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SrI:

Dear Sriman Ramesh Srinivasan :

Thanks very much for the most informative article on kANDa r^ishis " .

This year , we are blessed to recieve insightful articles on the true 
significance of UpAkarma . 

I will try to assemble all these interconnected articles 
under one roof in the Sadagopan.org  web pages soon
in the Vaidhika anushtAnam section  of Sadagopan.org 
for ready reference :

http://www.sadagopan.org 

Our collective thanks are to your knowledgable friend .  

There is another important posting on the true significance of UpAkarma 
from Dr. Sridhar that arrived today . I will post it also for the enjoyment of
readers .

NamO Veda PurushAya ,
V.Sadagopan 

 
 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Ramesh Srinivasan 
To: Oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Cc: SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ; ramanujamission@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 3:06 AM
Subject: [Oppiliappan] kANDa r^iShi-s and their significance


Respected members,

I received this very informative and illuminating article on kANDa r^iShi-s and 
their significance from an esteemed member who wishes to remain anonymous. 

He has requested that I post this to the group on his behalf. I am very 
grateful for his detailed discussion of my various questions on this topic.



With namaskAram-s to all vedAbhimAnI-s,

Ramesh

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Sri:

asmath gurubhyO namaha

asmath parama gurubhyO namaha

asmath sarva gurubhyO namaha



Dear Sri Ramesh and other aasthikas,



adiyen would like to offer a few more points to the discussion. 



Readers will be more familiar with the divison of the 

samhita-bhagam of the Krishna Yajur Veda (KYV)

into Seven kANDams as follows:



I Darsa-Purna-Maasa

II Pasu Vidhanam

III Neuna Karma-Vidhanam

IV Agni-Chiti-Anga Mantra-Patha-Abhidhanam(Agni-Chayana Mantras)

V Ukhya-agni-kathanam

VI soma-mantra-brahmana-nirupanam

VII AshwamEdhA-gata mantrAnam abhidanam



The other classification, followed by Bodhayana, Hiranyakesin 

and Apastambha mahArishi-s, is the ArshEya-pAtA-kramam. 



This classification, splits the text of  the Samhita/Bramhana/Aranyaka 

into Five kANDA-s - each kANDA named after the rshI who played the

major role in the collection of the MantrAs and BrahmanAs - prajApati,

Soma, Agni, Visvedeva and Svyambhuva.



Five KhAndA-a of ArshEya-pAtA-kramam of KYV, along with the

"subjects" covered:



I prAjApatyAnI:

  1.paurodasika

  2.yAjamAnA

  3.hOtArah

  4.hautrA

  5.pitra-mEdhA 



II saumyam

  1. AdhvaryAva

  2. grahAh

  3. dAkshinAnI

  4. samishta-yajugaMshI

  5. Avabhrta-yajugMshI

  6. vAjapEya

  7. SukriyAni

  8. savAh



III Agneyam

  1. agni-Adheya

  2. agnihOtrA

  3. agni-upasthana

  4. agni-chayanA

  5. sAvitrA

  6. nAchiketA

  7. chatur-hOtrA

  8. vaisva-srjam

  9. arunA-kEtu-chayanA





IV vaisvadEvam

  1. rAja-sUyA

  2. pasu-bandhA

  3. ishtyAha

  4. nakshtra-isthI

  5. Diva-syEnayah

  6. apAgha

  7. sattrAyanA

  8. upa-homAh

  9. sUktanI

  10. aupAnuvAkya

  11. yAjyAh

  12. ashwamAdhA

  13. purusha-mEdhA

  14. sautrAmanI

  15. achidrAni

  16. pasu-Hautra

  17. upanishadah



V svyambhuvam kANDam

  1. svAdhyAyA brAmhaNa





---The sUtrakArA-s of KYV - Bodhayana, Hiranyakesin and 

Apastambha rishi-s have all addressesed the 

upakarma/utsarjana ceremonies in varying levels of detail-



---Apasthambha-grhya-sUtram III.8:

upAkaraNe samApanE cha rishiryah pragyAyatE (1)

sadaspatir-dvitIyaha(2)



---hiraNyakEsin-grhya-sUtram Prasna I, patala 2, Section 8:

In the context of the vratha-s observed by the

bramhachArI-student at the beginnig and completion of 

the study of a kANDA:



". na tvEvavrathah syath| kANDopakaraNE kANDa-visargE cha| 
sadasaspathimadbhutahm priyam-indrasya kamyam | 

sanim medhA-mayA-sisham | svAhA | iti kANDa-rshIr-dvitIyah."





---hiraNyakEsin-grhya-sUtram Prasna II, patala 8, Section 18:

"aThAth upakaraNothsarajanE vyAkhyAsyAmaH...."



