Ancestors of Rama

Rama descents from a long line of illustrious men, like King Dilipa of the Ikshvaku dynasty. Then came Dilipa's son Raghu, who achieved such fame that from his time onwards, his dynasty came to be known as 'Raghuvamsham'.

Raghu' son Aja sired Rama's father Dasharatha.

A Makeover

I have umpteen number of prayers yet to post, but I thought that with that it would be great to post a few myths and puraanas that I have managed to collect too. I aim to make this blog slightly more interesting.

Tulasi

The Tulasi or the Holy Basil has a lot of significance in the Hindu prayer or Puja. In most Hindu homes, it is usual to see a Thulasi thara or a platform on which the Holy basil is planted.

The most auspicious direction is where there is direct sunlight and that should be seen from the main door of the house(which should face east).

The platform or Thualsi thara should always be higher than the floor of the house.There should always be more than one plant in the thulasi thara.Krishna thulasi is the best one for this purpose. It needs to be water daily, weeded and kept free of insects, dead leaves etc.

It also has medicinal properties that cures fever, cough, stomach ailments,diarrhoea, headaches, insect bites, mouth ulcers etc.

In the evenings , while one lights the Sandhya deepam, it is usual to keep a light at the Tulasi thara. Take three pradakshinas around the thulasi thara and chant this mantra...

Praseeda thulasi devi
Praseeda hari-vallabhe
Ksheeroda-madanodbudhe
Thulasi thwaam namaamyaham

When one plucks the thulasi flowers, chant

Thulasi amritha sambhootha
sadaa thwam keshava priye
Keshavaartham lunaami thwaam
Varadaa bhava shobhane.

The thulasi thara should be kept with as much piety and respect given to the Puja room . The thulasi leaves or flowers hsould not be plucked during the twilight time, ekadashi days, tuesdays or fridays.

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.......

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 .

Shiva - Panchakshari stothram

Naagendra haaraya thrilochanaaya
Bhasmmaga ragaaya maheswaraaya
Nityaaya shudhaaya digambaraaya
Thasmai nakaaraya namah shivaaya

Mandakini salila chandana charchitaaya
Nandiswara pramadha naadha maheswaraaya
mandaara pushpa bahupushpa supoojithaaya
Thasmai makaaraya namah shivaaya

Shivaaya gowri vadana-aravinda
Sooryaaya dakshadwara naashanaaya
Sree neelakanthaaya vrishadhwajaaya
Thasmai shikaaraya namah shivaaya

vasishta kumbho-dhbhava gowthamaarya-
muni-indra dvaarchitha sekharaaya
Chandra-arka vaishwanara lochanaaya
Thasmai vakaaraya namah shivaaya

Yaksha swaroopaaya jadaa dharaaya
Pinaaka-hasthaaya sanathanaaya
Divyaaya devaya digambaraaya
Thasmai yakaaraya namah shivaaya

Eka-sloka Ramayanam (Ramayana in One sloka)

Poorvam rama-thapovanaadhi gamanam
Hrithvaa Mrigam kaanchanam
Vaidehi-haranam, Jataayu-maranam
Sugreeva-sambhashanam
Bali-nigrahanam, Samudratharanam
Lankapuri-dahanam,
Paschath raavana-kumbhakarna nidhanam
Hye-thadhi ramaayanam