This is another long email but important though. Please read….
As we all know Periyava had emphasized the need for sandhyanavandhanam and gayathri japam enough. Here is a link to an article on this. For all of us who go to work/school etc, Periyava had asked us to do sahara gayathri on Sundays. I am sure many of us had attempted to do this at some point and then ended it as we did not have the necessary motivation etc. I am sure there are lots of individuals who have been successfully doing this for a long time – I do know several of them – some do nithya sahasra gayathri too!
Mid-last year, based on Hari Ramasubbu’s suggestion, we started a group here in US (folks from Chicago, Dallas and few other cities) – totally 10 – 15 of us including few young boys to do sunday sahasra gayathri japam and track the progress and motivate each other. This has been going on well…For the first time japam, we gathered here in a temple and got this started through a sastrigal. From next Sunday onwards, we have been doing in our houses. We created a spreadsheet in google drive and requested the folks to update it as and when they finish each week. This helps to track, motivate others if they are slipping etc.
During this India trip, I went and requested HH Pudhu Periyava for His anugraham and a video anugrahabashan but He preferred to bless and not the video as He was not feeling well. I was unable to talk to HH Bala Periyava. After my return, I had someone to request Him again – He is going to give an exclusive video talk on this. I was delaying this post to get it. Since it is getting delayed a lot, I decided to post this now so that we can have more people to start this at the earliest. I will remind my Chennai contacts to approach Periyava again for video.
At all times, please avoid chanting while driving, walking, running etc – let us give respect to veda matha by not doing that….Let us create the time and do it peacefully. I have given the steps to be followed for this japam.
I suggest all of you to form a small group of 10-15 members (easier to manage) among your friends/families. Create a spreadsheet/group in google and get it started….If you are local to Chennai, all of you can go to Kanchipuram, do the first sahasra gayathri in front of the adishtanam and get blessings from HH Pudhu Periyava and Bala Periyava – there is nothing to beat the advantage of being local.
With Periyava’s blessings, this yegnam will last forever….Nothing other than doing these yegnas can make Periyava happy… It isn’t enough to call ourselves Periyava devotees alone – we need to follow His advices – let us start here!
Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara!
Sahara Gayathri Manthra Japa – Pryogam (steps)
- Finish morning Sandhi on sunday
- To get ready for Sahasra Gayathri, if needed take a bio break and wash your feet and hands after that.
- Achamanam
- Pranayamam – Ombuhu …
- Sankalpam, just like regular Sandhi Sankalpam except the sahasram part.
- Mamopatha Samastha …. Sahasra Gayathri Mahamanthra Japam Karishye…
- No need to check Panchanga thithi , nakshathra etc since this is a regular sankalpam
- Pranava Nyasam
- Pranavasya Rishi Brahma …..
- Bhooradee Sapta Vyahrutheenam….
- Ombuhu atleast 3 times to 10 times.
- Gayathri Avahanam
- Ayathu ithi Anuvakasya …
- Ayathu Varada Devi….
- DO Sahasra Gayathri
- Gayathri Upasthanam
- Uthame Shikhare Devi ….
- Achamanam
- Samarpanam
- Kayena Vacha …
- Raksha –
- Adhyano ….
Categories: Announcements, Upanyasam
Since the group is very much into gayatri chanting, i request that the members may view the following which will be a great inspiration for doing more and more counts of gayatri japa. Many would have read, but still i thought i will share it, since i read it recently and the same was very inspiring.
Shocking True Story Of A Mystic Brahmin Who Converses With Goddess Gayathri – Part Six – Tirumalesa
http://www.tirumalesa.com
Hi mahesh,
Can you send the sahasra gayatri anusthanam sankalpam in pdf format .will start from immediately
Dear Mahesh ji
Namaskaram
I am Smt Shyamala, 65 years,
Can ladies also do sahasra Gayatri japam. If so, please post the steps I need to take. Kindly send a reply to my email id. Thank you
Regards
Pranams to all..
I am 63 and today tried Sahara Gayathri and completed. However, it took 2 hrs and for me sitting in normal suhaasan itself was exhausting.. My request is to clarify on this:: Can i split in two slots with 504 each, one in morning and d other in evening..
Pranams to all and Mahaa Periyavaa Thiruvadi Saranam..
Yes – you can do that. Once you start doing regularly you will pick up speed and it may not take same time as the first day.
Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara, Nice Well
mahesh ji. I am doing sahasra gayatri in weekends because of the posts in this blog Thank You. Can Brahmachari’s do the sahasra gayatri after finishing daily office routine. In morning hours it’s tight and i dont want to skip it. I want to do it daily. I am afraid if some sin may occur if i meditate sahasra gayatri in Night hours(Assuming that i start at 7PM i would end at 9.30PM). Is it ok to do it after evening sandhya. I dont have much clarity on this.
It is perfectly fine. Hats off to you for doing sahasra gayathri….Keep it up. Peiryava will bless you for doing this!
Do you need tharpanam with 1008 times chanting gyathri and homam ho is doing it
Is sahasra gayathri japam be done only on Sunday ? Can I do it on every Saturday ? Plesss advice me
You can do it any day or even daily too. I know people who do it daily.
Thanks for the stating the steps for doing Sahasra Gayathri Japam.
