Diwali

[Ashoka]

That looks amazing! I want some haha.

 

[mangalavara]

Indra be praised, it is finally overcast and grim outside!

On this first day of Dīpāvali, Dhanteras, I did some cleaning for Lakṣmī. I got the dust off my ceiling fan and then I cleaned my desk, tables, chest of drawers, bed, and tower fan. In the evening, I will light some candles to welcome Lakṣmī, and listen to a bhajan or two.

 

[ameyAtmA]

Note: 5 lakhs is five hundred thousand. And the dark strip in the middle in this video is river Sarayu in Ayodhya, Lord Rama's city.

Thank you for sharing this (assuming it was all done with utmost COVID-19 precautions - I do not see any crowd, only the invited guests in the pandal). Very beautiful. Sharayu, the very river Ram and LakshmaN crossed at a very young age when they left Dasharath's palace with Vishwamitra, and out into the world.

Sharayu at the Lotus Feet of Shri Ram
YamunA at the Lotus Feet of Shri KRshNa in bhulok
GangA at the Lotus Feet of Lord VishNu , Shriman NArAyaN in VaikunTha (because Lord BramhA washed Lord VishNu's Lotus Feet with the Ganga)
AlaknandA at the Lotus Feet of Badri-Vishaal (Badrinath. Lord VishNu performed tapasyA in the Badri forest at the foothills of Himalayas as Nar-NarAyaN)

All of these rivers have been serving the Lotus Feet of MangalaM BhagavAn VishNu for ages.

And Saraswati ugam (leftover) right by the cave at Mangoan (Badrinath border) where BAdrAyaN VedaVyAs wrote the Bhagvat and other purANs.
It is no coincidence ---- Saraswati blessed VedaVyas to write! Her ugam (source) is right by the cave.

When it comes to the world,
Saraswati and Shiva (Shankar , MahAdev) are a team. That is why they say Shiva bestows knowledge
VishNu and YogmAyA - DurgA/Kali/Parvati are a team
BramhA and Lakshmi are a team (Lotus)
acc. to Devi BhAgwat.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I can't light lamps, my kitten will try to knock it over. But I have a room I want to turn into a Puja room at some point, no pets allowed!

LED to rescue, although they do not create the right atmosphere. Even candles are better, live, so to say.
Flickering LED lights for Puja - Google Search

@ameyAtmA, Sarayu and not Sharayu, like it cannot be Sharaswati. Typo, I presume.
One can make 'Panjiri Laddos' also.

 

[mangalavara]

like it cannot be Sharaswati

Thath thvam ashi.

In all seriousness, I assume the th where there should only be t is perhaps based on the pronunciation of Sanskrit words in languages such as Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. Perhaps someone could enlighten me?

 

[Ashoka]

LED to rescue, although they do not create the right atmosphere. Even candles are better, live, so to say.
Flickering LED lights for Puja - Google Search

That sounds good! I might just look into those.

 

[Jainarayan]

Thath thvam ashi.

In all seriousness, I assume the th where there should only be t is perhaps based on the pronunciation of Sanskrit words in languages such as Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. Perhaps someone could enlighten me?

The /th/ in Sanskrit isn’t the same as in English “the” or “this”. It’s an aspirated t, like “that hat”. Hatha yoga is more like “hut-huh”.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Thath thvam ashi.

In all seriousness, I assume the th where there should only be t is perhaps based on the pronunciation of Sanskrit words in languages such as Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. Perhaps someone could enlighten me?

Yes, there are pronunciation differences in North Indian and South Indian languages. North Indian spelling is Gita, for South Indians it will be Githa and RigVeda as RugVeda. Even Gujarat and Maharashtra spell these word in the South Indian way. Gita is Aryan-influenced, Githa is Dravida-influenced. For me, the Upanishadic statement will be 'Tat twam asi'.

 

[Aupmanyav]

The /th/ in Sanskrit isn’t the same as in English “the” or “this”. It’s an aspirated t, like “that hat”. Hatha yoga is more like “hut-huh”.

I do not know why Westrners should spell 'Hatha' as 'Hut-huh', when 'hatha' itself is quite simple. Indian 'a' i not pronounced as 'Ajax' and is not elongated. But you already know it well. It is something like 'sa' in Indian music, Sa, Re, Ga, ma ... I suppose 'Do' in Western music.

 

[mangalavara]

The /th/ in Sanskrit isn’t the same as in English “the” or “this”. It’s an aspirated t, like “that hat”. Hatha yoga is more like “hut-huh”.

I do not know why Westrners should spell 'Hatha' as 'Hut-huh', when 'hatha' itself is quite simple. Indian 'a' i not pronounced as 'Ajax' and is not elongated. But you already know it well. It is something like 'sa' in Indian music, Sa, Re, Ga, ma ... I suppose 'Do' in Western music.

I think you guys would find my pronunciation of Sanskrit very nice for a Westerner.

 

[Jainarayan]

I do not know why Westrners should spell 'Hatha' as 'Hut-huh', when 'hatha' itself is quite simple. Indian 'a' i not pronounced as 'Ajax' and is not elongated. But you already know it well. It is something like 'sa' in Indian music, Sa, Re, Ga, ma ... I suppose 'Do' in Western music.

