Prayer Guide
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with detailed explanations of several
Mantras, Stotras, Krtans, and
Religious Festivals
Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Arsha Vidya Gurukulam
Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, USA
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Published by Arsha Vidya Gurukulam. Edited by Krishnakumar (KK) S.
Davey and Jayshree Ramakrishnan. Available at
http://books.arshavidya.org/
Contents
Foreword iii
Preface iv
Key to Transliteration vii
UNDERSTANDING PRAYER
The Need for Prayer 1
The Purpose of Prayer 14
Ritualistic Prayer 33
Oral Prayer 38
Mental Prayer 44
Prayerfulness 57
CUTIVATING DEVOTION
Becoming a Devotee 58
Pj 65
Akhaa-nma-japa 72
Mantra Initiation 77
FORMS OF THE LORD
Forms of Worship 95
Lord Gaea 99
Lord Naarja 101
r Dakimrti 105
ivaliga 111
Worship of the Five Elements 114
MANTRAS AND STOTRAS
uklmbaradharam 117
Agajnana padmrkam 120
Y kundendu 123
Gyatr-mantra 128
O namo bhagavate dakimrtaye 133
Maunavykhy 137
Nidhaye sarvavidynm 140
O nama pranavrthya 142
varo gururtmeti 144
Tatpuruya vidmahe 145
Rjdhirjya 148
Na tatra sryo bhti 151
rrma rma rmeti 154
Namaste astu bhagavan 156
ivamnasapj 159
Saha nvavatu 174
Om 181
Overview of Rudram and Camakam 190
The Gist of Purua Sktam 200
Introduction to Viusahasranma 211
Pra-kumbha mantra 225
KRTANS
Vandeha radm 242
Dakimrte amrte 249
Khelati mama hdaye 256
RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS
Gaea-caturth 260
Sarasvat pj 263
Rmanavam 268
ivartr 288
Guruprim 294
r akara Jayanti 309
INDEX 321
Namaste astu bhagavan
nmSte AStu gviNveray mhadevay y<bkay
ipuraNtkay ikalaikalay kalaiay nIlk{Qay
m&Tyuyay sveRray sdaizvay ImNmhadevay nm>.
namaste astu bhagavan-vivevarya mahdevya
tryambakya tripurntakya triklgni-klya
klgnirudrya nlakahya mtyujayya
sarvevarya sadivya rmanmahdevya nama.
Oh Lord, may this salutation be unto you
who is the Lord of the universe, limitless and
effulgent, all-knowing, the one who projects,
sustains and takes back this universe, the one
who is timeless and also the destroyer of
time, all-pervasive, the conqueror of death,
the Lord of all, and the ever auspicious one
who is always a blessing.
This is a beautiful mantra. It is very good,
especially for pryacita, and can be chanted when one
feels guilty for ones omissions and commissions.
Nama, namaskr. Te, to you, astu, be. Bhagavan,
Oh Lord! My namaskr unto you Oh Lord!
Nama astu vivevarya. You have to repeat
nama astu with each name. Vivevarya. vara, the
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Lord of the entire viva, the entire jagat, the world. My
namaskr unto the Lord of the entire world.
Mahdevya, unto the one who is mahn, limitless,
and a deva, effulgent.
Tryambakya, unto the one who has three eyes.
He knows the past, the present, and the future. He is
all-knowing.
Tripurntakya, unto the one who is antaka, the
one who brings an end of Tripura, the three puras, cities
or worlds, bh, bhuva and suva. Tripurntakya is the
one who takes all the three worlds unto himself.
Triklgni-klya, unto the one who devours the
three klas, or time, which consists of the past, present
and future. Kla eva agni klgni. Agni means fire.
Klagni, time, is such that, like fire, it distorts and
devours everything, and the Lord devours time itself.
In other words, he is timeless, being the creator, the
sustainer, and the destroyer of time.
Klgnirudrya. He is the kla-agni-rpea rudra,
the one who in the form of the kla-agni, time, makes
everybody weep, or in other words, he is the chastiser,
the giver of the fruits of action, karmaphaladt.
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Nlakahya, unto the one who is all-pervasive
and manifest in the form of the jagat, whose kaha or
neck is the blue sky. This is a beautiful vision of the
whole jagat as a manifestation of vara, with the blue
sky being Bhagavns neck.
Mtyujayaya, unto the overlord of mtyu, death.
The Lord of Death thought that he was the greatest,
until he was made to realize that vara was supreme.
There are many interesting stories about this. The story
of Mrkaeya is based upon this aspect of vara.
Sarvevarya, unto the Lord of all the worlds,
bh, bhuva and suva. He is the Lord of all beings,
including the various devats, deities.
Sadivya, unto the one who, despite being the
Lord of everything, is himself untouched by anything.
The entire jagat is his manifestation, sustained by him
and absorbed back unto him, but who is he? He is
sadiva, of the nature of pure nand, the limitless
Consciousness.
rmanmahdevya nama, my namaskr unto the
one who is riman mahdeva. riman is rimat, which
means rimn, one who is a blessing. In reciting this
verse, we invoke the Lord in the form of riman
mahdeva and seek his blessing.
