..sloham 17-7..During Sri Rama’s time, one Vegavati wanted to marry Him, but since it was not possible in that Avatar, She was born as Sri Padmavati. Vagulamalika was the mother of the Lord. She was connected with Sri Krishna Avatar! The Lord told His mother Vagulamalika, that He desired to marry Sri Padmavati, daughter of the King Akasha raja..
āhāras tv api sarvasya trividho bhavati priyaḥ
yajñas tapas tathā dānaṃ teṣāṃ bhedam imaṃ śṛṇu
Shastras say ‘ ahara siddhau tattva siddhi: tatva siddhau dhruva smrithi:’. If food is pure, satva quality would develop, which would permit dhyanam or meditation. In meditation if we remember the Lord, then all our doubts would be cleared. Aharas tvapi = even food, sarvasya = for everyone, bhavati = are, priya = liked, trividho = in Three types…Tatha = similarly, yajna = yagna or sacred Karmas, dhanam = donation or charity, tapas = penance or meditation, tesam bhedam = [three types of] difference among them, imam srunu = now listen [from Me, Sri Krishna]…Swami Prativadhi Bhayankaram Anna composed Sri Venkatesa suprabhatam, which also consists of Venkatesa Prapatti and Venkatesa Mangalam. This is being chanted daily and is popular. He was one of the Ashta Dik Gajams of Swami Manavala Mamunigal. He says that the Lord, Who is in all minds, is always in the thoughts of Swami Manavala Mamunigal, the last of Poorva Acharyas of Sri Vaishnavas. This clearly demonstrates that the Lord remains for ever in minds of satva people.
..sriyakkanthaye kalyana nidhaye nidhayerchinam |
srivenkata nivasaya srinivasaya mangalam ||
rasyāḥ snigdhāḥ sthirā hṛdyā āhārāḥ sāttvikapriyāḥ
Ayu = for longevity, satva = doing good for us, bala = strength by generating more prana vayu or oxygen and maintaining body temperature steadily, arogya = health, sukha = happiness, rasya snigdha sthira = food eaten is well digested and providing nutrients to the body, hrdya = pleasant looking, ahara = foods, satvikapriya = are liked by satva quality persons. Food with good appearance and smell, providing energy and strength to the body, would increase longevity and health, and are liked by persons with satva quality…
Foods that are acidic, bitter, salty, sour, spicy, pungent, dry, hard or burning are the foods that those in raja guna are very much attracted to. The word tiksna refers to food of no value because they are either to cold or to hot. Raksa are foods which are to dry and hard. Vidhahinah are those foods that cause a burning sensation in the body. These foods produce pain, distress, sickness and misery and decreases longevity of life and increase desires for more and more rajas or passion.
The foods liked by those in tama guna the mode of ignorance are yata-yaman meaning stale, foods that are old from the previous day, foods cooked more than a yama which is literally three hours before. Gata-rasam means those foods which have lost their original flavour and have become tasteless. Puti means putrid, possessing a foul smell. Paryusitam means decomposed, unrecognisable. Ucchistam means eating the remains of others food after they have eaten. This does not apply to honouring the remnants of mahaprasadam or sanctified food first offered to Lord Krishna and then eaten by the spiritual preceptors who mercifully leaves some for their devotees which is then glorified by them as maha mahaprasadam. Amedhyam means unsanctified foods due to not having been consecrated by first offering it to the Supreme Lord and thus impure. Partaking of foods in tama guna such as meat, fish, fowl, eggs, wine, alcohol, etc. breeds dark nescience and great ignorance.
So in conclusion those fortunate jivas or embodied beings with spiritual insight should absolve themselves from the intake of foods in raja guna and tama guna and resort exclusively to foods in sattva guna.
..sloham 17-11..
- Seetatvam – coolness. Those bathing are refreshed.
- Swadutvam – doing good for all those drinking Ganga water.
- Nirmalatvam – always clear.Those bathing are also cleansed.
- Atyanta ruchyatvam – sweet to drink.
- Patyatvam – diet like to cure diseases.
- Pavanatvam – very sacred and pure.
- Papa haaritvam – absolves sins accumulated over many births.
- Trishna moha dvamsavatvam – destroys desire and delusion.
- Deepamatvam – illuminates well our body, mind and atman.
- Pragya dharirvam – develops our knowledge and cultivates Bhakti….
..Yagno dhanam tapa: satyam shraddham cha sthira poojanam gangayam yatkrutam sarvam koti koti gunam bhavet’ – By doing yagna, gifts, meditation or poojas for ancestors or devas, on the banks of Ganga would bring billion times rewards to the performer. As we go higher and higher and look down, we find at some places crops are cultivated on the hill slope by cutting steps. As we look up we find many hills adjoining each other. Tirumangai Alwar, while traveling these places on his horse, Adalma, back, has described the beauty in many pasurams. He calls his mind to quickly come to go to Tiruppiridhi [திருப்பிரிதி]. He says that the trees here are tall enough to touch the clouds! On the other side he saw tigers roaming! It seems Devas descend down from heaven to bathe and gather flowers to worship the Lord, with the Thousand divine names! Tiruppiridi is the name of Joshimutt. Alwar says that Ganga flows in Himalayas with fragrance. From Gangotri, she starts and reaches Bindusaras, then as Bhagirathi she arrives at Devaprayag, and then flows to Haridwar and then to Kashi. On one side of Badrikashram is Naraynadri hills. From there Alakananda river flows and joins Bhagirati at Devaprayag.