The rishi recommends the fortnight that precedes the Sravana

full-moon, under Hasta nakshatra or on the full-moon 

day itself for the annual course of opening ceremony of study.



vyAhritI oblations are to be made to the rishi-s of the kANDAs,

or to the names of the kANDAs, to the sAvitrI (gAyatrI mantrA),

to the rg-vEda, to the yajur-vEda, to the sAma-vEda, to 

the atharvana-vEda, and to sadaspati:



".agnimupsamAdhAya vyahritiparyantam krtvA kANDa-rshI juhOti| 

prajApatyE kANDarshayE svAhA| sOmAya kANDarshayE svAhA| 

agnayE kANDarshayE svAhA| visvEbhyo devEbhyah kANDarshayE svAhA|

svaymbhuvE kANDarshayE svAhA| iti kANDarshayah kANDanAmAni 

vA sAvitrI rg-vEdam  yajur-vEdam  sAma-vEdam-atharvana-vEdam 

sadasaspathimiti|"


Having thus offered oblations, one should repeat the 

first three anuvAkA-s, or the beginnings of all kANDA-s.



hiraNyakEsin goes on to describes the time and procedure for the utsarjana 
ceremony.



Regarding the position on the yagnopvitham while offering rshI tarpanam:



".niVItin uttharat udIchin-pravaN udakagrairdarbhai: prAgapavargANyAsanAni 
kalpayanti visvAmitrAy jamadagnyE bharadvAjAy gouthmAyAtraAyE vasishTAya 
kashyapAy.."





---bodhAyanA-grhya-sUtram Prasna III, adhyAyA-s I and II  are on similar lines 
to the description given by hiraNyakEsin, but much more elaborate, This is very 
similar to that description given by hiraNyakEsin. Oblations to yagnIkI-devatA, 
sAmhtI-devata, vAruNIa-devata are specifically mentioned in this text. The 
ArshEya-pAtA-kramam listed out above, is also found here. 



The shikshavalli that expounds samhitopasana is called "sAMhitI", the 
anandavalli and bhriguvalli are called "vAruNI" as the were taught by varuNA. 
The mahAnArAyanOpanishad is well known as "yaajniki upanishad" - Bhagavan 
Narayana, well known by the name Yagna, is the seer, and this upanishad 
expounds the "yagna" of the form of the worship of the Supreme Lord. 



[wrt to the question on placement of the yagnopavitham while offering libation, 
Prasna II, AdhyAyA II  of bodhAyanA-grhya-sUtram says . aTha vai bhavati 
nivItammanushyaNAM prachInAvItaM pitrnAM upavItam dEvanAM iti| ...] 





The kANDa rshI tarpana varies according to the shAkhA. For the KYV, there are 4 
kANDa-rshI-s, 3 upanishad devatas, 1 svAdhyAyA brAmhaNa, 1 Lord of the assembly 
(sadaspati) - a total of 9 tarpanas are to be offered. 



The sAma-vEdins offer around 275 tarpana-s - including the sapta-rshI-s, the 
teachers of the sAmA, pravachana kartArA, sacred rivers, the vamsa-brAmhaNa, 
devataa-s, and pitarah. 

This lineage of rshi-s through whom the sAma-vEda has ben passed is dealt with 
in the vamsa-brAmhaNa of the sAma-vEda. The vamsa-brAmhaNa says that brAmhan 
learnt the sAma-sampradaya from none because he is "svyambhU", ie. 
SvayambhAtavidyA, as Sayana explains - the knowledge revealed itself to Him. 

Perhaps, this explanation can be applied to the svyambhuvam kANDam (svAdhyAyA 
brAmhaNa) of the KYV as well.



At the conclusion, adiyen would like to reiterate this sentence from Sri 
Vijayaraghavan Swamin's article,

(http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/rituals/upakarma/significance.html) 



"The main purpose of the Upakarma function is to offer prayers and express our 
gratitude to those rishis who gave us the Vedas -- the rishis through whom the 
Vedic mantras were revealed."



The compassionate rshi-s and acharya-s (at the behest of the most merciful Lord 
Sriman Narayana) have combined, compressed, and shortened many of the mandatory 
karmas just for our "convenience". UpAkarmA and UtsarjanA signify the beginning 
and conclusion of the study of one's shAkhA of the Veda.   The veda-adhyAyanam 
is the most important part of the ceremonies. Yet, we teach our children that 
upakArmA just means "thread-changing ceremony", that reciting veda is only for 
"vadyars" and not for us "highly-educated professionals" and thus totally 
abandon the study of Veda. 



Let us take a resolution during this upAkarmA/utsarjanA day as well as on 
gAyatri-japam-day that within the next year each one of us will attempt to 
learn atleast one sooktam or even one anuvakam of our own shAkha from a 
qualified teacher! Purusha-suktam, upanishad, vedaarambham, veda-sattumurrai, 
tamil vedam are all great to start with. 



munnivvulaguezhum irul mandiyunna  munnivarodu daannavargaL thisaippa - 
vandhupannulagai naal-veda porulai-yellaam  parimugamaay aruliya emparaman 
kaanmin,
(Periya Tirumozhi 7.8.2)



All errors above are due to adiyEn's ignorance.



srimate sri lakshmi-hayavadana parabramhane namaha!

ramanuja dasan.



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