Post by radha on Sept 8, 2012 4:14:43 GMT 5.5
OM SRI GURUPYO NAMAHA:,RESPECTFUL PRANAMS TO PUJYA SRI KANCHI MAHA SWAMIGAL.
Source :- Kamakoti .org.
The biggest load is the ego-sense, the I-sense, the Ahambhava. There is permanent peace if that load is off you. The namaskara kriya is the best aid for getting that load off you. That is how in the namaskara, the head which is at the top is brought on level with the other parts of the body. It is no more the "head dominating the body" but just one of the many parts of the body. If the head is brought down by others, it is a disgrace. If we bring it down ourselves, it is reward, honour. This is vinaya sampath (humility that is wealth itself). It is to get away from "head weight" and mental conceit that the namaskara I performed with the head. Appar Swami sings: "Bow down, bow down, O Head!"
In order that this kriya is done with single pointed attention, and one does not look to this side and the other, the namaskara is always done with face to the ground. The indriyas (sense organs) face towards the outer world when we lie flat. But when we are prostrate on the ground with face to the ground, they are also turned away from the outer world.
Heights are not wanted. Being humble is what is wanted. If our minds are in this mode, the Grace of the Almighty (kripa varsha) will flow freely and fill us. Just like, water does not remain at altitudes but flows to level ground and fills it. As a symbol of this mental move, the body is lowered prostrate to the ground head to foot.
This is called "Sashtanga Namaskara". Sashtanga is Sa Ashta Anga, that is eight parts of the body are in contact with the ground. The eight parts are: forehead, two shoulders, two hands, torso, two legs. You also know that women do not do the namaskara in this way. In their case it is called "Panchanga". Panchanga here does not mean the almanac. Leaving out the two shoulders and the torso, only five angas are in contact with the ground in their namaskara. So it is called Panchanga Namaskara. Our rule makers (makers of sastras) while making the rule that namaskara should be by lowering the body prostrate on the ground, eschewing every thought of self importance and finding the lowest level with the ground, they duly thought of the Universal Mother aspect (matrutwam) of Parasakthi (Ambal) which is a distinguishing divine principle in women, and took care not to imply any suggestion of lowering its importance. They ruled that the part of the body which sustains the growth of the foetus during pregnancy and the part that creates within itself the nourishment for the new born and feeds it should not be allowed to come in contact with the ground. If the torso should not touch the ground, then the shoulders have to be excluded so that the namaskara can conveniently performed. Thus, excluding the three angas, in their case it becomes panchanga. This also symbolises the need for women to have a "bending" nature. Bowing down itself means bending and it seems that the namaskara performed by women is real bowing down. Men sometimes may use the hand only instead of lowering the body for "bowing" but women always do sarvanga namaskara.
A particular human action intended to express a particular inner feeling and thought, performed in the same fashion generation after generation by many people gets an inner strength as the inner core of a matured tree. Later on, the action itself begins to reinforce and intensify that inner feeling and thought. Basically, any action done with the right thought and feeling behind it, in turn, enhances and enriches that experience. Thus, the sashtanga and panchanga namaskaras are a great aid for nurturing and heightening the "tallest" inner quality of utter humility – that is, the "vinaya sampath".
In out timeless tradition, "vinaya" finds a very special place. Status, money, learning, beauty, - all these are causes for the ego – sense, I-sense, to grow. Even among all these causes, the conceit born of learning is the worst. Such people talk about everything with contempt and ridicule. If learning is inextricably tied to humility, there is scope for escape from conceit. This is what our scriptures (sastras) again and again underline. That training for learning (vidya) must always be with training for humility (vinaya). Otherwise, they say, all learning is in vain. Bhagawan Krishna (in the Gita) also puts vidya and vinaya together – "vidya vinaya sampanna".
Since the Grace of God flows only where vinaya is, yearning for Vinaya, one should perform namaskaras again and again. It used to be taught in the past that one should go in search of saints and perform namaskaras to them. Such saints may belong to any type; one who himself gives asirvad, or one who prays to Narayana for asirvad to us, or one who transmits the namaskara to Narayana without involving himself; we need not think about these things; and prostrate before them all saying "Namo Namah". If we do so, Narayana-kripa will be ours in some form or the other. "Namah" is not said once only; it is always repeated, as "namo namah". In ordinary usage also, we say: "A thousand namaskaras to you; a crore namaskaras to you". In this way, the great legacy of namaskara – kriya to which our tradition has bequeathed to us should not be allowed to decline and disappear.
With humility, and for the sake of humility, this kriya must be performed. This is very important. If the inner feeling basic to it is absent, namaskara is nothing more than a mere exercise for the body. Dandakara namaskara should not degenerate into a mere exercise. It is only for man that God has shown ways of reveling in the inner being through divine perceptions, through atma-anubhava. When that is so, if we seek only to increase the animal instincts for pleasures, we will be no different from them. Even though the ways shown by God are spoken of variously, its central purpose is how to progressively minimise and reduce the strong and staunch hold of ego. Saying "Namo namah" and prostrating at the feet of the saints, who in human form are present right in front of our eyes, is the only way
HARA HARA SANKARA,SIVA SIVA SANKARA
JAYA JAYA SANKARA SIVA SIVA SANKARA .
