM padmachAru sulochanam|
anekasUrya shobhAjit mukuTa bhrAji mastakam||

The actual hymn

brahmAviShNumaheshvarA uchuH

ajaM nirvikalpaM nirAkAramekaM nirAlaMbamadvaitamAnandapUrNaM|
paraM nirguNaM nirvisheShaM nirIhaM paraMbrahma rUpaM gaNeshaM bhajem||
guNAtUtanAdyaM chidAnanda rUpaM|chidAbhAsakaM sarvagaM j~nAnagamyam|
munidhyeyamAkAsharUpam pareshaM| parabrahmarUpa gaNeshaM bhajem||
jagatkAraNam kAraNAj~nAnahInaM surAdiM sukhAdiM yugAdiM gaNesham|
jagadvyApinaM vishvavandyam sureshaM|parambrahmarUpaM gaNeshaM bhajem||
rajo yogato brahmarUpaM shrutij~na|sadAkArya saktaM(?)hadAchintyarUpaM|
jagatkArakaM sarvaM vidyAnidhAnaM| sadA “brahma” rUpaM gaNeshaM nataH smaH||
sadAsatvayogaM mudA krIDamAnaM|surArIn harantaM jagatpAlayantaM|
anekAvatAraM nijAj~nAnahAraM| sadA “viShNu” rUpaM gaNeshaM nataH smaH||
tamoyoginaM rudrarUpaM trinetraM |jagaddhArakaM tArakaM j~nAnahetuM|
anekAgamaiH svaMjanaM bodhayantam| sadA “shiva” rUpaM gaNeshaM natAH smaH||
namastoma hAraM janAj~nAna hAraM|trayovedasAraM parabhrahmapAraM|
munij~nAnakAraM vidUre vikAraM sadA “braghna” rUpaM gaNeshaM natAH smaH||
nijairauShadhai starpayaMtaM karaudhaiH|suraudhAn kalAbhiH sudhAstraviNAbhiH|dineshAMshu santApahAraM dvijeshaM|
shashA~NkaM svarUpaM gaNeshaM natAH smaH||
prakAsha svarUpaM namo vAyurUpaM vikArAdihetu kalAkAla bhUtam| aneka kriyAneka “shakti” svarUpam sadA “shakti” rUpaM gaNeshaM natAH smaH||
pradhAna svarUpaM mahattattvarUpaM dharAvArirUpaM digIshAdirUpaM|
asat sat svarUpaM jagad hetu bhUtam| sadA “vishva” rUpaM gaNeshaM natAH smaH||
tvadIye manaHsthApye daMdhriyugme|jano vighnasaMghAnna pIDAM labhet| lasat sUrya biMbe vishAle sthite’yaM| janodvAMtabAMdhA kathaMvAlabhet||
vayaM bhrAmitaH sarvathA’j~nAnayogA|dalabdhvA tavAMghri(dhri)? bahun varSha pugAn| idAnImavAptAstavaiva prasAdAt| prapannAn sadA pAhi vishvaMbharAdya||
brahmovAcha||
evaM stuto gaNeshastu saMstuShTobhun mahAnune|kR^ipayA parayo peto’bhi dhAtuM tAn prachakrame||
shrImad gaNesha uvAcha||
uadarthaM kleshitA yUyaM yadartha yadarthamiha chAgatAH|| prIto’ha manayA stutyA varaM matto vR^iNIta tam||kR^itaM cha mama yat stotra bhavadbhirbhAvitAtmabhiH|stotrarAjamiti khyAta bhaviShyati madAj~nayA||idaM yaH paThet praTarutthAya dhImAN|trisandhyaM sadA bhati yokto vishuddhaH saputrAM shriyaM sarvaM kAmAn labhet|parabrahmharUpo bhavedantakAle|

