Fw: dwAdasi pAranam

From the Bhakti List Archives

• February 28, 1999


Narayana! Narayana!

Dear Shri Vijayaraman:

Thanks a million for an instant clarification.
This has given a lot of light to my doubts.

However, I would like to share the following:

1.    If my memory is right, when I browsed through a brief of Shri Varaha
PurAnam
        there are about 32 'offences' a Sri Vaishnava should obstain from
doing.

        One such 'offence' is a Sri Vaishnava should not go to temple of
Vishnu
        after eating.  However, if the food is digested, i.e., after taking
food in the
        morning we can go to the temple in the evening. Request devarir to
correct
        if my understanding / learning is wrong.

2.    I checked with my father Shri. G S Narayanan and I should admit there
has
        been a mis-understanding about Upavaasam and Vratham and I stand
        corrected. I meant Upavaasam as Nirjalam and Vratham as not eating
rice
        but taking fruits, wheat based food.

        My father said the correct understanding woule be "Upavaasam is
actually
        part of Vratham, meaning, upavaasam is performed with a motive to
get
        closer to our lord".  As we all are aware of EkAdasi is one among
many Vrathams.

        Again, I request devarir to share if there is a different / better
understanding of
        Upavaasam and Vratham.

Narayana! Narayana!

Thanks again,
Praveena nAmine Ramanuja dAsi
Azhagiya Singhar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
28th Feb 1999

-----Original Message-----
From: L. Vijayaraman 
To: may2192@mbox4.singnet.com.sg 
Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 3:58 AM
Subject: dwAdasi pAranam


>Sriman Narayana,
>
>Dear Madam,
>
>I seem to be having a problem with my emailer, which sends an attachment
>"winmail.dat" in case of incompatibility between two systems. This is why I
>am sending in a private email in stead of via bhakti list.  I hope you
would
>not mind to delete the rest of the junk characters in case you also see
>them.
>++++++++++
>
>You had raised a valid question for which lots of pramAnams are cited by
>elders. But in that you had also mentioned
>-----------
> I also came to learn that we should not go to temples after
> eating food. My doubt is if we have to go to temples on the
> day of dvadasi, what should we do?
>-----------
>Frankly, I have not heard before that we should not go to temples after
>eating food. My observation is based on the following logic (may be I am
>wrong):
> If a house is having more than 12 sAlagramams then that house is deemed to
>be a divya dEsam itself and not just a temple. Now, I am sure there is no
>restriction for anyone to go into the bhagavat sannidhi (perhaps kitchen)
>and pay obeisance like "HarE, MurArE, SrIDharA, gOvindA, nArayana".
>Secondly, we do ArAdanam at noon time and have antaryAmi ArAdanam (i.e.
>eating our food) subsequently. I have seen the other bhAgavatAs performing
>ArAdanam at night as well (without snAnam,  not touching the mUrtys etc.)
>but briefly. So, if there is a restriction on us to not to go to temples
>after our food then that should be more appropriate in this case also. But
>that is not so.
>
>++++++++++
>
>The determination of which day dwAdasi pAranam has to be observed, is
>depending on each sampradAyam and hence I would not go into that here.
>
>Let us move on to the timing of dwAdasi pAranam when a day is considered to
>be for dwAdasI pAranam. There are differences of opinion among elders on
>this. Some cite the pramAnam "sarvEshAm upavAsAnAm prAtarEva hi pAranam"
and
>consider the sabdam "prAta: sangava" which means within 6 nAzhi (i.e.
>approx. between 4.30 am and  7.15 am based on sunrise at 6 am) one has to
>finish the pAranam.
>
>But, all mAdhyahnikam etc. can be performed in prAta: kAlam, only in case
of
>alpa dwAdasi (dwAdasi titi being less on that day) and doing any karmA
>before their relevant time would not be appropriate. Because of this
>"nirnaya sindu" says the "prAta:" sabdam above, could be considered ("sAyam
>prAtardwijAtInAm asanam srutichOditam") as madyAhna kAlam.
>
>In dasa nirnayam:
> gArudE = yadA tvalpA dwAdasI syad apakarshO BhujErBhavEt
> prAtarmadhyAhnikasyApi tatra syad apakarshanam
> skAndE = yadA BhavEdatIvAlpA dwAdasI pAranE dinE
> usha: kAlE dwayam kuryAt prAtarmadhyAhnikam tatha
>So, only when the day is not having sufficient dwAdasi, it is a must for
one
>to finish sandhyA vandanam, mAdhyAhnikam, bhagavat ArAdanam etc. and
>pAranam.
>
>If only few seconds/minutes of dwAdasi is quoted on that day then we need
to
>finish all of the above before the sunrise but any case one can never
breach
>the dwAdasi titi.
> pAdmE = arunOdayavElAyAm krutyam sarvam samApayEt
> nAtikrAmEd dwAdasIm tu yathakAlam dwijotthama:
>When we have more dwAdasi we have to plan our activities accordingly and
>perform. The condition here is we must do the pAranam within dwAdasi (but
>please note we cannot have pAranam in harivAsaram).
>
>--------------------
> Here in Simhapuri we go to the temple every saturday and chant
> slokas from 9:00 to 11:00 am. Some saturdays happen to be
> Dvadasi's. So, is it O.K if we do our parayanam around 12:00
> after returning from the temple?
>--------------------
>>From above we could observe that it would not be appropriate to delay the
>pAranam when the dwAdasI is less. If we have more dwAdasI then it would
>again be not appropriate to perform our karmA before their respective time.
>As far as chanting His names and shlokAs, they can be altered to any time
>that is not overlapping with above karmA.
>
>--------------------
> I heard having Thiru Thulai Theertham early in the morning on
> the day of dvadasi is equal to doing Parayanam. But my doubt is,
> we follow ekadasi Vratam and not uppavasam. Even in that case
> can  Thiru Thulai Theertham be had and is it equal to parayanam?
>--------------------
>No doubt that having the thiru thuzhAi theertham is considered as
completing
>pAranam (as we derive from ambarIsha story), it would be appropriate to
>finish the food with Theertham. Even in that story if the sage durvAsA is
>not delayed, he would have had the full food with the sage. Any case, we
are
>taking (or supposed to be taking) the thiru thuzhAi theertham daily in
>parishEchanam immediately before having food.
>
>++++++++++++
>All above are addressed directly to gents but strI dharmam is based on
their
>husbands, hence you may have to keep that in mind.
>
>
>dAsan
>L. Vijayaraman
>
>P.S: You said: we follow ekadasi Vratam and not uppavasam. I am curious to
>know the differences and learn. Can you please throw more light to this
>statement? Thanks.