DEIVATHIN KURAL # 106 (of Vol 2) Dt 10 May 2008

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 106 (of Vol 2) Dt 10 May 2008

(Continued from Deivathin Kural # 105 (of Vol 2) of 05 May 2008. These are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti peetam, over a period of some sixty years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of last century. These have been published in Tamil by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each, as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding ahead of Page 807 of the Tamil original. )

41. Even people, who have not completely given up doing these samskaras, are not sticking to the time schedule as required. As I said earlier, Garbaadanam is done after the marriage, but before the physical union of the couple in what is known as the Nuptials. Pumsavanam is done in the third month of pregnancy and Seemantham in the eighth month. Jaata Karma is done immediately after birth and Nama Karanam on the 11th day after birth. When the child is six months old, it is introduced to food other than Mother’s milk, in Annapraasanam.

42. Next samskaram is ‘Choulam’. In this, the hair within some two inches of the forehead is shaved off. Rest of the hair is permitted to grow long. That tuft of hair is known as ‘Kudumi’. This samskaram is generally done prior to ‘Yagnopaveetham / Upanayanam’ ceremony, at about five years of age. After Upanayanam, the child is not in his ‘Balya Avasta’ or childhood any more, but moves in ‘Brhmam’, that is ‘brhma charyam’. He goes for Guru Kula Vaasa and learns the Vedas through Adhyayanam. So Choulam gave him the kudumi. The ‘kudumi’ has gone by default now-a-days and taken over by all varieties of hair-cut. In fact, in all our samskaras, we take the sankalpa, in which we say, “…parameswara preetyartam…”, meaning, ‘I am doing this to please Parameswara, the God!’ Then to go and cut the hair and take off the kudumi, is as good as a promise reneged!

43. You install a Sivaling or keep a Saligramam and do daily Pooja. You can’t just pick it up and throw it away one day, just because you are annoyed about something. All these sankalpas are a promise to God in one way and in another a promise to yourself to behave in a certain manner. This is given scant courtesy these days. In fact this is a serious matter of importance. The top of our head contains the ‘Brhma Randram’ and it needs to be covered by a padding of our hair. It is like putting a roof over your house. Only when you become a Sannyasi, (ie., are not a house-holder and have no Vaidik Karmas required to be done), that you may not have a Kudumi any more! The forefathers still stuck in Hell can hope for some redemption only when they receive water dripping from this Kudumi. You just cannot do that when you do not have a Kudumi.

44. After Choulam is Upanayanam. This is also called Brhmopadesam and Poonal Kalyanam. Here the young man is enabled to do the three Sandhyavandanams, in which he pays respect to all the Devatas and Rishis. He chants the Gayathri Mantra, maintains celibacy for the next twelve years, while learning the Vedas. Within those 12 years, he can hope to master only that particular Shaakha or Branch of the Vedas and may be something more as Ayur Veda or Dhanur Veda. The things that he learns after Upanayanam are meant for the person who has started using his mental powers to discern, remember and logically analyse.

45. If the Father and Mother have some defects/doshas due to their sins, it will affect their off-spring too. The doshas from the Mother are known as Gaarbikam and from the Father are known as Baijikam. The Samskaras that are done by the parents are to off-set these defects from carrying on to the next generation. Till Upanayanam, the individual does not have the power or right to do anything about such matters. Samskaras should be done in time. While Samskaras enable us to get over the effects of past sins, not doing them in time adds to the sinful loads!

46. We have sinned by the three modes namely, Manasa Vacha and Karmana; that is by mind, speech and action. We have to undo or offset those sins by those very equipments of mind speech and action. By mind we must meditate on Parameswara. By speech we should chant God’s names and speak only pleasant truths. By action we should do Pooja as a way of expressing our veneration to God and do social service. So, the very fact that the parents were made responsible for those Samskaras till the individual was given Upanayanam, also meant that there was an indirect compulsion to behave themselves too. Indirectly this also benefitted the individual jeeva/soul.

48. People of the Brahmin community till recently were rather noticeably brilliant. The reason for it is the fact that, over the generations, repeated doing of Samskaras, had an additive cumulatory effect. For the past two generations or so, this cumulatory effect has been nullified and almost brought to nil. The water accumulated in a reservoir over a period of time can flow off in a fraction of that time, if you make a hole at the right place! That is what happened with the Brahmin community. They left Adhyayanam and Adhyapakam, defaulted in doing the Samskaras, joined English education, became ICS officers and ‘babus’ of the beauracracy, entered all materialistic businesses, became Tehsildar, Jamindar, Yajamanan, Industrialists and Agriculturists. They did everything other than doing the Samskaras.

49. So we have reached the other end. Except for a small percentage of people, Brahmins are no more Brahmins, except in name! We may have a crib that our parents have not done good Samskaras. So if we do not want our children to have the same complaint, we have to start all over again ensuring that we do the Samskaras without fail!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.