Sunday, June 22, 2008

Naarayanam Bhaje...

Naarayanam bhaje naarayanam - Lakshmi
Naarayanam bhaje naarayanam

Vrindaavanasthitham naarayanam - deva
Vrindairabhishtutham naarayanam

Dinakara madhyagam naarayanam - bhaktha
Kanakaambaradharam naarayanam

Pankaja lochanam naarayanam - bhaktha
Sankada mochanam naarayanam

Karunaapayo nidhim naarayanam - bhavya
Sharanaa gatha nidhim naarayanam

Rakshitha jagathrayam naarayanam - chakra
Shikshitha surachayam naarayanam

Ajnaana nashakam naarayanam - shudha
Vijnaana bhaasakam naarayanam

Shrivatsa bhushanam naarayanam - nanda
Govatsa poshanam naarayanam

Shringaara naayakam naarayanam - pada
Gangaa vidhaayakam naarayanam

Sreekandha sevitham naarayanam - nithya
vaikuntha vaasinam naarayanam

Naarayanam bhaje naarayanam - lakshmi
Naarayanam bhaje naarayanam.......

Friday, June 20, 2008

The meaning for the Prayer before sleeping

This was requested to me by Jhanvi

My mom and grandmom used to insist that we pray before going to bed. This was not just a way to thank God and think about Him, but also to make sure that we did not have nightmares, or worries AND to ensure that we got up to see a new dawn!!!!

I don't specifically use this prayer alone, (I have a bunch of them...), but this was given in a prayer book I bought and sounded good. And it was specified in the book to chant the mantras before going to bed....

For easy access, I am linking the prayer here.

It is in sanskrit and basically is the chanting of names of various Gods to salute them.

'Namaha' means to salute

So salutations to Krishna,
Anantha (the serpent bed of Maha Vishnu),
Vaasuki (King of serpents),
Chithraguptha (assistant of Yama, the god of death)
Vishnu and Hara (Shiva)

As far as I know, Krishna and Vishnu are the protectors, Anantha and Vaasuki deal with fears and Shiva has in his power to even stop Yama from taking a life. Since chitraguptha is the person who keeps track of our ticking clocks and informs Yama when the time is up, I guess it is good to keep on his good side.

Mantras sooth and gives power for meditation...
I give a tune and then chant them...Hope this helps you too .