‘ Thai Amavasya ‘  -  P.Natarajan.

‘ Thai Amavasya ’ falls this year on Thai 14 which corresponds to Jan 27, 2017 and the day is a Friday. Friday is considered auspicious for Devi Upasana and ‘Thai Vellikizhamai’, more so.

It was on a Thai Amavasya day, King Sarabhoji of Thanjai visited Abirami Amman Temple in Thirukkadaiyur where Subramaniya Pattar was immersed in worshipping the Goddess. The King wanted to know if Pattar was in sound health as a section of the people had complained that he was insane. Sarabhoji asked Pattar what was the ‘thithi’ that day. Pattar was looking at the face of Abirami Amman and it appeared to him shining brightly as the full moon in the sky. It made him to say without any iota of doubt that the thithi was ‘Pournami’. King Sarabhoji concluded that Pattar was insane as the thithi that day was amavasya only. He told angrily when Pattar finished the worship that in the event of full moon not appearing that night, Pattar would be sentenced to death.

Subramanya Pattar appealed to Goddess Abirami to save him and he began to perform homam singing Abirami Andhadhi songs. As he started the 79th Andhadhi which begins “Vizhikku Arul Undu “ (Tamil), Abirami Amman threw her ‘Thadanga’ (an ear ornament) into the sky which looked like the shining full moon in the sky. ‘Vizhikku Arul Undu’ - this expression in Tamil authenticates that Amman’s eyes are full of grace.

(Full Moon appearing on Amavasya night -

• ‘ Abirami Amman Vizhikku Arul Undu ‘)

She protects her devotees in no small measure. That is why Abirami Andhadhi songs are sung today in groups with undeterred faith and great devotion.

The King was taken aback and wondered how full moon appearing on an Amavasya night in the sky. He rushed to meet Subramanya Pattar and begged his pardon. He also crowned him with the title ‘Abirami Pattar’ owing to his deep devotion to the Goddess Abirami.

Amavasya tithi is considered as sacred as no planet gets shadowed that day. In other days there are ample chances for its occurrence. It is also a day for offering ‘thila tharpanam’ to the ancestors and to seek their blessings. Thai amavasai, Aadi amavasai and Purattasi amavasya are considered important for performing tharpanam to ancestors. Dakshinayana is considered as the night time for Devas and ancestors descend to Earth from Pithru Loka to protect us during this time. Dakshinayana begins  from the first day of Aadi month till the last day of Dhanur masa. In order to welcome the forefathers, we perform tharpanam by way of worship.. During mahalaya amavasya period in Purattasi month, the ancestors come together to earth. They return to ‘Pithru loka in the month of ‘thai’. Hence tharpanam during Thai amavasai is equally important to get the blessings of our forefathers as they depart from Earth to their home.

The curse of ancestors is known as ‘Pitru Dosham’ and affects adversely the children. To alienate the imbalance, offering tarpanam besides annual ‘srardha’ to ancestors is sacred and beneficial for the welfare of the family. Bath in Agni theertham in places like Rameswaram is considered to ward off Pitru Dosha.

There are quite a number of places where offering worship to ancestors are considered sacred when Thai Amavasya occurs. They are:- Rameswaram, Thilatharpanapuri, Thiruvarur, Thiruvengadu, Karungulam, Bhavani Sangamam, to mention a few.

Rameswaram is a place of one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. Besides Sri Rama installed and worshipped a Shiva Linga here to get rid of brahma hatya dosha due to Ravana vadha. Thousands of devotees visit Rameswaram to get rid of pitra dosha by taking bath in Agnitheertham here.

Sri Rama visited Thilatharpanapuri situated at 20 k.m in Thiruvarur-Mayiladuthurai road and performed thila tharpanam to Dasaratha and Jatayu - hence the name Thilatharpanapuri. Sri Rama is seen seated north in this temple. No where else Rama is seen in this pose. The name of the presiding deity here is ‘Muktinath’.As Sun and Moon are housed nearby in this place , it is also known as ‘Nithya Amavasai Pilgrim Center’.

Thirupullani is situated near Rameswaram and Sethukarai here is well known as a place of worship for forefathers. People take bath in the sacred Ratnakara theertham during Thai amavasai and worship Rudra Padam planted beneath a banyan tree. They perform tharpanam at this spot to get the blessings of ancestors..

Bhavani sangamam near Erode, where the confluence of the three rivers Cauvery, Bhavani and Amrith  take place is considered sacred for offering worship to forefathers on Thai amavasya day. Sangameswarar is the presiding deity here and worship here leads to Mukthi.

Karungulam is situated at 18th K.m from Tirunelveli towards Thiruchendur. King Marthandeswaran built a shiva Temple on the banks of Thamirabarani in response to a dream he had when Lord Shiva ordered him to do so. Singanathan , another King who lived in the adjacent place was suffering from a chronic stomach ache for a long period. The King met a sage who found that he was suffering due to a curse occurred in his previous birth. The King as advised by the Sage took bath in thamirabarani river and worshipped Sri Kuchakl Nayaki sametha Marthandeswarar and got cured of the stomach ache. As the place is known for getting rid of sins of previous birth, it is considered ideal for performing pitru tharpanam on Thai amavasya and to get the blessings of our ancestors.

