Yaksha Prashnam Questions 39-42

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/02/yaksha-prashnam-question-10.html

Who is the guest of everyone? What is Sanathana Dharmam? Which is amrutham (elixir)? What is this earth (jagat) made off?

Who is the guest of everyone?

Lord Agni is considered to be a guest. He has to be welcomed properly in our homes. Every Brahmin who is married must perform agnihotram (shroutham according to shruthi Vedas) or aupasanam (smartham according to smruthi) along with his wife to worship Lord Agni as their guest. If he is unable to perform neither agnihotram nor aupasanam he must at least chant the manthram for aupasanam as a minimum requirement. When a couple gets married they request Lord Agni to come as their guest and release the lady’s children from the grasp of death.

Agni is also the name of a person who leads us forward. An Acharyan is called as Agni since our Acharyan leads us along the spiritual path. Performing Acharya kaimkaryam is very essential.

Which is amrutham (elixir)?

Yudhishtirar answered the third question in this series before answering the question about Sanatana Dharmam. This is because Amrutham is given a place immediately after Agni and is offered in Agni. Cow’s milk is called as amrutham as it is offered in fire sacrifice. A cow gives us milk without expecting anything in return.

What is Sanathana Dharmam?

To the last question Yudhishtirar answered that Amrutham is Sanatana Dharmam. Lord Vishnu is called as Amrutham. He is known as Aparyapthamrutham or insatiable elixir. By consuming Aparyapthamrutham we will never get tired of consuming this nectar. He is Sanatana Dharmam because He is eternal and He is also called as Dharmam. The Vedas tell us that the good deeds performed to obtain good fruit are called as dharmam. The best fruit is obtaining the divine feet of Lord Narayana. The means to attain this fruit is through bakthi yoga and saranagathi. According to the laws of Saranagathi He is the means as well as the end. Even if we surrender to Him, He has to accept our surrender making Him the means as well as the end. Hence He is Sanatana Dharmam. Amrutham is tonic. He is the tasty tonic which will deliver us from Samsara.

What is this earth (jagat) made off?

This world is made up of Vayu. Jagat means that which changes in Sanskrit. The world as we see is constantly undergoing changes. Vayu means that which is in motion. Hence the answer implies that this world is always moving i.e. undergoing changes.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/02/yaksha-prashnam-questions-43-46-with-8.html

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Based on, Yaksha Prashnam - A discourse in Tamil by Sri U.Ve. Karunakaran Swamy
(Any errors or inconsistencies in the following series are due to the mistakes I made while taking notes. ) 

Copies of the CDs can be obtained from Sri Karunakaran Swami’s website http://www.nadadoor.org/ . This series is for the benefit of people who do not understand Tamil. Those of you who understand Tamil very well must definitely obtain a copy of Swami’s Upanyasam. You can do so by contacting Nadadoor.org. Swami also renders discourses in English but I am not sure if Yaksha Prashnam discourse is available in English.  The experience of listening to Swami’s upanyasams could never be obtained by reading the following series. I have done my best to take notes with due diligence. I apologize for any errors that I have made while writing this series.