Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya describes the concept of ‘Family’, the whole Universe is a family, Vedas narrates the fourteen worlds, seven Vyahrithis/elevated world and seven lower ones/Pathala Loka, which are Bhu, Bhuva, Sva, Mahas, Janas, Thapas, and Sathyaloka are upper ones, Athala, Vithala, Suthala,Rasathala, Thalathala, Mahathala, Pathala, Naraka is the lower one.  These fourteen worlds is the essence of the supreme spirit, Lord Mahadeva and Goddess Parvathi is the Mother and Father of these fourteen worlds.  In the same manner, we have small families consists of father, mother, child, and dependents, in this world.  We worship Lord Mahadeva and Goddess Parvathi as Universal spirit, likewise, father and mother in every family are most venerable.  It is essential to create a sense of devotion in a child from the early years of childhood, we have no school to teach those lessons, so parents should take all efforts to teach their children with the legends from scriptures, small verses praising the glories of Lord.  Home and parents influence the greater part of a child’s life, a child is a mirror image of parents, and ultimately all the virtues and faults inculcated in them are the nature of parents.  If a house is a place for serenity, strict discipline, a place for religious and spiritual services, and place of pious people, consequently the children brought up in those homes will strictly follow all the rites, customs, and religious practices.  They remain virtuous in the entire life, they will grow up a strong  and responsible person with great will power, all those virtues reflect in all walks of his life.  A child brought up in a family where there is no discipline, religious, spiritual, or customary practices are followed, where there are constant conflicts and arguments takes place, eventually, the child will grow up an irresponsible with no virtues.  Home is the first school for a child,  it is the prime duty of every parents  to put great effort to shape a child to a responsible and virtuous citizen, hence parents should cultivate good discipline and habits in their children.  A wood requires lots of meticulous carving work to become a beautiful sculpture, in the same way, a child requires a lot of disciplines to bring up as a responsible citizen.    Later the child will go to a school where pupils from varied cultures, family backgrounds and disciplines will meet together, the disciplines he had learned from the home will keep him unalterable, goodness already instilled in the child will help others to get benefit from him.  A child brought up in a good atmosphere would treat the school mates as brothers and sisters, and teacher with great respect as head of the family.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of  Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya was walking University, an encyclopedia an information bank which could clear any doubts or provides information about varied subjects.  All those valuable information should be accessible to the younger generation so that they will get an opportunity to know about ‘The great Sage of Kanchi’ and adopt that priceless advice in their life too.  India is a land of numerous Siddhapurushas, Rishis, Sages, intellectuals, scholars etc..  Our life is not enough to get a glimpse of their works, even though we can make a humble effort to get to know something before leaving this world.  I am pretty sure none will get bored of reading about Paramacharya’s modest living with strict disciplines, kindness, compassion, love, optimism, enthusiasm, persistent efforts for the Universal well-being.  This is also one of the reasons we feel protected and serene in their vicinity.   Our Acharya has devotees all over the world, each and everyone was fleeing towards him like honey bees attracted towards nectar, he was enriched with far-sightedness, and he could envision the life of the younger generation, he well predicted the future of the younger generation and poured streams of advice for their well-being.  He tirelessly insisted parents, who contribute sizeable efforts to shape a child into a responsible citizen; he described the significance of joint living where children will have all the relations under one roof, each and everyone in the family contribute simple lessons which could help them to grow a better person, especially grandfather and a grandmother who is the storehouse of knowledge in various subjects.  Acharya must have dreamed a world where Dharma takes its predominant position, people who strictly follow their Varnnadharma, living in the peace of harmony, a world where there is no tinge on religion, beliefs, and devotion, people are fearless in performing spiritual and religious rites.  In the coming days I will be making a humble effort to portrait all those nectars like advice to children and parents as well.  Happy reading!

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Parmacharya !

Paramacharya describes the significance of the Shatkarma while bathing it is customary to chant a few Sanskrit verses/Sankalpa, and Akamarshanasuktham that could purify the body as well as the mind,  it removes the sin of the worshiper.  Sandhyajapam is sun worship, it is performed for the welfare of the soul, it is performed three times a day, once in the early hours of dawn while the stars are visible, once in the afternoon anytime after 10.48  before 1.00, and in the evening before sunset.    Aupasana, Bhramayajjam, Devapooja/Panchayathanapuja is the worship of Goddess Shakthi, Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Adithya,  and Ganesha,  and bhojanam/consuming meal during Madhyahnikam.  Pithru karma should be performed during Aparahnna/mid-day,  Deivakarma/veneration of deities during Sankalpa in the early hours of dawn, and recitation of sacred chants during Sayamkala/ early hours of sunset and Deivadharishanam/visiting shrines during Pradhoshakala.   

