SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA
Darbhai during eclipse. Two austerities are followed before the eclipses begin
and one at or after the eclipse begins. The two are,
keeping the stomach empty at the beginning of eclipse and putting a piece
of darbhai on all food items. The other one is about grahana
tarpanam. Since darbhai has the capacity to thwart or disallow
radiation of unwanted kind to enter the body, it is understood that by being
placed on food items, it protects them from some radiation or some such energy,
which must have obviously been present in the surroundings due to / during the
eclipse. The following are some observations and facts available
to us. About the Sun. Though the relevance and greatness of the sun at various
levels have been discussed in sruti
texts, the Sun comes to play a very important role in our daily life at two
places, and during amavasya. In daily life, (1) the sun receives the arghya
offered during sandhyavandana, (for the question from Yaksha why the sun rises
and sets everyday, Yudhishtra replied that it is to receive the arghyam ) and
(2) the sun adds strength to
agni hotram at 2 times, i.e., at twilight (yEsha chaiva agni hotram
vha balam chaiva agni hotriNaam ; Adithya
hrudhayam) The time of the day is very important in both these
occasions, namely exactly the twilight time (sandhya
kaalam). ( It must be remembered that sun is associated with two
wifes, Sandhya and Chaaya. The oldest existing temple on Sun in India is in Martand in the south of Anantnag
district of Kashmir valley which was originally known as the Valley of Piris and
Rishis. This temple now in ruins and not yet under the protection of
Archeological department was once known as ?Surya Theerth?, a place of
pilgrimage for Hindus. The local lore further confirms that it was here Rishis
of yore worshipped everyday Sun and
Sandhya and Chaaya whose temples are also found nearby. The architecture
of this temple looks different from the known and existing ones making us wonder
whether there were exclusive rules and rituals to worship Sun. The association
of sandhya and chaaya shows that these two are of significance, metaphysically
and scientifically.) Sandhya is twilight. Why twilight? Is there any
significance attached to twilight? The following has been reported at space.com some time
ago. There is a bright green, thin ray of light emitted from
the Sun's north and south pole exactly at the twilight of earth timing, which
scientists are still not clear of the reasons.
The important role of Sun at twilight has been confirmed
in research on agni hotra which was undertaken when it was found that two
families which were doing agnihotra and were keeping the agni alive by
offerings into it, when the
poisonous gas leaked from Union carbide plant at Bhopal, were the only ones who
remained unaffected amidst the heaps of those who succumbed to the
gas. In the research it was found that time mattered
most. It takes approximately 90 seconds for the disc of sun to disappear /
appear at the horizon of earth. The agnihotra done exactly at this time yielded
the results which was of the nature of strengthening the air in an area of 30 sq
metre against any pollution or
harmful radiation. ( relevance to Gitacharyan?s vachan that He has created Brahma deva onwards
with yajna and for mutual benefits with devas and if you nourish the devas, the devas
will nourish you in turn. Without these yajna, if a man lives, then he is a thief or
sinner. In agni hotra, you nourish the Vayu deva. He in turn nourishes you as
healthy air to breathe.) This scenario ( about twilight) can be put in other
words. It is when
the sun?s polar regions appear or disappear from our sight, that something is
radiated from them. (1) This happens everyday at sun rise and sun set when
you are supposed to offer arghyam in sandhya vandhanam and rice into Agni hotra
fire. (2) This also happens when another celestial body, namely
the moon crosses the sun?s disc as happens in a solar eclipse.
The crossing of the sun happens (symbolically) on amavasya when
the moon is not exactly crossing the disc of the sun but
may be crossing the path of the ray of that greenish light that emerges from the
poles at sometime during amavasya. (scientists like Sri M.N. Ramanuaja, please,
confirm / comment whether this observation is right.)
Our age-old practices show that
at (1) the two austerities are to be done.
In sandhya
vanadhana,
some results are accruing at subtle or vital or bhuva (details in another mail)
level ? this is said so since the medium is water, in arghyam.