Devanagari below

कोटिसूर्य प्रतीकाशं तेजोराशि पुरो मुने।
….
रक्ताम्बरप्रभावात्तु जिरा सन्ध्यार्कमण्डलम्।
कटिसुत्र प्रभा जालै जेत हेमाद्रिशेखरम्॥
खङ्ग खेट धनुः शक्ति शोभिचारु चतुर्भुजम्।
सुनासं पुर्णिमाचन्द्र जित कान्ति मुखाम्बुजम्।
अहर्निशा प्रभायुक्तं पद्मचारु सुलोचनम्।
अनेकसूर्य शोभाजित् मुकुट भ्राजि मस्तकम्॥

ह्माविष्णुमहेश्वरा उचुः

अजं निर्विकल्पं निराकारमेकं निरालंबमद्वैतमानन्दपूर्णं।
परं निर्गुणं निर्विशेषं निरीहं परंब्रह्म रूपं गणेशं भजेम्॥
गुणातूतनाद्यं चिदानन्द रूपं।चिदाभासकं सर्वगं ज्ञानगम्यम्।
मुनिध्येयमाकाशरूपम् परेशं। परब्रह्मरूप गणेशं भजेम्॥
जगत्कारणम् कारणाज्ञानहीनं सुरादिं सुखादिं युगादिं गणेशम्।
जगद्व्यापिनं विश्ववन्द्यम् सुरेशं।परम्ब्रह्मरूपं गणेशं भजेम्॥
रजो योगतो ब्रह्मरूपं श्रुतिज्ञ।सदाकार्य सक्तं(?)हदाचिन्त्यरूपं।
जगत्कारकं सर्वं विद्यानिधानं। सदा “ब्रह्म” रूपं गणेशं नतः स्मः॥
सदासत्वयोगं मुदा क्रीडमानं।सुरारीन् हरन्तं जगत्पालयन्तं।
अनेकावतारं निजाज्ञानहारं। सदा “विष्णु” रूपं गणेशं नतः स्मः॥
तमोयोगिनं रुद्ररूपं त्रिनेत्रं ।जगद्धारकं तारकं ज्ञानहेतुं।
अनेकागमैः स्वंजनं बोधयन्तम्। सदा “शिव” रूपं गणेशं नताः स्मः॥
नमस्तोम हारं जनाज्ञान हारं।त्रयोवेदसारं परभ्रह्मपारं।
मुनिज्ञानकारं विदूरे विकारं सदा “ब्रघ्न” रूपं गणेशं नताः स्मः॥
निजैरौषधै स्तर्पयंतं करौधैः।सुरौधान् कलाभिः सुधास्त्रविणाभिः।दिनेशांशु सन्तापहारं द्विजेशं।
शशाङ्कं स्वरूपं गणेशं नताः स्मः॥
प्रकाश स्वरूपं नमो वायुरूपं विकारादिहेतु कलाकाल भूतम्। अनेक क्रियानेक “शक्ति” स्वरूपम् सदा “शक्ति” रूपं गणेशं नताः स्मः॥
प्रधान स्वरूपं महत्तत्त्वरूपं धरावारिरूपं दिगीशादिरूपं।
असत् सत् स्वरूपं जगद् हेतु भूतम्। सदा “विश्व” रूपं गणेशं नताः स्मः॥
त्वदीये मनःस्थाप्ये दंध्रियुग्मे।जनो विघ्नसंघान्न पीडां लभेत्। लसत् सूर्य बिंबे विशाले स्थिते’यं। जनोद्वांतबांधा कथंवालभेत्॥
वयं भ्रामितः सर्वथा’ज्ञानयोगा।दलब्ध्वा तवांघ्रि(ध्रि)? बहुन् वर्ष पुगान्। इदानीमवाप्तास्तवैव प्रसादात्। प्रपन्नान् सदा पाहि विश्वंभराद्य॥
ब्रह्मोवाच॥
एवं स्तुतो गणेशस्तु संस्तुष्टोभुन् महानुने।कृपया परयो पेतो’भि धातुं तान् प्रचक्रमे॥
श्रीमद् गणेश उवाच॥
उअदर्थं क्लेशिता यूयं यदर्थ यदर्थमिह चागताः॥ प्रीतो’ह मनया स्तुत्या वरं मत्तो वृणीत तम्॥कृतं च मम यत् स्तोत्र भवद्भिर्भावितात्मभिः।स्तोत्रराजमिति ख्यात भविष्यति मदाज्ञया॥इदं यः पठेत् प्रटरुत्थाय धीमाण्।त्रिसन्ध्यं सदा भति योक्तो विशुद्धः सपुत्रां श्रियं सर्वं कामान् लभेत्।परब्रह्म्हरूपो भवेदन्तकाले।

