When one goes through information about Hinduism and it’s Practices,one would find that each and every practice is loaded with information that signifies some fact or the other which underscores the Core Belief of Sanatan Dharm.
I have written various aspects of Hindu Rites and their significance and meaning.
And about Sankalpa,which is recited by Hindus on both auspicious and inauspicious occasions.
Sankalp is the Right Determination,be it in thoughts,Words or Deeds.And Sankalpa contains portions which Geotag the performers.
It also refers to the Time frame when the Act is performed, indicating the Aeon,day or night parameters of the Aeon,Year, Movement of the Sun 🌞,Season,Month,Star ruling that day ,Movement of the 🌒,and Day.
Hinduism considers Time to be Eternal and A stream. Time is cyclic.What we perceive as yesterday, today and tomorrow is nothing but the instrument of our minds through which we perceive.
As such , essentially there is nothing in the Universe that is good or bad.
This includes Days as well,though there are good days and bad days indicated by the Almanacs, Panchanga.
However,days do not determine what happens to you , either Good or Bad.
The reason why they are called as good and bad are is determined depending on the actions performed by you in the past and in the present.As you sow,so you Reap. In Hinduism you can not escape the consequences of your actions, whoever you might be,even of you are an Avatar. God is not above Cosmic law.
The indication a day, star gives you as good or bad is but a forewarning that good or bad, from your standpoint, may befall as a result of your actions.
Yet there are two occasions which are classified differently.The are exceptions to the Rule.
Performance of Karma, in accordance with the procedures laid out in Vedas,the Scripture of Hindus ,and Smritis, that is remembered practices, on specific days- these days are called Auspicious days,Subha Thithi.
On the other hand, death,which is not in our hands and a Harbinger of Rebirth and a beginning of new birth and deaths or merging with the Reality,is not considered auspicious. However Hinduism does not place the blame on the day.
Based on these two principles, Sankalpa makes a fine distinction.
One may note in the Sankalp, when done for auspicious occasions, it reads ‘Subha Thithou’.
This term is used for Ayush homas,Upanayan, Marriage etc.
But for Grahana, Sraddha,Pitru/Mahalaya Paksha, Amavasya ,the Sankalp reads thus.
‘Punya Thithou’
There are Karmas which are beyond us and as such are classified as days that augur well for Good passage in Life.
The first 7 of these Karanas are movable (Chara) i.e. it cannot be predetermined as to on which dates, these are going to occur, but the last 4 Karanas are fixed (Sthira), and hence can be predetermined.
VISHTIKARANA is also called ‘Bhadra’ and commencing any work during this time is prohibited. Bhadra is marked very clearly in every panchanga..
. A karana is the time required for the angular distance between the sun and the moon to increase in steps of 6° starting from 0°. There are eleven karanas in total. Of the eleven karanas, four are fixed and occurs only once in a cycle. The remaining 7 karanas repeat eight times to cover the remaining 56 steps.
Click the following Link to calculate the Karana for any day.
Hindus, in determining auspicious time, take into account, apart from Day,Stars,Thithis(waxing and waning of the Moon),Yoga Karana.
These five, Day, Star, Thithi,Yoga( not the Yoga of Patanjali, here Yoga indicates auspicious/conducive period) and Karana form the basis of Hindu Almanac, called Panchanga(Five limbs).
Kolam/Rangoli indicate auspiciousness
Apart from the inauspicious time of each day,Rahu Kalam and Yama Kanda(some do not take Yama Kanda as inauspicious as this time being inauspicious for Yama the God of death, and by reverse Logic is auspicious for the Living)
Not much is known about Yogas, Siddha ,Amirth and Marana.
It would help one to read about Time calculation of the Hindus,
Please check my posts on How to find an auspicious day and Time, Hindus Calculation.
One can cross check the Yoga daily by understanding what it is about.
EIGHT DAYTIME PERIODS—THE KALAS
The period between sunrise and sunset each day is divided into eight pe- riods. Each period, or kala, lasts approximately one and one-half hours, depending on the total duration of sunlight. Three of the eight kalas are considered most im- portant—Rahu Kala, Yama Kala and Gulika Kala—known collectively as the trini samayam. Rahu Kala is considered malefic for commencing new undertakings. Yama is also an interfering current, but is less influential than Rahu. Yama Kala is considered an auspicious time for antyesti (funeral) rites. Gulika is the most auspi- cious time of the day for commencing new activities.
Each kala occurs at approximately the same time on each particular day of the week. Thus, Gulika Kala occurs at approximately 7AM every Friday. If you’ve ever wondered why Monday mornings are so infamous, note that Rahu Kala is generally between 7:30 and 9AM every Monday. The trini samayam are listed at the top of column three for each day.
Yogas are Twenty Seven.
ROUTINE OR CREATIVE WORK DAYS—AMRITADI YOGAS
The resultant of the waves propagated by the planets and the stars on the human psyche are indicated in four degrees. In the Vedic Calendar, this esoteric yoga is listed in bold type in the left column of each day’s designations.
AMRITA YOGA—CREATIVE WORK: Very good for creative types of work and auspicious undertakings.
