Hariprasad’s Weblog

Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya – May HE lead us from ignorance to knowledge

Archive for the ‘Mantras’ Category

Update on the Vishnu Sahasranama Portal

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Its been 15 days since the portal became available. Some updates to the website have been made.

  • A facility to read the stotra online in Kannada, English and Devanagiri
  • An amateur attempt at providing a Vishnu Sahasranama screensaver!
  • The English translation of the specific portion of the Mahabharata where the Vishnu Sahasranama appears

With regard to the development of the portal, we have decided to split up the work into four phases. In the first phase, we will just add the names and their meanings. About 400 names are complete so far.

In the second phase, we will add individual pages for each name. This will contain name, pronunciation aid, meaning and namavali but no detailed notes.

In the third phase, we will add detailed notes for each name, based on several references we are accumulating.

In the fourth phase, we will upload short audio clips which will help one learn pronunciation and namavali. For example, refer to pages corresponding to the first two names in the portal.

My friend Madhusimha has joined in this effort to build the portal. Thanks to him, I am hoping the portal will shape up much faster!

P.S: Cross-posted here as well.

Written by Hariprasad

February 20, 2009 at 1:30 pm

Sri Vadiraja Jayanthi

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Namaskara,

I am moving all my spirituality and religion related content to a dedicated site. Please click here for this article.

Regards, Hari

Written by Hariprasad

February 7, 2009 at 9:54 am

Vishnu Sahasranama Portal

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Today is the auspicious day of Madhva Navami, the day when Sri Madhvacharya left Udupi for Badari in order to stay with, and serve, Sri Veda Vyasa. It is believed that he is in Badari even to this day. It is a very important festival for Madhvas and grand programs are held in Udupi, Pajaka and other places.

According to some sources, this day occurred in 1317 A.D. Others attribute it to Magha Masa – Shukla Paksha- Navami – Pingala Samvatsara. This occurs on Sunday, January 19, 1318 A.D (and not 1317). In either case, it has been nearly 700 years now since Sri Madhvacharya proceeded to Badari.

On this auspicious ocassion, I am happy to let people know of a small project that I have undertaken during the past two months. It has been a while since I have been dreaming of building a comprehensive portal on Vishnu Sahasra Nama – the thousand glorious names of Lord Vishnu. Finally, I was able to get started with the work and the result is

http://vishnusahasranama.wordpress.com/

The goal of this portal is to build a comprehensive site on the great Stotra. It will have a separate page (and possibly more than one page) for each of the thousand names. In addition, it will have various resources connected with the stotra such as downloadable texts, audio files and so on. The portal will also give the meanings of the various names. The eventual aim is to provide multiple meanings to each of the names, as explained by the various Acharyas. In fact, Sri Madhvacharya has made it clear that there at the least, 100 meanings for every single name in the Vishnu Sahasranama!

I have managed to complete the pages for the first 100 names and thought it would be a good enough milestone to let people know. I have also put together some “meta data” pages which explain the idea behind the project, the to-do list items, pointers to resources on the net, some guides and so on. There is also a “random post” link on the portal. Clicking this will take you to a random page on the portal. I think this is a very good way of reading about a particular name – whenever one has time. “One Nama a day – keeps all evil away” :-)

Please go through the portal and let me know your feedback and suggestions. Since the work is very much in initial stages, it becomes easy to incorporate feedback and implement the same for all pages.

Best wishes to all on Madhva Navami.

|| Sri Krishnarpanamastu ||

Written by Hariprasad

February 4, 2009 at 9:34 am

Navagraha Mantras in Kannada

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I have uploaded the “Saswara” Navagraha mantras in Kannada to my mantras page. These include the mantras for the Adhi Devata and the Pratyadhi Devata for each of the nine grahas.

The Graha – Adhi Devata – Pratyadhi Devata list is as below.