Acharya describes the significance of PanchamahaYajjam known as  Devayajjam/worship of deities, Pithruyajjam/homage to ancestors, Bhoothayajjam/Vaishvadevam, Bhramayajjam/recitation of Veda, and Manushyayajjam/service to humanity were strictly followed in olden days.  We are too busy with our livelihood, even though we have to take all the effort to perform whatever possible in this life, especially sun worship on a regular basis.  The performance of spiritual and religious rites will remove the sins of the worshiper, it will improve the intellect, and we will come to know what should do and what not, finally it provides happiness in this life and liberation from worldly existence.  Observing fast on Ekadhashi day and finish Parana on the Dwadhashi day before 8.24 brings an abundance of piousness.  Even the office-goers can do Snanam, Sandhyavandhanam, Aupasana, Shivapooja and Adithyam, retired people can perform Bhramayajjam and Vaishvadevam as well.  All the above religious rites can be performed for people who have the facilities.  These are the rites performed by Lord Bhrama, Rishis, deities, and our ancestors.  We have stopped performing all these rites or took hold of a few, that is the reason we are going through endless miseries, sorrows, grief, physical and mental afflictions, moreover, we have stopped the performance of these essential rites and prevented the abundance of piousness of our younger generations too.  A widower cannot perform Aupasanam, he can perform the rest of the rites, Aupasana is the performance of offerings to the creatures in Pithruloka, Devaloka, and Nagaloka.  Almighty has given us endless comforts but we are not willing to show basic gratitude by performing these rites.  We are incapable to produce a single piece of grain, supreme Lord has given us all that required for our life on Earth, we will remain, thieves, if we consume a meal without making an initial offering to him.  He is omnipresent; whatever offered to him will accept amicably.  We are performing homage to ancestors with the belief that the offerings will be received by our ancestors without any fail, in olden day’s telegram and money order system prevailed to transfer messages and money from one place to another, the performance of rites work exactly like this.  Acharya repeatedly insists every individual to follow Shatkarma which could provide piousness in this life and afterlife too.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya continues modern day education to put people into a huge dilemma; there are very few following all the religious and spiritual rites, very few people who really want to follow all the disciplines, religious and spiritual rites.   There are people who really want to follow all those disciplines but not in a position to do so, there are people who cannot leave the disciplines and but willing to adopt a new way of living.    I have advised everyone to keep shunt, but who is following the same? People have changed their approach after the modern day education; it is compelling them to do various sins without any fear.  Every religion has its own school for teaching their customs and practices, but we are lacking that facility, therefore people are not aware of the significance of these rites or not following any disciplines and religious rites.  Our scriptures strongly recommend what are the disciplines to follow and what not, there are six major duties/Shatkarma every individual has to follow other than a livelihood.

Sandhya Snanam Japo Homo Devathanam Cha Poojanam |Adhithyam Vaishvadhevam Cha Shat Karmani Dhine Dhine ||