The edition used here was the Nag Publishers edition.

Review of Samanya Dharma by Nithin Sridhar

Book title: Samanya Dharma

Author:Nithin Sridhar

This book gives a good introduction to dharma,and what dharmas are common to all humans,but specifically to those who are Hindus(since devotion to devas and gurus is definitely a part of some of its definitions,which are more expanded versions of the more concise definitions that don’t explicitly state it). It notes the seeds of these ideas in various shrutivAkyas and then nicely,in various places puts them as elucidated in various smR^itis and purANas,and notes their social benefit and usefulness/importance in yoga of all forms(pAta~njala,bhaktimArga,etc) and sAdhanA.

This is a book that is useful in educating Hindus about the basic dharma-s that they need to follow,especially in an era where certain classes of middle-class people do not have anything substantial to explain dharma beyond ‘way of life’ platitudes,and claiming ‘anything goes’ in Hinduism. All in all,a very good,neat little book that I would recommend to any Hindu(and in whatever language they know/speak).

 dharmaviduttamAbhyAm hariharAbhyAm namaH|

(Obeisances to Hari and Hara,the best of knowers of dharma)

A rambling note on the origins of the ideology of karmayoga

Karmayoga is a much abused concept these days,nowadays people think that it is doing whatever job one’s bosses or political superiors assign to them perfectly and  chores)pleasingly(or even daily. Or sometimes school students are told that their studying hard and getting good grades means they are good karmayogis, but no,it means nothing like that. This idea had its origins amongst(specifically) shuklayajurvaidika circles(as noted in the 2nd mantra of the ishopanishad). Karmayoga means doing one’s nitya and naimittika karmas and yAgas as laid down in the smArta systems as appropriate to one’s varNa while dedicating all its puNyas and other results to the supreme deity of whatever system your ideal is:vAsudeva,shiva,etc. In fact,this was probably the ideology of an old set of ritualists who later became the one of the groups that went into the formation of pA~NcharAtra:The mantrasiddhAntins are a group of brAhmaNas belonging to the kANva and mAdhyadina shAkhAs of the shuklayajurveda,who are supposed to meditate on vAsudeva as they are doing somayAga and dedicate their fruits to him. It is this strain of ritualist thought that found its expression in the karmayoga idea of the Gita(which,textually speaking is belonging to an old sAtavata esque strain of thought in ancient India). And of course,the other tendency of ancient Hindu thought to homologize all actions as ritual:even sex,would mean ending up in an Aurobindo-esque ‘All life is yoga.’ conclusion.

 

Above are verses from the charyapAda of the pAdmasaMhitA which note that the followers of mantrasiddhAnta do contemplation of vAsudeva with trayimantras(vedamantras),associated with the kANva and mAdhyadina shAkhAs,and thee brAhmaNas worship vAsudeva while performing somayAga. This was the original ideal of karmayoga,historically speaking.

An end (semi) rant: The vyAdha gItA has been completely hopelessly ripped out of its original context to a society which is scarcely little like anything that would have supported the historical-cum-mythical vyAdha.