Kanchi Maha Periva Thiruvadigal Saranam
Source :- Kamakoti .org.
The biggest load is the ego-sense, the I-sense, the Ahambhava. There is permanent peace if that load is off you. The namaskara kriya is the best aid for getting that load off you. That is how in the namaskara, the head which is at the top is brought on level with the other parts of the body. It is no more the "head dominating the body" but just one of the many parts of the body. If the head is brought down by others, it is a disgrace. If we bring it down ourselves, it is reward, honour. This is vinaya sampath (humility that is wealth itself). It is to get away from "head weight" and mental conceit that the namaskara I performed with the head. Appar Swami sings: "Bow down, bow down, O Head!"
In order that this kriya is done with single pointed attention, and one does not look to this side and the other, the namaskara is always done with face to the ground. The indriyas (sense organs) face towards the outer world when we lie flat. But when we are prostrate on the ground with face to the ground, they are also turned away from the outer world.
Heights are not wanted. Being humble is what is wanted. If our minds are in this mode, the Grace of the Almighty (kripa varsha) will flow freely and fill us. Just like, water does not remain at altitudes but flows to level ground and fills it. As a symbol of this mental move, the body is lowered prostrate to the ground head to foot.
This is called "Sashtanga Namaskara". Sashtanga is Sa Ashta Anga, that is eight parts of the body are in contact with the ground. The eight parts are: forehead, two shoulders, two hands, torso, two legs. You also know that women do not do the namaskara in this way. In their case it is called "Panchanga". Panchanga here does not mean the almanac. Leaving out the two shoulders and the torso, only five angas are in contact with the ground in their namaskara. So it is called Panchanga Namaskara. Our rule makers (makers of sastras) while making the rule that namaskara should be by lowering the body prostrate on the ground, eschewing every thought of self importance and finding the lowest level with the ground, they duly thought of the Universal Mother aspect (matrutwam) of Parasakthi (Ambal) which is a distinguishing divine principle in women, and took care not to imply any suggestion of lowering its importance. They ruled that the part of the body which sustains the growth of the foetus during pregnancy and the part that creates within itself the nourishment for the new born and feeds it should not be allowed to come in contact with the ground. If the torso should not touch the ground, then the shoulders have to be excluded so that the namaskara can conveniently performed. Thus, excluding the three angas, in their case it becomes panchanga. This also symbolises the need for women to have a "bending" nature. Bowing down itself means bending and it seems that the namaskara performed by women is real bowing down. Men sometimes may use the hand only instead of lowering the body for "bowing" but women always do sarvanga namaskara.
A particular human action intended to express a particular inner feeling and thought, performed in the same fashion generation after generation by many people gets an inner strength as the inner core of a matured tree. Later on, the action itself begins to reinforce and intensify that inner feeling and thought. Basically, any action done with the right thought and feeling behind it, in turn, enhances and enriches that experience. Thus, the sashtanga and panchanga namaskaras are a great aid for nurturing and heightening the "tallest" inner quality of utter humility – that is, the "vinaya sampath".
In out timeless tradition, "vinaya" finds a very special place. Status, money, learning, beauty, - all these are causes for the ego – sense, I-sense, to grow. Even among all these causes, the conceit born of learning is the worst. Such people talk about everything with contempt and ridicule. If learning is inextricably tied to humility, there is scope for escape from conceit. This is what our scriptures (sastras) again and again underline. That training for learning (vidya) must always be with training for humility (vinaya). Otherwise, they say, all learning is in vain. Bhagawan Krishna (in the Gita) also puts vidya and vinaya together – "vidya vinaya sampanna".
Since the Grace of God flows only where vinaya is, yearning for Vinaya, one should perform namaskaras again and again. It used to be taught in the past that one should go in search of saints and perform namaskaras to them. Such saints may belong to any type; one who himself gives asirvad, or one who prays to Narayana for asirvad to us, or one who transmits the namaskara to Narayana without involving himself; we need not think about these things; and prostrate before them all saying "Namo Namah". If we do so, Narayana-kripa will be ours in some form or the other. "Namah" is not said once only; it is always repeated, as "namo namah". In ordinary usage also, we say: "A thousand namaskaras to you; a crore namaskaras to you". In this way, the great legacy of namaskara – kriya to which our tradition has bequeathed to us should not be allowed to decline and disappear.
With humility, and for the sake of humility, this kriya must be performed. This is very important. If the inner feeling basic to it is absent, namaskara is nothing more than a mere exercise for the body. Dandakara namaskara should not degenerate into a mere exercise. It is only for man that God has shown ways of reveling in the inner being through divine perceptions, through atma-anubhava. When that is so, if we seek only to increase the animal instincts for pleasures, we will be no different from them. Even though the ways shown by God are spoken of variously, its central purpose is how to progressively minimise and reduce the strong and staunch hold of ego. Saying "Namo namah" and prostrating at the feet of the saints, who in human form are present right in front of our eyes, is the only way
HARA HARA SANKARA,SIVA SIVA SANKARA
JAYA JAYA SANKARA SIVA SIVA SANKARA .
Kanchi Maha Periva Thiruvadigal Saranam