SIDDHA YOGA—CREATIVE WORK: Good for creative types of work and auspicious undertakings.
MARANA YOGA—ROUTINE WORK: Should be avoided for new under- takings and beginning travel. Routine work only.
PRABALARSHTA YOGA—ROUTINE WORK: Should be absolutely avoided for new undertakings and beginning travel. Routine work only.
How to find the Yogas.
” Siddha Yoga:
This is formed due to the combination of the Tithi and vara
The 5 categories of Tithis are governed by 5 elements of nature which are given below. When a tithi falls on a weekday (Vara) governed by the same element as that of the tithi a very auspicious time is formed which goes by the name of Siddha Yoga.
Following combination of Tithis and the Varas constitute the siddha yoga:
Certain combination of Nakshatras and Weekdays go by the name of Sarvartha Siddhi yoga. Activities done during this yoga usually concludes with Positive results.
The events repeat again at least once if they happen in this yoga. Hence good events should happen in this yoga such as purchase of property etc. and unfortunate events such as diseases and death should not happen.
* * * * * * * *
Tripushkar Yoga:
Following combination of Tithi, Vara and Nakshatra is called Tripushkar Yoga:
The events repeat again at least twice if they happen in this yoga. Hence good events should happen in this yoga such as purchase of property etc. and unfortunate events such as diseases and death should not happen.
* * * * * * * *
ASHUBHA YOGA:
(Inauspicious combinations)
* * * * * * * *
Mrtyu Yoga:
This yoga is formed due to combination of Vara and Tithi
The Devout in the US face this problem of finding out the dates of Hindu Festivals,Thithis, Amavasya,Upakarma ,Gayatri Japa and other Festivals like
Deepavai Makara Sankaranthi.
Time Calculation by The Hindus
The general practice as I understand from the US and UK is that the priests there use some kind of Calculators, convert the days /dates directly and arrive at the Information.
I received some information on this,
“ Let us consider the recent lunar eclipse which was observed in USA (15 April 2014) and not in India. It should occur only on a full moon day even in USA as it is in India. According to Srirangam punchangam the pournami was approximately from 2pmMonday(14th April) to2pmTuesday in Srirangam. This puts the middle of Poornima about 2am on Tuesday in Srirangam. The total lunar eclipse occurred about2am central time, Tuesday, in USA. This clearly shows that we should apply Indian timings as they are to correspond to the same timings with sun rise correction in USA.
I was taken aback when some temples in USA observed Gayathri Japam on the day when lunar eclipse was going on about 4, 5 years back asking followers to wait to do the japam until the eclipse came to an end instead of doing Upakarma on that day ( that day being a pournami as predicted in Indian punchangam ). Gayathri japam should be done early morning after Sandya vandam on the following day of Upakarma. There are no Doshams attached to this.
The USA temple priests are not punchanga nirnayam experts eventhough they are asked to act like one. The Indian astrologers still believe the earth to be flat and at the center of our planetary system. So their opinions to translate the timings to suite other geographical regions are not acceptable.”
Dr.K.P Sarathy.
Valid Point.
What is the correct procedure?
Find the time of Sun Rise.
Check the Panchaangam for Thithi , Nakshatra presence in the day in Naazhkai.
Covert the Naazhikai into normal time.(One Naazhikai-24 minutes)
In conjunction with the Sunrise find out the presence of Thithi on a particular day.
Those who follow Chaandramaana,(Lunar Calendar), must celebrate the function on the day when the Thithis is least(Thithi should be less than 51 Naazhikai)
For more on this please refer my posts on this subject under Hinduism/Time.
The reason to say that direct conversion is incorrect is that our Panchanga Timings are not Absolute.
By tradition, the menu is the same as the one prepared on the 10h day ceremony of the departed.
If details are not available, then read my post on Srardha Samayal( Srardha Menu).
What should one wear for the Srardha?
Pancha kachcha for men and Madisar for women(read my posts/video on this).
How much should I pay for Sastri and Brahmins?
Depends on your city.
Who should take the Pitr Sesha(balance of Srardha food including the snacks)
Only those who are born to the departed, daughter in law,Grandsons( sons born of Sons), Brothers, brother’s wives, their male issues.
There is controversy regarding daughters ans son in-laws taking the Pitr Sesha.
On no account the Pitr Sesha is to be thrown away are given to others mentioned above, including throwing away and feeding the dogs.
Now there is the practice of maintaining a Dog at Home, parent might be possibly be in an old Age Home or in some fancy titled Home for the Destitute.
If out of necessity one can not perform the Srardha at Home, I recommend the Sringeri Shankara Mutt, where the rates are really reasonable and most importantly the Performance of the Srardha is detailed and they do not allow you flout rules to suit your whims.
This is practiced by certain families by tradition.
if being practiced, go ahead, do not introduce a new custom as sentiments are involved.
I have leant now that for Vishnu Ilai, the Kula Deavatha is to be invited to partake the Food, the term Visnu Ilai is symbolic as Lord Vishnu is the Devata for Para Loka(after death).
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