  1. Aditya – Savitru – Agni
  2. Angaraka – Prithvi – Kshetrapala
  3. Shukra – Indrani – Indra
  4. Chandra – Apa – Gowri
  5. Budha – Vishnu – Vishnu
  6. Bruhaspati – Indra – Brahma
  7. Shani – Prajapati – Yama
  8. Rahu – Sarpa – Nirruti
  9. Ketu – Brahma – Chitragupta

Of course, the list of Adhi Devatas and Pratyadhi Devatas is slightly different in different traditions. Hopefully we can cover the other lists through comments :-)

Written by Hariprasad

December 13, 2008 at 8:25 am

Argala and Kilaka Stotra

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I have uploaded the kannada transliteration of the Argala Stotra and the Kilaka Stotra to my Mantras page. Both the stotras are part of the initial stotras recited as part of the Devi Saptashathi Parayana.

Written by Hariprasad

November 24, 2008 at 2:26 pm

Posted in Kannada, Mantras, Religion

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Sama Veda Samhita Yaga

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Recently, a Sama Veda Samhita Yaga was conducted at my “Mula Mane” or ancestral home at Nellitheertha. My uncle had conducted the Rig Veda Samhita Yaga two years ago and the Yajur Veda Samhita Yaga last year. And yes, next year he plans to conduct the Atharva Samhita Yaga.

Sama Veda Samhita Yaga

Sama Veda Samhita Yaga

Yaga

Yaga

This Yaga was very different from the last two years’ Yagas. The people who did the Yaga came from a very small community in Honnavar, Karnataka who still practice the Sama Veda. Their rhythmic and melodius chanting of the Veda Mantras was a treat to the ears.

The Yaga was conducted for 7 days and involved chanting every single Samhita shloka of Sama Veda and offering oblations through fire to Veda Narayana.

Mandala

Mandala

Yaga 2

Yaga 2

P.S: My uncle uses a “Arani” which is a small instrument made out of a special wood to “create” the fire needed to conduct the homas and Yagas. This is just like the good old traditional days when fire used to be created for these rituals using two Arani sticks.

Arani

Arani

Written by Hariprasad

November 16, 2008 at 12:15 pm

Palayachyuta Stotra

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The Palayachyuta Stotra, also known as Krishnaashtaka or the Krishna Stuti is another great composition by Sri Vadiraja Swamy. It has only 9 stanzas and very easy to chant. It praises Lord Krishna as the one adorning Udupi (Raupyapeeta pura).

This stotra praises Krishna starting from his face and then goes on to describe his neck, hands and so on. It may be recalled that the first stotra of Sri Madhvacharya’s Dwadasha Stotra praises Vishnu starting from his feet and moving upwards. Therefore, some people consider it equivalent to a Mangalarathi if the first stotra of Dwadasha Stotra (Vande Vandyam….) and the Palayachyuta Stotra are narrated one after the other.

I have uploaded the Kannada transliteration of this beautiful shloka to my mantras page.

In addition, I have also uploaded a second version of Sri Rama Raksha Stotra in the same page.

Written by Hariprasad

October 29, 2008 at 3:10 pm

Sri Rama Raksha Stotra

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I have uploaded the Kannada transliteration of Sri Rama Raksha Stotra to my mantras page today.  As usual, comments and corrections are welcome.

Written by Hariprasad

October 26, 2008 at 4:36 pm

Posted in Kannada, Mantras, Religion

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Avahana Mudras

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Avahana mudras are to be shown everyday during Puje. They are ritualistic methods of inviting God to “place” himself in the idols so that we get the opportunity to worship him. These mudras are not shown to Shaligrama and Balamuri Shankhas because HE resides in them always.

 

 

 

 

 

Written by Hariprasad

October 23, 2008 at 1:44 pm

Posted in dvaita, Mantras, Religion

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Dashavatara Stotra and other mantras

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I have uploaded the Kannada transliteration of Dashavatara Stotra by Sri Vadiraja Swamy at my mantras page. Just like all his other compositions, this one is a pleasure to recite. Even for someone like me who is a novice with music, I find his compositions very rhythmic!

Along with this, I have uploaded two other stotras at the same page.

 

  1. Sri Krishna Dvadasha Nama Stotra – from the Aranya parva of Mahabharata
  2. Avatara Traya Stotra – By Sri Vadiraja Swamy
Feedback and corrections are, as always, welcome.

 

Written by Hariprasad

October 19, 2008 at 8:39 am

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