Yaksha Prashnam Questions 76 - 79

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/03/yaksha-prashnam-questions-72-75.html

When is a person who is alive but dead? When is an entire nation dead, a Shradham dead and an yagnam dead?

When is a person who is alive but dead?

A person suffering from poverty is considered to be dead. No one likes to go near a corpse similarly everyone avoids a homeless person.

When is an entire nation dead?

A country without a proper leader is considered to be dead.  Lack of strong leadership destroys the morals of a nation and leads to looting and pillaging.

When is a Shradham dead?

A Shradham is dead if it is not performed properly. If we pay money to have it performed in a common hall because we don’t want our home to be dirtied by the smoke from the fire the Shradham becomes dead. Pithris are very sensitive and shy. They expect cleanliness and will not accept items which have been consumed by others prior to offering in the Shradham.

The procedure for Ashwamedha Yagam is complicated. The king becomes tired while performing this Yagam. To rejunavate the king a short break is incorporated in to the Yagam in the form of a debate between the Hota and Brahma. The same set of questions is also chanted as manthram by Brahmins during the Shradham ritual. Typically the manthram should be chanted as soon as the Brahmins enter the home but now a days it is chanted before they consume the offerings from the Shradham. By chanting the manthram the Brahmins confer blessings on the general public as well as the host. The manthram is in the form of question and answers. The answers are the blessings conferred upon the public.  If the offerings are consumed by the Brahmins without chanting the manthram then the Shradham is dead. The following are the questions & answers which are part of the manthram.

Question 1: Kigiswid dasit poorvachitihi? What is essential for everyone?

Answer 1: The sky is essential for everyone as it carries the rain bearing clouds to shower rain to make the Earth prosperous.

Anyone who listens to this question will not be affected by famine in the region they live.

Question 2: Kigiswid dasit brhatdwayaha? Who is very old?

Answer 2: Ashwa vai brhatdwayaha. Ashwa is very old. The word Ashwa is normally used to refer to a horse in Sanskrit but it is also a name for Lord Narayana. The word Ashwa means that which spreads everywhere. As the horse travels with great speed it looks to spread everywhere. Hence a horse was called as Ashwa but it is the name of Lord Narayana to indicate his omnipresence. As He is eternal with neither beginning nor end He is the most aged person in this Universe.

Anyone who listens to this question will develop the thirst to attain the Lord’s divine feet.

Question 3: Kigiswid dasit pishangila? Who is pishangila?

Answer 3: Ratri is pishangila. Pishangila means that which hides defects. Ratri is the name of night. At night defects are hidden and not visible to our eye. Ratri means that which gives us pleasure.

Anyone who listens to this question will always be happy.

Question 4: Kigiswid dasit pilipila? Who is pilipila? Pilipila means that which makes things shine.

Answer 4: Money is pilipila. Money helps us to afford good food and other products to rejunavate our body thus making it shine with good health.

Anyone who listens to this question will be able to enjoy food without any negative impact on their health.

Question 5: What is that which that travels alone?

Answer 5: The Sun travels alone. Earlier the Yakshan had asked, “who travels with Adityan (Sun)?” to which Yudhistar answered that the Devas accompany the Adityan in his travel. If we take Adityan to be the Sun then the Devas are as follows.

There are in total 12 Suns known as the 12 Adithyas one Adithya for every month.

The Sun is accompanied by 1 rishi every month. The rishi keeps the Sun company by chanting Vedas. There is also a Gandharva who plays music to entertain the Sun. The Sun’s chariot is drawn by 7 horses. A Yakshan travels with the Sun to control the horses. To protect the Sun, a Rakshasha travels with the Sun (not all Rakshashas are bad; this is a good Rakshasha like Vibhishnazhwar and different from the Rakshashas who wage war with Sun). The Sun is also accompanied by a Naga. Apsaras entertain the Sun by dancing. Lord Vishnu has twelve forms. The Lord accompanies the Sun every month in one of His twelve months.

Yudhishtirar now answered that Surya (Sun) travels alone. It seems that he contradicted his earlier answer but here by Surya Yudhishtirar refers to Lord Vishnu. Even when amongst the company of others, Lord Vishnu shines brilliantly appearing to be alone. When Lord Vishnu is present, even the Sun disappears in His brilliance.

Anyone who listens to this question will become brilliant and shine amongst other people.

Question 6: What is that which is reborn after its birth?

Answer 6: The moon is reborn after its birth. This answer refers to the different phases of the moon. The moon takes birth as the Full moon and slowly decays till it appears to disappear on New moon day only to appear the following day as a crescent which grows slowly till it is re-born as the Full moon. We find the lunar phase interesting. We see the same Sun every single day but the moon changes every day. Change is interesting and prevents boredom.

Anyone who listens to this question will make other people find their company to be interesting.

Question 7: What is the remedy for frost (fog)?

Answer 7: Agni (fire) is the remedy for frost (fog). Frost as well as fog hides everything from our view but the fog referred to in this question is ignorance. As we are covered by the cold grasp of ignorance we do not realize our true self. An Acharyan is called as Agni since he leads us along the spiritual path. Agni is used to refer to people who lead others along a path. An Acharyan through his teachings melts away the frosty ignorance clouding our knowledge.

