[ramanuja] Mutual help - bhojanam (part -3)

[Jayasree Saranathan <jayasree.saranathan@xxxxxxxxx>]

SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.

Athithi puja has been regarded as one among the 6daily rituals for a Brahmin.
The 6 daily rituals are(1) snaanam (bathing) (2) sandhya vandanam
(3)oupaasanam (4) bhagavad aaraadhanam (5) vaishwadevam and (6)
athithi puja. Of these the first and the last are to be done by all
the 4 varnas.

Athithi puja has been part and parcel of the 5 Great sacrifices
(pancha maha yagya) namely Brahma yagyam(upasana on Brahman), Pitru
yagyam (remembering the departed ancestors), deva yagyam (worshipping
devas),bhootha yagyam (feeding plants and animals) and manushya yagyam
(athithi bhojanam).

A gruhastha (thefamily man) is supposed to incur 5 types of
sinseveryday and the 5 Great yagyas are prescribed as remedies from
these sins.The grushatha becomes responsible for 5 types ofkillings in
his house when he (1) burns the firewood for cooking, (2) grinds flour
in the grinding stone,(3) sweeps the floor, (4) breaks the grains and
(5)boils water.

 In all these acts which are regularly done, many micro organisms and
living things such as insects are killed. His house becomes a ground
for'Soona' (killing). In order to seek redress from these 5 types of
killings, the gruhastha has been ordained to conduct the 5 great
sacrifices, of which athithi bhojanam is one.

Many stories on athithi bhojanam are cited in puranas.One such story
is about Gnyadhi dharma and his wife Sree vallabhai who lived in
Saurashtra. They lived in penury and the absence of rains for 12 years
in succession added to their woes. After days of hunger,they at last
managed to get a pumpkin. It was then a sage arrived at their home and
the couple received him with all rituals that were to be done to the
athithi. The pumpkin was cooked and the small meal they could afford
was offered to the sage while they remained unfed.

 The next morning the sage left on his journey and the couple too left
on their last journey immediately thereafter – only to reach higher
realms that are reserved for people who do athithi puja of highest
order.

A similar story is found in Mahabharatha in which a porcupine that
rolled on the left overs on the groundafter the athithi had eaten had
its spikes turned golden. It then proceeded to Yudhishtra's court to
narrate the great sacrifice (of life) of the family in having fed the
athithi under difficult conditions which is far greater than the yagya
that Yidhishtra had just done

Even the lesser life forms were seen to have stuck to athithi
bhojanam. An incident involving a pigeon has been narrated by Sri Rama
in Ramayanam to extol the athithi bhojanam that the pigeon had done
which also stands as a best example for sharanaagatha rakshkam by a
bird.

Once a hunter captured a female pigeon and reached the base of the
tree which houses the nest of the pigeon couple. Though the male
pigeon sitting on the branch saw its mate in captivity, it also found
that the hunter had not had any food for a few days.Since he had
reached the house (tree) of the pigeon,it considered him as an athithi
and also as one who has sought surrender in it for food. The male
pigeon then formed fire and fell into it to become food for the
hunter.

In today's conditions, it is rare to find an athithi.But as
sanatanists we have to do manushya yagyam. In my opinion feeding
atleast one person a day who has no means of earning his food can be a
substitute. In other parts of the world such an act is considered as
service. In sanatana dharma it is considered as the DUTY of every
person. (refer Tai upa ).I think duty is a far superior word than
service. When you serve someone,your hand goes up and the receiver has
to extend his hand below in humility. But when the same is done as a
duty, the pride of the receiver is never put to stress. The doer gives
because it does him good and the receiver takes because by so-doing he
is enabling the doer (giver) receive some benefits. The self-respect
of the receiver is not hurt in this scenario. Athithi bhojanam is one
which maintains this balance.

 Regards,
Jayasree saranathan
(to be concluded in the next mail)


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Azhvar EmberumAnAr JeeyAr ThiruvadigalE Saranam 
http://www.vedics.net

 
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