On Agneeswarar and Haradatta

WhatsApp Image 2020-03-07 at 5.57.36 PMPic:utsavamUrti of Agneeshwarar of Kanjanur. This link mentioned Haradatta who was born as a Srivaishnava undergoing tribaulations to prove his shivabhakti but does not give the details. I have decided to fill in the details.

haradatta was born in a SV family in kanjanUr as sudarshana. As he grew up he showed his love for shiva, shivabhaktas & shivAcAryas.From the age of two, he would run to the nearby shiva temple & receive ash & shout hara hara with the devotees. His father thought that this was just a childish sport & ignored it. He thought it will be fixed after his upanayana. His upanayana was done at 5; his father told him, “From now on, you cannot act as you please. You must not go to shivAlaya. That will be a sin. You must not even see those who wear ash. You must take a bath at their very sight”. As soon as his father left, he wiped off his vaiShNava marks & replaced them with tripundra bhasma and he returned home like that in that very form. His father, vAsudeva was enraged. The other vaiShNavas in the agrahAra cursed him as a disgrace & a ruiner of the shrIvaiShNavas. His father, feeling humiliated, tied him to a pillar & whipped him hard. But after his father got tired & left, he would untie those ropes & run to agnIshvara. His father could bear no more,told him not to enter the house and told his wife not to feed the son. He would ask from outside the house, “mother, I’m hungry, serve me food”. His mother was in a dilemma: “How will I disobey your father, oh dear child? And how will I bear your cry for food? Why don’t you obey your father? You should act as per father’s desire only. I will go to the father & mother of the world for refuge. They will take care of me.”
Then he proceeded to agnIshvara and at there in front of the dakShiNAmUrti there in meditation. Knowing his habit to meditate for long periods, the shivabrAhmaNas left him there & locked up the temple.  He said: “agnIshvara, I have left my parents; you are my father; shakti my mother; Skanda & gaNesha my brothers & the gaNas my friends. This is my family now; accept me as yours oh god! Are you angry that I have done pUjA as  an ignorant child, contrary to vidhi? Even brahmA & viShNu cannot see your feet; who can truly do pUjA to them? Will you not accept me?! Curse me to become a work & get trampled by shivabhaktas; I will accept that fate gladly & reach you. Will you not show mercy to the low ones like me even now?”. Hearing all this, kalpakAmbikA could not bear it any more. She instigated bhagavAn to show mercy to the child, sudarshana, and then the great God smiled. Skanda & gaNesha came there to accept they’re new brother & the gaNas their new comrade. The munis & devas came there to shower flowers with vedaghoSa everywhere. And the parents of the world were there & gave him a divine vision of them. shiva granted him knowledge of all shAstras & made him omniscient. That very night,his father who came there (hearing his overnight stay at the temple) & other vaiShNavas all asked him questions. He was only 5 and answered all of them with shrutipramANas. So the vaiShNavas told him, “sit on a red hot iron bed & preach your shivaparatvam, if you do that, we will accept your doctrine”. He did it. They set up the iron seat at the local temple of varadarAja (as the vaiShNavas would obviously not enter a shiva temple). His father & others fell at his feet & asked him for prAyashcitta for their abuse of shiva & shaivas,and he married a vaidika shivabhakta’s daughter from the vAdhUlagotra & led an exemplary life.

One of his miracles was when a pANDya chieftain sent him an expensive yellow cloth via a brAhmaNa, he was doing a homa & thinking agnIshvara to be the lord of that agni, offered that cloth into the homAgni. The king heard about it & became stunned at the svAmI’s display of his lIlAvaibhavam. In the evening he went to have shrI haradatta’s darshana and asked him if the cloth he sent had safely reached him. “It reached us at an excellent time & has been offered to agnIshvara” replied haradatta. Later when the king went to the temple, that very cloth was on the mUlali~Nga-That cloth which was observed by the brAhmaNa to have been burnt into ashes.

Credit for the narration of this tale goes to @Ghorangirasa.