HINDU FASTS & FESTIVALS : - 22-5.

-




22. The Kavadi- 5.


At the Sivananda Ashram in India, Skanda Sashti is observed for six days, preceding and including the Sashti day.

    1. Devotees of Lord Subramanya live on milk and fruit and do rigorous Sadhana.

    2. All spiritual aspirants get up at 4am during Brahmamuhurta and meditate on the Lord.

    3. On each of the six days, all the participants do as many malas of the Mantra Om Saravanabhavaya Namah as possible. They even greet one another with this Mantra.

    4. Yogis and learned scholars deliver lectures on Subramanya Tattwa or the divine sport of the Lord. During the evening Satsang, hymns in praise of Lord Subramanya are sung. Readings are taken from my book Lord Shanmukha and His Worship. Devotees sing inspiring songs on the Lord.

    5. Every day there is elaborate ceremonial worship of the image of Lord Subramanya installed in the Bhajan Hall.

    6. On the last day a grand havan (fire-worship) is conducted. The Satsang is devoted entirely to the adoration of Lord Subramanya.



    Pray from the bottom of your heart :  -

1. “O my Lord Subramanya, O all-merciful Lord! we have neither faith nor devotion.

2. We do not know how to worship Thee in the proper manner, or to meditate on Thee.

3. We are Thy child who have lost the way, forgotten the goal and Thy Name.

4. Is it not Thy duty, O compassionate Father, to take us back?

5. O Mother, will you not introduce me to Thy Lord?

6. Mother’s love for Her children is deeper and truer than any object in this world.

7. Though we have become worthless and undutiful children, O beloved Mother Valli, pardon us! Make us dutiful and faithful.

8.  We are Thine from this very second. Always Thine. All is Thine.

9. It is the Mother’s duty to correct, educate and mould Her reckless child when it strays aimlessly on the wrong path.

10. Remove the gulf or the veil of delusion that separates us from Thee.

11. Bless us. Enlighten us.

12. Take us back to Thy Lotus Feet.

13. We have nothing more to say.

14. This is our fervent prayer to Thee and Thy Lord, our beloved and ancient Parents.”

    May Lord Subramanya shower His Grace upon you!

Next :     Ramnavmi

Swami Sivananda
 To be continued  .....



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Speech by Swami Vivekananda - Delivered at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, February 1, 1900) :

-
Image
The Mahabharata -  Speech by Swami Vivekananda - Delivered at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, February 1, 1900)   The other epic about which I am going to speak to you this evening, is called the Mahâbhârata. It contains the story of a race descended from King Bharata, who was the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntalâ. Mahâ means great, and Bhârata means the descendants of Bharata, from whom India has derived its name, Bhârata. Mahabharata means Great India, or the story of the great descendants of Bharata. The scene of this epic is the ancient kingdom of the Kurus, and the story is based on the great war which took place between the Kurus and the Panchâlas. So the region of the quarrel is not very big. This epic is the most popular one in India; and it exercises the same authority in India as Homer's poems did over the Greeks. As ages went on, more and more matter was added to it, until it has become a huge book of about a hundred thousand couplets. All sorts of
Read more

"Ratha kalpana"

-
Image
1. We have the famous immortal metaphor of the chariot explaining the Atma and the Body.       2. In the chariot sits the Sarathi ( driver), and the Yodha ( warrior).       3. In the body stays the Paramatma, the Self and the Jeevatma, the Ego and the entire technique of the Adhyatma Yoga is explained.     4. Here the Ratham ( chariot) represents our body,       5. Five horses are our five sense-organs ( Panchendriya),     6. Lagan ( kadjnan/saddles) of the horses is our Buddhi(intelligence),     7.  The Sarathi is our Mind,     8. Yodha is our Atma.
Read more

All About Bharatiya Sanatana Dharmam otherwise known as Hinduism : 2.1.5

-
Image
CHAPTER 2. HINDU SCRIPTURES : 1.5     1.The Scriptures : 5 5. The Ramayana The Ramayana, the Adi-Kavya or the first epic poem, relates the story of Sri Rama, the ideal man. It is the history of the family of the solar race descended from Ikshvaku, in which was born Sri Ramachandra, the Avatara of Lord Vishnu, and his three brothers. The ideal characters like Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata and Sri Hanuman that we find in Ramayana firmly establish Hindu Dharma in our minds. The story of the birth of Rama and his brothers, their education and marriages, the exile of Sri Rama, the carrying off and recovery of Sita, his wife, the destruction of Ravana, the Rakshasa King of Lanka, and the reign of Sri Rama, are described in detail in Ramayana. How a man should behave towards his superiors, equals and inferiors, how a king ought to rule his kingdom, how a man should lead his life in this world, how he can obtain his release, freedom and perfection, may be learnt from this excellen
Read more