The article  would be of interest to know the significance of Thai amavasya and also brief history of the places where people prefer to perform worship for the forefathers.

The photocopy of the news item below endorses further the significance of the Thai Amavasya.

Over 1 lakh worship at Ramanathaswamy temple on Thai Amavasya

A large number of devotees offered ‘Tarpana’ (pooja to forefathers) at the Agnitheertham seashore here and also at Kanyakumari and Tiruchendur seashore after a bath in the sea.

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By PTI  |  Updated On : January 20, 2015 01:47 PM

Chennai :  

Over one lakh people from all over the country today visited Sri Ramanathaswamy temple here and offered worship at the temple after poojas to their forefathers on the auspicious Thai Amavasya day today.

A large number of devotees offered ‘Tarpana’ (pooja to forefathers) at the Agnitheertham seashore here and also at Kanyakumari and Tiruchendur seashore after a bath in the sea.

Amavasya (new moon day) in the Tamil months of Adi and Thai are considered auspicious to offer worship to the forefathers.

The temples were opened at 0400 hrs for the pooja. At Tiruchendur temple, ‘Udhayamarthandan abhishekam’ was held followed by Kala shanthi Pooja and theerthavari.

In Srirangam thousands of People gathered at the Cauvery river to offer Pitru Pooja.

Thousands of people also visited Kallazhagar temple and the famous meenakshi temple in Madurai to offer worship to the deity and also Pitru pooja.

pn

' Love vs Desire '

‘Anbu (love) & Desire (aasai)’ :- P.Natarajan.

To understand the term Anbu or Love, we may have to raise our thoughts with a vision to the level of  ‘Prapancham’ or ‘Universe’ and the living beings in it. Please understand that it is one and the same ‘Paramatma’ who has transformed himself into all other living entities in the world. In the process of transformation himself into many lives, his hand of Maya plays a role in the differences created between one life to the other. In other words, the entity ‘A’ is different from ‘B’or ‘C or ‘D’... and so on. No one is same as the other person. Even in this repelling drama, Paramatma plays an unique role of integration between the dissimilar or contrasting characters. It is an unifying force which creates a bond between the people however different they may be. That is the defining force called as ‘anbu’ or ‘love’. ‘Love thy neighbor’ - the phrase tells everyone to live in harmony with the other or in short the peace prevails whole over the world in love. It is because of the grace of God there prevails unity between contradicting entities. Love plays a catalyst and an equalizer !

What is desire?. There is a subtle difference between the two terms ‘ Anbu’ ( love) and ‘Aasai’ (desire). The tendency of every one is to obtain something or other from the other person. This state of affairs is known as ‘desire’. The person who gets something, feels he is in a vantage position. In contrast, when a person gives himself to the other, he achieves a sense of fulfillment. It is called ‘Anbu’ or ‘love’.. This is how aasai and anbu differs in principle. Desire drives a person to beget something to make himself happy’. It is a process of receiving only. The term anbu can be described as an attribute to make others happy. It is in the process of giving oneself to the other. The desire describes the process of receiving where as the ‘Love’ is explicit in  the process of giving.

We get attracted in others by different qualities he possesses, to mention a few -  the knowledge or wealth or good looks or skill and the likes. We show interest in such person. It is a mistaken notion if we say we love that person. It is only a state of desire, attracted by the other person’s wealth or by such other good qualities.

‘Anbu’ can be compared to a natural ‘spring’ that swells on its own from the good earth. The water found in such a spring is tasteful, wholesome, plenty, copious and never drying. When the mind and intellect act together at the helm, the heart realizes the force of love or ‘Anbu’. It is one way of understanding how ‘love’ is born in the heart of hearts like a spring. ‘Lalitha Parameswari ‘ or ‘Ambal’ showers immense grace and renders even a cruel person to possess love at sometime or other. God is Love or Worship is love.

It is by virtue of accomplishment or by acquired knowledge or by gaining wisdom, one would see good reason to be of help to others and render his services with love. He gets complete satisfaction in the process of giving himself and rendering service in good faith to the humanity.

Desire is insatiable. There is no limit to the desires. The more you have, the more you want. It leads to trouble. We all know the story of Abu Hussain who lost himself in wants. He never realized ‘ less is more ‘. The moral of Abu Hussain story:- “Be content in what you have. Rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

Will Rogers says how desire leads to a state of unreality :- “Too many people spend money they have not earned to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like “

“Three rules to work. Out of the clutter find simplicity; from discord harmony; in the middle of difficulty lies the opportunity “ -  Albert Einstein

Leonardo Vinci emphasises “ Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.

Love rules supreme over desire and the quotes below outline this phenomenon:-

Love is powerful enough to transform you in a moment. Love offers more joy than any material possession could.

” Love can transform an enemy into a friend” - Martin Luther King.

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. The touch of love makes everyone a poet.

( The face of loving children - a gift of God.)

Love does not dominate. It only cultivates. We are most alive when we are in love.

“It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”- Lord Tennyson.