Not spell, pronounce. The a in hatha are both short, like the a in about. The spelling is still hatha. The issue is that English sounds and writing don’t line up. So, not haa-taa like the a in father. Similar to the short a in the name Sanskrit. More like Sunskrit rather than Saahnskrit. Or the, imo, egregious a sound in Sanskrit as if it were Sand-skrit. I once heard Hanuman pronounced with a like in hand and man (male human).

 

[mangalavara]

I’ve read in the Wikipedia article about Diwali that some Hindus observe Yama Dīpaṃ on the second day. Do any of you know where in India or another country with a large Hindu population that this is the custom? Just to be different, I observed the Yama
Dīpaṃ on this second day of Diwali. Soon, the third day begins and I will worship Śrī. Whenever I become affiliated with a community, I will probably just do whatever they do.

 

[ameyAtmA]

@ameyAtmA, Sarayu and not Sharayu, like it cannot be Sharaswati. Typo, I presume.

Actually, since childhood I always knew it as Sarayu river (Nadi). Then recently the girl's name Sharayu was heard too often, and while the fleeting thought did cross my mind "The river is Sarayu" I thought maybe I was wrong and that it is Sharayu like the common girl's name, and that you (surprisingly) are using the convention that some VaishNavs use - upper-case S = sh so the quick post received the wrong spelling.
I wish I had come back earlier to edit it - too late.

 

[JustGeorge]

We drove the 2 hours to the temple tonight, only to find that the priest had gotten the impression no one was coming out on a weeknight, and had just done the puja himself a bit early. He was right, very few showed. (I think it would have been 6, including us that were in and out during the time period the puja would have been done.) He did give us some prasad, though, and asked us to return Saturday(we can't, though). We spent a little time meditating at the shrines and did pradakshina around the main shrine 108 times. I'm glad we went either way.

 

[ajay0]

Diwali is a day of physical austerity connected with cleaning the house thoroughly, filling it with fragrant and auspicious smellls and lights, putting all items in their proper places and getting rid of clutter.

I think we need such a day in an year just for this purpose. I was amazed seeing the clutter in my room today, and have decided to devote the whole day to cleaning up everything, and putting all in order , to the exclusion of everything else. I credit Diwali for motivation and action in this regard.

Cleanliness, being neat and tidy is considered a physical austerity in the Gita, which increases inner strength or the power of Tapas.

I have perceived frequently that after cleaning and washing my house and room, I am able to meditate better or work better. Somehow the washing and cleaning seems to get rid of the stale prana or chi, and bring about fresh chi, which is considered auspicious and positive.

I always associated festivals such as Diwali to be associated with getting rid of stale or negative energies (which inhibit prosperity) and bringing about fresh energies (which favor prosperity). I think knowledge of Feng Shui will help understand such festivals better.

Mahatma Gandhi also associates the act of cleaning with increasing one's morale and positivity and getting rid of negativity and passivity.

An unclean environment, if not cleaned, leads to a situation where one starts accepting circumstances. On the contrary, if one cleans up dirt in the surroundings he gets energised and then does not resign himself to existing adverse circumstances. ~ Mahatma Gandhi


As I dislike regular cleaning, I use motivators such as above to drive myself.

 

[mangalavara]

I have perceived frequently that after cleaning and washing my house and room, I am able to meditate better or work better. Somehow the washing and cleaning seems to get rid of the stale prana or chi, and bring about fresh chi, which is considered auspicious and positive.

I have also perceived the difference in the energy of a room after it has been cleaned. It's amazing.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I think you guys would find my pronunciation of Sanskrit very nice for a Westerner.

Will depend on whether a North Indian is listening to you or a South Indian? Bengalis will probably pronounce it as "Tot twom Oshi". They generally speak with a rounded mouth. Variety is the life of India.

 

[ajay0]

I have also perceived the difference in the energy of a room after it has been cleaned. It's amazing.

Yeah, I remember a time when I found it hard to meditate in a room which I used for this purpose. Finding my repeated attempts to meditate thwarted, I wondered what could be the issue and studied the environment.

I found a bag of rotten fruits nearby which I forgot to dispose of. After getting rid of it, I found that I could meditate better and easily now.

Theoretically speaking, Tamas is associated with that which is rotten, dirty and stale, and this is considered to prevent sattva necessary for devotion or meditation or auspicious activities.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Then recently the girl's name Sharayu was heard too often, ..

Tell us about this Sharayu and why you are hearing this name too often?
No malafide intention, just fun, not even curiosity.
Sharayu is close to Sharanya (in refuge of the lord). May be her people named her with this intent.

We spent a little time meditating at the shrines and did pradakshina around the main shrine 108 times. I'm glad we went either way.

Hey JustGeorge! Pradakshina 108 times! That is a bit too much. We do it here just once, and probably the most devout will do it three times, but certainly not 108 times. Keep ready, you are going to recive a prize from the Lord.

 

[Viraja]

Diwali is one of the most spiritually potent days.

Kanchi Periyava (when he was alive) ordered that water from Ganges be poured on 105 Shiva lingas all around the city of Kanchipuram, the Lord (Shivalingams) be offered new clothes and be offered 1 kilo each of Diwali savories on Diwali day!

Since that time, the Kanchi Mutt brings water from Ganges and follows the other things stated by Periyava such as abhishekam and rituals to 105 lingams in Kanchi.