Things to follow in temples - Aalaya Niyamaalu

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

 

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

 

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

 

ఓం నమః శివాయ

There are few things that we have to follow when visiting temples.

1.    When we enter a temple there will be a big pillar (Dhwaja Stambham) obstructing our direct view to the God. The reason for keeping this is that we should not stand directly in front of the God in the temple. Even if there is a place which allows you stand in front of the God, never stand there and pray. One should stand on either side, preferably facing north while praying. The main God of the temple always face East (except Dakshinamurthy who faces South) in temples. Even at home while performing Pooja, its better to face North and perform Pooja. In houses, the vigrahas face west. Look at the picture above to see how Sri Sri Sri Jagadguru Bharathi Theertha Swamiji is performing the pooja.

2.    Pradakshina (going around) should always be in Clockwise direction ensuring that the God is always on our right side. This is the reason why one should stand facing north so that God is on the right hand side, if possible.

3.    When there are other small temples within the main temple compound, never do a saashtanga pranaamam (prostrating - completely lying down on the floor) as your legs might point towards another god in the same vicinity. If there is a great person in the temple, one should not prostrate in front of that person. This can be done just outside the temple.

4.    In a Siva temple, never walk between Nandi and Shiva, even if there is space.

5.    Generally, we are told to sit in the temple for some time before leaving. The reason for that is this. One should have a very good look of the god from head to toe. Whenever we sit for praying and when we remember that god, then we will be able to recollect the entire image as is, which will enable us focus during our meditation. So once we are done with our darshan of the Lord, we should sit there for some time and recollect Gods image and paint the picture once more so that it is imprinted properly. Sitting in the temple after darshan is not for discussing about the quality of Prasaadam or politics.

6.    While leaving the temple, try moving backwards instead of turning back and leaving, as much as possible.

7.    Maintaining silence is a must in temples. This is to ensure that even if we are not able to pray properly, we should atleast not disturb others who are able to. Temple is not a place to talk about general things. Small kids should be educated on this aspect so that they don’t keep shouting there.

8.    Teertham and Prasaadam (offerings) are very important. This is an offering from God. One sixth of the portion that we consume has direct impact on our heart and mind. They get purified.

9.    Also when flowers are offered to us, those should not be thrown on the floor lest someone should step on those. Whatever we are not able to use, we should place them on a wall or somewhere in the temple where people will not be able to place their feet on.

 

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.

 

Significance of Sraddha in Daanam

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

 

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

 

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

 

ఓం నమః శివాయ

 

Once upon a time in Dwaapara Yuga (during the time of Sri Krishna), Sri Krishna’s sons were playing in a park. After some time they got tired and wanted to drink water. They went to the nearby well and when they looked inside, they found a huge Chameleon in the well. They wanted to get that out of the well and tried in different ways, but did not succeed. They went inside the palace and informed Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna came out and saw the Chameleon and using his left hand pulled the Chameleon out of the well, easily. The Chameleon immediately turned into a wonderful king to everyone’s surprise (needless to say, excluding Sri Krishna).

 

The king started narrating his story

 

“I belong to the ancestry of Ikshwaaku (Sri Raama’s dynasty). I should not be boasting about myself, but I used to be a very good king. I used to do lot of Daana dharmas to various people in and around my kingdom. I used to donate lots and lots of cows apart from various other things every day.

 

One day one poor Brahmin by the name of Kasyapudu came to seek Daanam from me. I donated a cow to him and he happily went home. He used to take care of the cow and used its milk for his livelihood.

 

One day the cow wandered off. He searched quite a lot for it but could not find it.

In the meanwhile this cow got back to my herd somehow and as part of my regular donation of cows, this cow again got donated to another Brahmin. This new Brahmin was taking the cow to his home and Kasyapudu saw his cow and asked the Brahmin to return it.

 

The Brahmin responded that he got the cow from me just then and so it belongs to him, whereas Kasyapudu stated this had already been donated some time back and so it cannot be donated again and hence it belonged to him. There was a dispute and both of them approached me.

 

I told the new Brahmin that I would give him 1000s of cows and asked him to give the cow back to Kasyapudu, but the Brahmin refused. Then I turned to Kasyapudu and mentioned that I would give him whatever he wants in lieu of the cow. Kasyapudu also refused and both the Brahmins went home.

 

After some time just like any other living being I died and the Vishnu Paarsvadulu told me that I had committed one sin in my life for which I have to pay before I can be taken to heaven. I asked them about my mistake and they narrated the cow incident where I had donated a cow which had been already donated and how I disappointed one Brhamin. Because of that mistake I had to take the birth of a chameleon and once you (Sri Krishna) touched me, I am now ready to go to heaven.”

 

After saying this, the messengers from heaven came and took the king in the chariot.

 

Though this one looks pretty simple, two questions arise.

1.    The king was not aware that the cow joined his herd because of which the mistake of “donating the donated” had happened. How could he be penalized for such a small mistake which was not committed intentionally?

2.    Why did both the Brahmins refuse to accommodate the king even though the king promised lot more than what they had actually got? Does not it make them faulty?

 

Let’s first look at the Brahmins’ case.

A Brahmin is one who is content with whatever he has without actually seeking for anything more. In case any of the two Brahmins had accepted the Kings revised offer, they would lose their status of a true Brahmin. Both of them were happy with one cow and that’s all they need for their livelihood and not anything more. So by refusing to accept more from the king, they up kept their status of Brahmin.

 

Now let’s look at the king

1.    The king did not take enough precautions to ensure that donated/other cows do not join his herd. Even though it is a mistake of his worker, it goes to the account of the king. So this is a mistake that he had committed, though unknowingly.

2.    When both the Brahmins came to the king with the dispute, the first thing the king should have done was to immediately ask for a pardon by accepting his mistake. Instead the king proposed 1000s of cows, land etc. This is another mistake.

So obviously the king had to pay for the mistakes.

 

It is imperative as to how much care one has to take before donating anything.

·         The person receiving is God himself and hence utmost care has to be taken in the way we treat him/her.

·         Heart should be extremely pure without any feelings of ego, like thinking less of the person receiving etc. Otherwise the result of the Daanam will not be credit to our account. (It is better if there are no expectations in terms of punyam being credited to your account etc when daanam is done.)

·         Depending on the type of daanam that we do, the appropriate precautions need to be taken, which should be duly noted from the person performing the kriya (Purohit).

 

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.