DEIVATHIN KURAL # 112 (Vol # 3) Dated 27 July 2009

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 112 (Vol # 3) Dated 27 July 2009

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from the middle of page 499 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham. blogspot. com constantly updated.)

148. I was talking about the aachaara about taking a bath. If you are unwell, you may simply wipe yourself with a wet towel. Even this is not required if you are running a fever. If you smear the Vibhuti ashes all over your body, it is as good as taking a bath. That is the way the Saastraa-s adjust and adapt for the various contingencies. After you have done the 'Pradhana' aachaara, you may also do the 'Gowna' aachaara. But when you are in good health, you should not just do the 'in-lieu' procedure and ignore the main one! That will amount to shamming and failing in your duties.

149. Five Types of Bathing. There are five varieties of bathing. To bathe with water is known as 'Vaarunam' - related to Varun, the God of Water. In this the 'Mukhya' Snaanam is to have a dip in the water, submerging the complete body. To take a bucket of water and pour it over you with a mug, is a secondary activity. In this Gownam is done up to the neck. The Snaanam is complete only if you do have five dunkings! That is 'Vaarunam'.

150. Vibhuti Snaanam is known as 'Agleam', related to Agni, the God of Fire. Vibhuti is obtained by burning cow dung with certain unguents. The remainder ashes, known as 'bhasma' are collected. When you apply the ashes all over your body without making a paste of it with water, the process is called, 'bhasmOthdooLanam'!

151. When the cows walk, their hoofs kick up the dust. That dust said to be very sacred, is known as, 'Go Dhooli'! While describing the young Krishna with his cattle in Brindavan, he is said to be covered by the yellow dust all over his body and clothes. He was said to be of a hue dark blue, like the rain bearing clouds. Then he is covered with a film of yellow dust, "go doolee doosarita...". When a herd of cows are moving, if you go and stand there, so that you may be covered by that dust all over, that is another Snaanam, known as 'Vaayavyam'! ('Vayu' means air.)

152. On occasions when there is sunlight and a cloud burst at the same time, you could get drenched completely. That rain is like an outpouring from the heavens. This is known as 'Divya Snaanam'. If you get such an opportunity, just walk in to the rain instead of running for cover.

153. When you have installed Varuna and all other Gods in a Kumbam / Kalasam and completed your pooja, that water is sprinkled on one self and other participants in the event, as well as sprinkled all over the premises. In Sandya Vandanam, we use the fingers to do the sprinkling. But at the end of a pooja or yagnam, the Purohitar uses a Darba grass bundle or a clutch of Mango leaves, to sprinkle the 'Mantrokta Punya Vachanam' on all of us present. This is also one of the five bathings, known as 'Braahma Snaanam'.

154. For those not entitled to chant the mantraa-s, chanting of God's names is always available. All names of Gods are also mantra-s only. Come to think of it, all bathing are Braahmam only! What ever the work we do, if it is done with the chanting of the respective mantra or God's names with devotion, that action becomes a divine offering. That is how all the Aachaaraa-s have come into being, to bring our minds back to God and keep it centered on God! Thus the sprinkling of water from the Kumbam after a pooja or yaagam, is named the Braahmam. If you are unwell, this sprinkling of divine water is the 'gowna snaanam'.

155. The whole of this universe is said to be made of the five elements of water, fire, air, space and earth, known as the five bhoota-s, Appu, Teyu, Vayu, Aakaash and Pritvi respectively. In these five Snaanam-s that I have described, one of these elements are the main with or without the others. Looking at these five bathings from that perspective, Varunam is Appu; Vibhuti snaanam is Aagneyam involving the fire and it's bhasma; Godooli is Vaayavyam of Vayu; then I mentioned Braahmam and Divyam. Out of the five bhoota-s space and earth seem to be left out.

156. All the Mantraa-s are immanent in the space as the subtle potential, known as Tanmatra. The great Rishi-s of the past have identified and discerned these Mantraa-s by the power of their Yogic attainments. The sound is the Tanmatra of Aakaash, from which the immanent mantraa-s have been discerned. Here the sound or Shabdam is the collection of all Veda Mantraa-s. So the sprinkling of Mantrokta Teertam, the Brahma Snaanam could be considered as directly from the Aakaasha. The Divya Snaanam, at the time of a sudden rain during sunshine, is also from the Space, that is heavenly skies only.

157. Pritvi the Earth is left unmentioned so far. In 'Vaayavyam' that I mentioned, the 'Godooli', the dust of the hoofs of the cows, is the dust of the Earth only. So it is the Pritvi that is besmearing our whole body, in Vaayavyam! In addition, when we take a bath ritually we are supposed to use a little of the clean earth of the ant-hill, to rub our body symbolically.

158. Anyhow all these five methods of bathing are not only for cleansing the physical body, but the subtle and causal bodies too. Other than the five types of bathing, there are five steps in bathing. We will talk about them in the next edition of Deivathin Kural.

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.