There are other words in Tamil for ‘anbu’ (love). ‘ Anandam ’ refers to the state of bliss.

Lord Nataraja of Chidambaram is a known destination for devotees to have darshan of Nataraja in ‘Ananda Tandava’ pose - Nataraja exhibits  a state of ‘Supreme Joy’ when he dances (thandavam).He is the father of that art.. Lakhs of devotees had ‘Arudra dharshan ‘this year on wednesday, the 11th of January 2017 at Chidambaram.

There is another Temple by name ‘Uttarakosamangai’ in Ramanathapuram in Tamilnadu where a  6 feet tall ancient Maragatha Nataraja idol carved out of emerald, being the one of its kind. The temple is considered sacred along the lines of Ramanathapuram Sethu Madhava Theertham and Lakshman Theertham.The temple built by Pandyan Kings between 1529-42 AD, has been glorified by the hymnes of 9th century saint Manickavasagar and 15th century saint Arunagirinathar. The darshan of Idol Lord Nataraja in green emerald is open only once when Arudra star prevails in Dhanurmasam (11-01-2017). Let us worship Nataraja and the temple Gopuram (below) to have immense joy and peace at all times.

     

Love to all.

Wishing A Happy 2017 !

pn

' Money Matters '

‘ Money Matters ‘

• P.Natarajan.

I remember the definition for money, which I learnt in the Commerce Class in 1959 as that

“ Money is what money does “.  Money is used to buy things and services. Money is what many people take for selling their own materials or services. Money is also called as currency or cash.

The attributes of money are: (i) medium of exchange (ii) portability (iii) durability (iv) store of Value (v) divisibility (vi) non counterfeit ability.

In the wake of demonetization of Rupees 500 and 1000 brought by the Govt. of India, availability of cash as medium of exchange has become scarce. The trend will be a surge in non cash transactions through digital options such as mobile wallets or debit cards which is a clear sign that India is embracing the cashless economy.

It is right time now to refresh our memory to know the clear meanings of certain and relevant economic terms:-

1. Inflation:-  Inflation is a sustained, increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time resulting in a loss of value of currency. In simple words - a reduction in purchasing power per unit of money.
2. Stagflation:- A situation where the inflation rate is high, the economic growth rate slows and unemployment remains steadily high. Inflation and recession is regarded as mutually exclusive. Once stagflation starts, it is difficult to eradicate both in social terms and in budget deficits.
3. Demonetization:- Is the act of stripping a currency unit of its status as a legal tender. It becomes necessary wherever there is a change in the National Currency. The old unit must be retired and replaced with a new unit. In the present context, Rupees 500 and 1000 notes account for 86% of country’s cash supply.

           The Government's goal was to eradicate counterfeit currency, fight tax evasion, eliminate black money gotten from money laundering and terrorist financing activities and.promote a cashless economy

(5) Devaluation means official lowering of the value of country’s currency within a fixed exchange rate.system - a new fixed rate w.r.t a foreign reference currency.  When the face value of the currency is altered without reducing its exchange rate is redenomination and not a devaluation.  

(6) Depreciation and devaluation are sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably but they always refer to the values in terms of other currencies. Depreciation of a country’s currency refers to a decrease in the value of that country’s currency. The classical example is the ruling rate of Rupee is devalued and stands at Rs. 67.71 with respect to US $ as of today.

Value System:-  We have seen the term Value in an economic sense above. It may be worthwhile to discuss human values also. Value means the generalised end which has the connotations of rightness, goodness or inherent desirability. Human value is a theory about what things in the world are good, desirable and important. For example, we accept “ Truth always prevail”, “ Love thy neighbour’, " Believe in God", " Total Surrender to God “,  to mention a few.

Human value is the conception of mankind in general. It is true that the individual is the chief concern but as long as the individual exists in the society, it can be believed that modern society would not outgrow its existence.

Value system can be different from culture to culture. One may value aggressiveness and deplore passivity, another in reverse. Some value ‘virtue of sobriety’ over ‘emotionality.’.

Values are often emotionally charged because they stand for things we believe worth defending.

Values vary from individuals to individuals. for instance one may spend the money to buy fruits. He feels that he has spent the money and gained some utility in return or in exchange. Another person spends the money in buying flowers. Of course flower is not edible. But the buyer gets satisfaction when he uses them for puja. Another example:  You may have heard that ‘Gandharva Veda’ consists of dance, drama and songs. A person who gets tired due to stress or works would like to relax and he can switch on to ‘Gandharva Veda’ or hear melodious music. He values music rather than money. This is known as intrinsic value. Everyone should abide by the values prevailing in the society which is common and collective in nature. Some may put up a show which others would rate as external value.

Kanchi Kamakoti Periyava had advised to pray to almighty to walk in the right path and for this purpose Paramacharya had said to think of God as father and mother or Ammai and Appan. Just like parents correct an erring son, one should hold on to ammai and appan as pillar by holding which one is prevented from a fall. This is the principle of Gita Charya's “MAMEKAM SARANAM VRAJA” (18/66).

New is the Year 2017

New is the Hope

New is the Revolution

New are Rs. 500 and 1000 Currencies

A Happy New Year to you !!

pn