SrI: Dear VaidhikAs and VedAbhimAnis: VedAs have a lot of messages celebrating GrahasthAsram and has poignant advices to the couple, who are about to entering in to GrahasthAsramam. July 2 is a VivAha muhUrtham day and I thought it will be appropriate to share with you a selected group of Manthrams on this general subject. Some of these Manthrams are so universal in scope that one comes across the same text of these manthram in more than one Vedam . Only the svaram varies with the different Vedams and Veda Saakhais. Manthram 1: Yajur Vedam:VIII.45 ******************************* This is a prayer by the Grahasthan & his bride: Vaachaspathi VisvakarmANamUthayE manOjuvam vaajE adhyA huvEma I sa nO visvAni havanAni jOshadhvisvasambhUravasE saadhukarmA I upAyaamagruheethOaseendhrAya thvA visvakaramaNa yEsha tE yOneerindhrAya thvA visvalarmaNE I (Extended Meaning): ******************* The dampathis are invoking the Omniscient , Omnipotent , Omnipresent Lord here and request Him to aid them in their struggle for existence to conduct a life prescribed by SaasthrAs .The Lord of VedAs is being addressed here. He is recognized as the conferrer of all auspiciousnes and performer of noble deeds . He is saluted as anatharyAmi Brahman and Sarva Saakshi. The prayer is for Him to listen to their invocations as the grantor of all bliss in this and the other world (His Supreme abode). The dampathis acknowledge that His conferral of all auspicious boons is sheerly propelled by His love for the chEthanams who observe His Saasthraic injunctions.That SaasthrapANi showers all boons as VaradarAjan .The Dampathis or the YajamAnan appeals to the Lord for prosperity and success to follow the way of life prescribed by Aasrama dharmams.They express their gratefulnes to the Lord for His blessings that lead to prosperity and success in their prescribed endeavours. Manthram 2: Yajur Vedam: VIII.43 ********************************* The Four PurushArTams are Dharma , ArTa, Kaama and MokshA. In this context , the following address by the husband to his dear wife is fascinating and respectful: " iDE rantE havyE kaamyE chandrE jyOtEdhithi sarasvathi mahi visruthi I yEthA tE agnyE nAmAni dhEvEbhyO maa sukrutham bhru tAth" Extended Meaning: **************** In one of the Rg Veda VivAha manthrams , the bride groom appeals to the bride to bless their family with ten children and asks the bride to treat him as her eleventh child during their old age . In this poignant manthram (YV:VIII.34), the husband requests his wife to teach him the good lesson of acquiring her auspicious attributes(noble qualities). He suggests what are the eleven qualities that an ideal wife should possess and appeals to her to teach him the ways to acquire those qualities. Through this splendid manthram , the husband addresses his wife with the following 11 names , which have enormous Vedic significance and detailed discussion of them will be outside the scope of this short posting : 1) Idaa --Praiseworthy one! 2) Ratnaa--splendorous and delightful 3) Havyaa--worshipful 4) Kaamyaa --lovable one! 5) Chandraa--pleasure giving like the cool rays of Moon 6) JyOthi--well known for good behaviour 7) Adhiti--inviolable one! 8) Saraswathi--full of knowledge 9) Mahi--adorable one! 10)Visruthi--knower of the VedAs 11)Aghanyaa--worthy of respect Each of the names incorporate great Vedic tatthvams. The bride is considered to incorporate all these attributes. (1) Idaa tatthvam is closely linked to Yoga Tatthvams. Idaa-PingaLa-sushumnaa go together as the triad of Tathtvams. (2) Rathnams have their own unique splendours and individual Ratnam has multiple facets to bring out their unique lustre and brilliance. 3) Havyaa is a wonderful name for a wife since it shows the worshipful regard that the husband has or should have for his wife as his SahadharmachAriNi. 4) JyOthi: There are five Rg veda Manthrams associated with "JyOthi" that adiyEn has posted in the lists. This is a powerful name to be linked with a woman to suggest how she is like a radiant lamp on the hill amidst surrounding avaidhihic darkness. 5) Sarasvathi is always linked with ILA , BhArathi and Mahi as tatthvams. Sarasvathi is the divine speech or the inspired word ;ILA has been described as Truth-Vision or Dhrushti; Bharati and Mahi stand in for the largeness of the vision according to Aurobindho . There are so many connotations for the other names for the ideal woman invoked by the VedAs and we will take them up on another occasion. Manthram III: Yajur Vedam: VII.34 ********************************** So far we talked about the traits of an ideal wife in the context of Veda Manthrams . This makes one wonder whether there are auspicious attributes or kalais to be assoicated with a Grahasthan . The above manthram says that to lead a married life to the full , the householder should have the following 16 traits: --aTA na indhra sOmapA giramupasruthim chara upyAmagruheethOasindhraaya thvA shOdasina yEsha tE yOnirindhindhrAya thvA shOdasinE Oh BrahmachAri! Thou art now fully equipped with the pre-requisites for married life (GruhasthAsramam). " I order thee to lead a married life full of prosperity and sixteen traits.This is thy home. I order thee to lead a married life full of prsoperity and sixteen traits". What are these sixteen Kalaas or traits that one comes across in the life of a Householder according to this Veda manthram ? Vedam identifies these kalAs as: (1) PrANa(Breath, life force) (2) ShraddhA (Faith), (3) Kham ( happiness), (4) Vaayu (activity) , (5) JyOthi ( Brilliance or spiritual radiance: TapasA Jwalantha:), (6)Aapa ( water, Jala samruddhi) (7)Prthuvee ( Steadiness and forbearance against offenses committed by others), (8) Indhriya ( Indhriya Nigraham ), (9) Manas ( control of chanchalam manam ), (10) Manthraa ( Understanding of Bhagavath svaroopam through the sound ) 11)IcchA ( ambition to engage in Bhagavath- Bhaagavath-AchArya Kaimakryam) , (12) Anna ( food for offerings to the Lord and guests and the family as a part of the BhUtha Yaj~nams)(13) Veeryaa for progeny (14) Tapas ( Penance and religious austerity), (15)Loka ( Mankind , obligations to society) and (16) Nam (anger or censure ; anger over prAthikoolyams and censure of Vedha Baahya Tathtvams). All the dharmasaasthrAs deal elaborately on number of these kalais and aasrama dharmams. NamO Veda PurushAya, RaamAnuja Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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