The foods liked by those in tama guna the mode of ignorance are yata-yaman meaning stale, foods that are old from the previous day, foods cooked more than a yama which is literally three hours before. Gata-rasam means those foods which have lost their original flavour and have become tasteless. Puti means putrid, possessing a foul smell. Paryusitam means decomposed, unrecognisable. Ucchistam means eating the remains of others food after they have eaten. This does not apply to honouring the remnants of mahaprasadam or sanctified food first offered to Lord Krishna and then eaten by the spiritual preceptors who mercifully leaves some for their devotees which is then glorified by them as maha mahaprasadam. Amedhyam means unsanctified foods due to not having been consecrated by first offering it to the Supreme Lord and thus impure. Partaking of foods in tama guna such as meat, fish, fowl, eggs, wine, alcohol, etc. breeds dark nescience and great ignorance.
So in conclusion those fortunate jivas or embodied beings with spiritual insight should absolve themselves from the intake of foods in raja guna and tama guna and resort exclusively to foods in sattva guna.
..sloham 17-9..In Raghu dynasty, in which Sri Rama also was born, there was a king Sagara [सागर ஸாகரன்]. Once he performed Ashwamedha yagna. The holy horse was allowed to wander as was the custom. None should capture the horse and horse should return back to the yagna and would mark the completion of the yagna. But this horse was stolen and the King could not find where the horse was kept. He dispatched his 60,000 sons in search of the horse. They went to Patala lok and found the horse tied. Near it was the sage Kapila meditating. Without any enquiry, they decided that sage Kapila had stolen and tried to harm him. The sage was infuriated and cursed the sons of King Sagar to be reduced to ashes. The King was worried that his sons had not returned. He sent his another son Asamanjan, who was also not successful. Then he sent his grand son Amsuman to search for the horse and his other sons. Amsuman found the horse and sage Kapila. After gathering the news that all 60,000 sons of Sagar were reduced to ashes, he respectfully approached sage Kapila and requested for the horse and also to make the 60,000 sons to be alive! Sage Kapila gave back the horse, but said that by bringing Ganga from upper worlds, the 60,000 sons could be salvaged. Amsuman returned and did penance for bringing Ganga. But he could not succeed. In the Seventh generation of King Sagar was born Bhagiratha and he started the penance sincerely.
We have to see another story. Emperor Bali was performing one yagna on the banks of river Narmada. Completion of that yagna would make Bali powerful and so Indra requested the Lord to save him. The Lord was born as the dwarf Sri Vamana and went to the yagna and begged for Three steps of earth from Bali. When Bali promised to grant, the Lord took the gigantic form of Sri Trivikrama. In one stride His first step covered entire Universe. He lifted His left leg high up to stride and cover all the upper worlds. Seeing the Foot of the Lord in Satya lok, lord Brahma, as was the custom, tried to welcome the Lord by washing His foot! From his Kamandalu, lord Brahma washed the foot of the Lord and that water became Ganga, most sacred water!
When Bhagiratha requested lord Brahma to allow Ganga to flow down to earth, he asked Bhagiratha to ensure Ganga was received properly. Bhagiratha prayed lord Shiva and he agreed to receive Ganga. Ganga came down with force and in order to suppress Ganga’s pride, lord Shiva received her on his head and later kept her captured within his hairdo! Again at the request of Bhagiratha, Shiva released a small portion of Ganga to flow out! At the request of Bhagiratha, Ganga agreed to follow him so that he could guide Ganga to the ashes of his ancestors. While flowing, Ganga submerged many villages and washed away many huts. Sage Janu’s ashram also was washed away and the sage, to teach a lesson to Ganga, swallowed her fully in one gulp! Bhagiratha again requested the sage and so the sage released her. That is why Ganga is also called Janavi!
..kaṭvamlalavaṇātyuṣṇatīkṣṇarūkṣavidāhinaḥ
āhārā rājasasyeṣṭā duḥkhaśokāmayapradāḥ
These people with rajo quality like these types of food. Or, by taking these types of food rajo qualities become dominant in us. Too much of bitterness or too spicy or too sour are the food liked. Food which are too cold or too hot are liked by them.
..sloham 17-10..We are at Brahma kundam. Bhagiratha performed penance to bring Ganga on this Earth. We can see thousands of people waiting to take holy bath in this Brahma kundam. With well built steps to enable safe bathing and performing poojas, we can see many pilgrims here. This place is also known as Hariki pauri..Lord Brahma created many Prajapatis, of them Daksha Prajapati is one. Prajapatis are in charge of craetion of various living beings in this World. Shashi Devi was Daksha’s daughter, who was married by lord Shiva…The Lord Sriman Narayana also appeared on Garuda and after pacifying lord Shiva, resurrected Daksha. This is the place where Daksha’s yagna was conducted and so it is called Daksheshwar. Nearby is
yātayāmaṃ gatarasaṃ pūti paryuṣitaṃ ca yat
ucchiṣṭam api cāmedhyaṃ bhojanaṃ tāmasapriyam
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