The above are the six duties performed for the goodness of health, prosperity, purity, and piousness.  These are simple duties such as regular bathing/Snanam, Japa/recitation of sacred chants, fire sacrifices/Homa, worship of deities, sun worship, and Adithibhojanam/feeding guests, Vaishvadevam/rite to pacify visible as well as non-visible creatures dead during the day to day activities, etc.. We all take bath for bodily hygiene, is that enough? What about the impurities in the heart? Visiting shrines and Mutt, consuming offerings of Lord that could purify the intellect as well keep the body fit.  Therefore when we perform a deed, it should serve the purpose of physical body as well as the soul,  and these Shatkarmas serve the purpose of both.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya describes how to execute the great task of protecting cows, nothing is impossible if there are people who are willing to do service, all we need is a bunch of service-minded people who can contribute money for building shelter homes for cows, volunteers who can collect fodder from different areas, this is applicable to all the religion, protection of cow is a pious deed, abandoning a cow bring curse in the family.  There is a legend of King Dilipa of the solar dynasty, he visited the abode of deities but he overlooked divine cow Kamadhenu, because of that he got a curse that he will not have a progeny.  King Dilipa’s preceptor was Sage Vashishta who advised him to nurture cow/Nandini who is the daughter of Kamadhenu, he and his wife Sudhakshina sincerely followed the advice of his preceptor took great care of Nandini and relieved from the curse.  They had a child Raghu, later he became illustrious among the solar dynasty/Raghuvamsha.  In olden days there was the land for grazing the cattle and small water tanks were built to put out their thirst, there were milestones that were useful for them to rub their bodies against it to get rid of itching.  Nowadays there is hardly any place for grazing the cattle.    a cow is a national wealth, it serves human society until its death.  Acharya was against the idea of consumption of caffeine, which has many adverse effects on human health.  The performance of Yajja has reduced considerably, therefore the usages of ghee also have reduced, and devotees should make sure to offer ghee to temples and mutt, which could remove the internal as well as external impurities. We should make sure and always remember that whatever we receive from the cows are put into the usage of religious and spiritual needs first, we have the right to use only the remaining, because we are not spending one-third of her compassion in protecting her, hence the greater part of all that given out of love by her in the form of milk, butter, buttermilk, curd, ghee, cow dung, urine, etc..   it should spend in the service of the Supreme Lord.  A law should be enacted in order to prohibit cow slaughtering, our country has a law to protect the wild animals and sandalwood trees, and unfortunately, we do not have a law to protect a cow which is the pillar of righteousness and the welfare of the Universe.  Rishabha/bull and cow are considered as Dharmadevatha, their four legs represent austerity/penance, purity, compassion and truth.  The ideal way to get rid of the evil effects of Kali era is to protect Dharma, it is essential to protect the cow, there is no wealth equivalent to a cow.   There was a practice among us to donate cows during spiritual rites, it removes all the sins of the worshiper and it is considered an ideal way to perform charity.  Our Acharya was a noble soul, he had a great love for cows, and he ensured all the cows were treated properly in the mutt, not only cows all the creatures were treated with kindness, compassion, and love.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya describes, a twice-born is reverentially greeted as deities on the Earth/Bhudeva, cow and twice-born are the pillar of righteousness, without cow and Vedic scholars none of the spiritual or religious rites takes place,  a twice-born who is dedicated his life for Vedic way of living performs daily rites, recites  Vedas and Upanishadh,  conducts sun worship thrice a day, performs  Yajja etc…. for the welfare of Universe and it's living, he is not doing any of the daily rites for personal motive all that performed for the well-being of the Universe, therefore he is addressed as deity on the Earth.  Nowadays, twice-born has forgotten his daily rites, people lost interest in Vedic study and as a result performance of Yajja has reduced significantly, eventually people lost interest in keeping cows at home, once the cattle shed is considered as the purest place as  the permanent abode of Goddess Mahalakshmi can be seen seldom.  Go Puja and Gaja Puja is regular events in our mutt to date.  Feeding a cow is considered as auspicious, this duty should be continued without any fail whether the cow stops giving milk or not, as long as it is alive, and otherwise it will bring severe sins.  Our Acharya urged the need for protection of cow legally and put a ban on cow slaughter.  Collecting vegetable waste from restaurants and shelter homes where meals are cooked in large scale and send to cattle shelter homes is a great idea to serve the cattle; even the women can do this simple task by setting apart from the vegetable waste and rice soup at home and feed the cows.  In this way, we can put an end to sending the cows to slaughter homes, feeding a cow brings an abundance of piousness and blessings of Lord Vasudeva.  It is the responsibility of every individual to make sure that no cow is sending to slaughter homes, instead construct shelter homes for the cows and contribute substantial money for feeding and protection of them, many of the cow owners are villagers from low-income group, they cannot afford to give away the cow for free, therefore provide a reasonable amount as compensation and send the cow to shelter homes.  We all are capable to do physical as well as monetary service, make sure we are utilizing our good energies for the welfare of the Universe.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya continues, we have seen various usage of cow’s milk and supplementary products, cow-dung is used for burning fire and the remains are used as sacred ashes, it is used for fire sacrifices, it is used as cleaning property, it removes bacteria works as a disinfectant, it removes air pollution.    In olden day’s cow dung patties were kept in large stock in every home, it is used as burning fire during the winter season and for the religious and spiritual rites at homes.  Panchagavyam is a collective ingredient of milk, curd, ghee, cow dung, and urine, It is used as a purifying agent, it removes external as well as internal impurities.  Panchagavyam works as firewood, it removes the impurities in the air and when it is consumed it removes the sins of the individual.  Cow slaughtering brings severe sin, a sin equivalent to the killing of one’s mother; there is no Prayashchiththam/atonement for this sin.  When the cow get older, it reduces giving milk or completely stops, during this period of time it is our responsibility to take care of her and show gratitude for her long years of service to the family, when our mother get older and physically and mentally worn out, is not that our duty to take care of her?  It is not our practice to send her away from home; in the same manner, when a cow gets older we should protect her until the natural death takes place.  Gorochana is a bright yellow substance prepared from the bile of cattle after its natural death, it has various usages.  In Jabalopanishadh Lord Shiva describes the method of preparation of sacred ashes which remove the sins of the worshiper, and provides Moksha.  Usually, we take bath for bodily hygiene, smearing sacred ashes provides the same result of bathing.  The dust raised from the hooves of the cow is considered as sacred; it provides the piousness of sacred bath in holy rivers.  All the spiritual and religious practices are done for the welfare of the Universe and its living beings, Yajjas and various fire sacrifices are performed for the welfare of the people, all these Vedic rites require numerous ingredients from the cows and collective efforts of Vedic scholars/ priests for the performance, therefore Vedic scholar and cows are fundamental for the continuation of spiritual and Vedic rites, these two are vital for the Universal well-being and righteousness, none of the Vedic or spiritual rites takes place in the absence of these two.  Supreme Lord is the essence of Veda, he is the performer/Vedic scholar, and he represents the performance of Yajja/fire sacrifice and ingredients of Yajja as well.  Protection of cow is our prime duty, for the welfare of the Universe and its living beings.