Our learned bhagavathas are requested to throw more light
on what is accrued to the doer from the mantras themselves, for, any mantra will
contain information on what its effects are. ( and also is there difference in
the mantras for twilight and noon?) As one outside the knowledge of sandhya
mantras, my understanding is centred around what is conveyed in Adhitya
Hrudhyam, namely to do with longevity ? which is attained by overcoming all
enemies ? sarva shatru- (at
individual?s level) like diseases, afflictions to the body. Without a strong
body, the desire for vedam praayam 100 can not be realized. Since the medium is
water, such overcoming of enemies takes place at all fluid contents of the body,
such as enzymes, harmones, blood, secretions, nervous fluid and even the fluid
in the eye. This in other words means purification of the entire body,
internally. The one who does sandhya vandana regularly (please note, as per the
name and yaksha prashna, the sandhya kaalam of twilght is to be adhered.) will
be disease-free and robust in saatwic qualities, because it is the fluids inside
the body which influence the 3 gunas. That the role
of Sun in this accrual of benefit to the doer, though unknown to science unlike as in agni
hotra, is real can be understood by
the following practice. Though a person is allowed to do gayathri japa after
physical purification even during ?theettu-kaalam? of any type, since it is done
at mental level and directed to the ?Para? tattwa, sandhya vandhana is not to be
done till the ?pollution? is removed. This is perhaps to do with arghya offered
which will then carry the radiation of theettu (pollution) and this must be
forbidden. We are not supposed to offer something polluted. The mantras, the
arghyam and sun?s blessings by way of sandhya kaala rays play the crucial part
of sandhya vandana in bringing out purification. For details of scientific
research on how water carries whatever is thought of and such other things,
kindly click the following link
http://www.sakthifoundation.org/Water_Healing.htm This link tells more about what happens to water used in
different types of kriyas we do in the rituals, including kumba theertham in a
homa. Water as carrier or transporter can be understood well if
we look at the ?dattam? done on any daanam by water, on how and why Rama chose
Sarayu to reach His abode, why the Released soul crosses Viraja river which
seems to transport it to Vaikuntham, as arghyam to the Sun god and as tarpaNam to pithrus. (It is also
to be noted that in all near death experiences reported, those who have come
back, have narrated either having seen a Light at the end of a tunnel or a
waterway or waterfall which seemed to carry them
along.) Coming back to the present topic, the water offered as
arghyam and water used in tarpaNAm acquire some significance only when the sun?s
polar regions appear or disappear. In (2) mentioned above, it is my opinion that a similar
emittance of polar rays happen, as
the poles one by one ( in total eclipse) or any one (in partial eclipse)
disappears from our sight, (at that part of the earth where it is
seen) The justification for this is entirely from our
observation. We have always noticed that while doing agnihotra (as
guided by volunteers who spanned throughout India in the early 90s with
information and the materials such as copper kundam etc) a particular bird,
which till today we are not able to identify, used to make a peculiar note when
the sun exactly rises and sets. The timing is so exact, that we have stopped
looking at the clock while preparing the agni and waiting for the exact twilight
time to offer rice into it. This
note has not been heard at any other time of the day.
BUT we used to hear the same note of that bird when the
solar eclipse exactly begins! This makes me wonder whether the condition that is
present at sunset (or sun rise) is again present when the eclipse begins. (did
this play a deceptive role in KurukshEthra war? The kauravas would not have
exactly seen the sun disappear below the horizon. In a war field the atmosphere
must have been hazy. They would have depended on different symptoms such as bird?s note, as we have noticed, and
thought that twilight has set.) By our age-old practices, it is understood that such
condition happening everyday ( at sandhya) helps in carrying out agni hotra and
sandhyavandanam and that happening at eclipse, helps in a rarer kriya,
that of offering tarpaNam. By the practice of putting darbhai on food items and
keeping the stomach empty and early part of digestion process absent (since the
usual time of taking food is 8 hours prior to eclipse), it is deduced that the
rays that reach the earth or obstructed to reach from the poles of the Sun are
not conducive for food items and in general, the functioning of fluids (like
digestive juices) in the body. When it happens for just 90 seconds, as in
twilight, it has been highly beneficial. But when it is happening for a
prolonged period, say, during the eclipse,
it seems to influence the fluid system on the wrong side. It is to be
remembered that the practice is to place the darbhai on items containing
moisture (not on dry foods or natural fruits etc) and promptly removing them
after the eclipse is over. They should not be kept / left mixed with food items.
It is meant thereby that whatever has been absorbed by darbhai then, continues
to remain in that and therefore discarded. (It is to be remembered that
pavithram and darbhai used in homa and such other kriyas are discarded and not
used again.) By our age-old practices, it is also deduced, that the
prolonged obstruction of rays from the poles of the sun, is conducive for
another important kriya, namely offering tarpaNam. Since the grahana kaalam is
known as punya kaalam, we
understand that it is not a polluted kaalam as we tend to believe, due to
austerities like abstinence from food and placing darbhai for protection. These
are like managing small inconveniences while in reality, a big opportunity is
produced to enable those who have to reduce their ?pithru-kadan? by offering
tarpaNam. During lunar eclipse, applying the same logic, the polar rays of the
sun reaching the twilight zone of the moon, which is but the edges of Full moon,
are obstructed by the earth, thereby bringing some contact to that part of
earth, though on night side, with the polar rays of the sun. (Am I right, Sri
M.N. Ramanuja and others?) Then that part becomes conducive for getting into a
link with pithru lokam through the tarpaNam offered. The timing of tarpaNam
during eclipses, like soon after the beginning or after started to leave etc can
be interpreted by those doing tarpaNam, to authenticate whether the obstruction
to polar rays of the sun does play an important
role. Another area to know is about Choodamani grahaNam, which
among other types such as grasthodaya (rising in eclipsed state),
grasthaasthamana (setting in eclipsed state) and paarshava (partial) is usually
considered to be beneficial to those following grahana punya kaalam. Description
of this choodamani grahanam might help us understand more about what exactly is
happening during this type of eclipse / whether the eclipse for a very smaller
duration is highly beneficial to individuals following grahana punaya kaalam and
the public at large as well. The Oct -17th lunar eclipse in India is
a choodamaNi grahaNam. (to be continued) Regards, Jayasree saranathan
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