Anyone who listens to this question will lead a good life in this world and enjoy the bliss enjoyed in Sri Vaikuntham in this world itself.

Question 8: What is the Earth’s limit or which is the largest field?

Answer 8:  the place where Lord Vishnu is worshiped is the largest field.

Anyone who listens to this question will become good orators. People will raise them on a pedestal and listen to their words.

Question 9: Which is the hub for Earth? Central point or hub is that location from which all the different types of wealth is obtained.

Answer 9: Yagnam is the hub of Earth.

Anyone who listens to this question will obtain the Yagnam, Lord Narayana.

Question 10: Which is that horse which rains? What is its veeryam?

Answer 10: Yagam or Lord Narayan is the horse that rains blessings on us. The veeryam is the soma juice used in Yagnam which is nothing but the holy water with tulasi leaves offered to the Yagnam called Lord Vishnu.

Question 11: What do all the words in this world refer to?

Answer 11: All the words refer ultimately to Lord Narayana who is the Parabrahmam.

Anyone who listens to all these questions will obtain the fruit received by performing the Ashwamedha Yagam as  well as Shradham.

It is very difficult to perform Shradham which is typically performed only after the Earth has warmed up. This is usually around 11:25 am in India. Traditionally the Brahmins chant the above question and answer as soon as they enter their host’s home for performing Shradham. It could also be chanted by them prior to eating the offerings from the Shradham. If these questions are chanted by them properly then the sportsmen born in that country will always win the gold medal, the soldiers will be brave and victorious, cows will give plenty of milk, the oxen will be very strong and bear load efficiently, vehicles will perform without accidents, horses will always travel with great speed, all girls born in that country will be very beautiful like a “dream girl”, the host performing the Shradham will get a good son who will be intelligent, brave, youthful , courteous and this son will keep only good company, It will rain only when the people of the country wish for rain thus preventing crop damage from heavy as well as scanty rainfall. They finally confer Yoga Shemam on the public. Yogam is the accumulation of new items. Shemam is the proper functioning of the purchased item. A couple used their bonus to buy a brand new refrigerator. The following year they again spent their bonus on a brand new refrigerator because the refrigerator purchased during the previous year stopped working. If the couple had Yoga Shemam then the refrigerator from the previous year would function properly enabling them to spend their bonus on purchasing some other item. Overall world peace and prosperity will be attained.

When is a yagnam dead?

A Yagam is considered to be dead if dakshina (donation) are not offered according to the laws of the Yagnam. The sins affecting the Yagam are disposed of safely by giving Dakshina to Brahmins.  There are certain hazards associated with every occupation. Similar to a doctor running the risk of contracting infectious diseases from the patients they treat, a Brahmin runs the risk of contracting the sins of their hosts when they receive dakshina. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like gloves is used by medical practitioner to protect themselves against infectious diseases. The regular practice of Vedic Manthrams and the Vedic Manthrams themselves are the PPE used by a Brahmin to protect themselves from the sins contained in a dakshina.

The following story illustrates how the Vedic manthrams protect a Brahmin.

Once the Devas decided to perform a sacrifice but the fire would not burn properly as it was afflicted by sin. It is prohibited to perform sacrifices if the fire smoulders. The Devas went to get ghee to make the fire burn properly but the ghee solidified as it was affected by sin. It is not allowed to pour solid ghee into the fire. They were then instructed by Lord Brahma to give dakshina (donations) to people to transfer the sin to other people. No one wanted to receive the dakshina as they did not want to get the sins. Lord Brahma then asked the Brahmins to take the dakshina but they too refused. Lord Brahma then asked them to get the dakshina by wearing protective gloves so that the sin will not stick to them. This protective glove is the recitation of the Vedic mantras.

The Vedic mantras are never affected by sin as it is the nature of the Vedic mantra to repel sin. When we eat greasy food with our hand, the grease sticks to our hand. We scrub our hand to remove the grease but it is not necessary to scrub our tongue. Even though our tongue comes in contact with the greasy food, the grease does not stick to the tongue as it is the nature of the tongue to repel grease. Similarly by practicing at least one chapter from the Vedas, sins from the dakshina do not affect the Brahmins. If it is not possible to practice one chapter every day, the Brahmins must at least chant Purusha Suktam or at least chant the Gayathri Manthram ten times every day. A Brahmin who does not do any of the above (chant 1 chapter from Vedas or Purusha Suktam or Gayathri manthram for 10 times) which are known as Brahma Yagnam for more than three days, is no longer considered to be a Brahmin.

The host who requested the Brahmins to perform the yagnam should not haggle over the dakshina. The host must offer as much as possible to the Brahmins. The host should make sure that all the Brahmins who participated in the performance of the Yagnam receive dakshina. If the dakshina is given to only one Brahmin then too the Yagam is considered to be dead.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/03/yaksha-prashnam-questions-80-84.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.