Dear Sir,
I am a devotee of Maha periyava, I have seen the procedure for the sahasra gayathri japam and have a small suggestion, when we start the japam it should start with ganapathi dhanyam after doing achamanam. i am sure it was missed out. I would like to request the learned people to check if my suggestion is correct and suitably correct the above. Maha periyava thiruvadigam charam
Mr. Mahesh,
As instructed by Bala Periyava, Our trust – “Thiaga Sastha Trust”- organised for a Samashti Sahasra Gayatri Homam on 2.6.2013 at Sri Sankara vidyalaya, Selaiyur and more than 130 people participated. We also had 24 couples doing Gayatri Sahasranama Archanai on that day. (This 24 couples doing Gayatri sahasranama Archana was performed for the 2nd time. Bala Periyava advised us to do this in Nov 2011 and we had the programme in December 2011 at our Periyava Illam-Veda vidyarti Nivas, 34 Bhagyalakshmi Nagar, Madambakkam, chennai where we are running a veda patasala for the past 12 years under the guidance of our Kanchi Periyavas.) From December 2012, we are conducting Samashti sahasra Gayatri Homam at Periyava Illam and today we completed our 21st month. We invite people to participate in this holy event where we pray for the welfare of everyone. You can contact me on my cell 9283170890/9944456170.
I sent you the PDF files of the books of Mahaperiyava’s sayings in Tamil and English for you to upload for the benefit of our friends and I am yet to find the same in this site. Pl do the needful. It was a pet project of Bala Periyava and we have the book in Tamil, English, Hindi, Bengali, Sindhi, Mandarin and Russian languages. In Tamil it is “Arul mugam 50 Arul amudham 50″, In English ” Divine faces 50 Divine Nectar 50″
Prakash
i have gone through all the points and I am Physically hearing impaired. Kindly send me the PDF files for the book in english transliteration. Please help me on this
Very good & inspiring initiative by you & your friends.
Namaskarams,
As per Maha Periyava’s instructions, I have been performing Sandhya Vandanam three times a day for a few years now. And recently I have started chanting Sahasra Gayatri, but do so during work, while driving etc. While I see the validity in Mahesh’s statement not to disrespect Gayatri Mata by not chanting at any or odd times, I remember my grandmother asking me to chant Gaytatri whenever I can. Any thoughts on what Maha Periyava might have said on this? And Ekadasi upavasam, I am starting soon. Thank you Mahesh for the great service you are doing.
Maha Periyava Thiruvadigal Saranam.
Vish Iyer
Pittsburgh, PA
True – it can be chanted wherever. As per our veda, to yield full benefit from any mantra, one has to do with nyasam, dhyana mantrams before the main mantra, which can’t be done when we are outside. I validated this with our sastrigal here in Chicago and also I have read in many places. Hence my reply. However rama nama has no such rule.
I have a doubt on sandhyavandanam. Is it a must to have bath before sandhyavandanam especially in the morning? if not a must, what steps should be taken to make ourselves clean to do morning sandhayavandanam after night sleep etc? Thanks in advance for your guidance
No – it is not a must to take bath before Prathas sandhya. After one is done with morning routines, brushing, etc, wash your face – have a vest, viboothi and start this. A bath before this is always perfect.
Dear Venkat Natarajanji,
I respect Sri Maheshji’s view and yes, it is an exception scenario – when one falls ill or when the karmendriyams have failed or when one is in dire life threatening situation, one can take the exception routes.
This not bathing during prathah sandya is like the exception route. Exceptions should not be made the regular course of life – else we will always be in life threatening situation. Lets not make exceptions our life – it is miserable. If you are in bhaartam, you have all resources – God has blessed this land with all natural resources for proper upkeep of our dharma.
Whenever we do sandyavandanam, be it eka kaalam or trikaalam, lets make it a point to perform it with due dedication and not seek exceptions as long as God has given us the karmendriyams to do them.
As far as I understand, Pratha Sandya kaala – taking bath is very important, enhances the vigor, vitality and longevity of life.
There is a story that the secret of Markandeya’s long life is, as told by Sri Narada muni, his due bathing and performing Sandhya Vandanam.
As Thiruvalluvar puts it – ‘Pura Thooymai Neerinaal amayum – aga thooymai vaaimayaal kanappadum’. Even Avvaiyaar, whom our Sri Mahaperiyavaa quotes again and again, says, ‘ Koozhaanaalum kuliththuk kudi’ – if its true for taking food, it is true for Sandyavandanam too.
The human body gets polluted with hormonal secretion during sleep – these secretions stick to the pores of the skin during sleep- and that needs to be washed to clean the pores of the skin by means of a bath.
During Madyannikam and saayam sandhya – needs no bathing – just washing feet, hands, face, neck and arm pits.
It is my humble request that you do the pratah sandya after taking bath.
I think it will make Sri Mahaperiyavaa happy, if we stick to tradition as much as possible. Seeking pardon if I have hurt anyone’s feelings –
Seeking the grace of Sri Mahaperiyavaa,
Thanks and regards,
P. Vijay
My humble opinion is one should not publicize or disclose the count to others. While it is important to be regular and keep track of the progress (for oneself), he should not tell how many count he did on that day. It is necessary to be secretive.
The (google) group can track how many people participated every week.
Apart from Sundays, there are other auspicious days where one can do the Japam: example: a) Self’s or family member’s birth star, b) Eclipse times, c) Full-Moon days, d) Dwitiya paadam, Akshaya tritiyai e) Guru’s birth star, f) Navaratri g) Sangramanam (beginning of uttarayanam / dakshinayanam ) etc.
Once in a month (for example), one can do Homam (One 10th of the Japam count) in a common place and Tharpanam (One 100th of the Japam count)
While doing japam, Always wear DRY clothes, use the same rug/carpet/mat, preferably the same place. Gayatri should not be chanted by sitting or standing in Water.
Thanks for this Mahesh. This is really a commendable effort in the US. With PeriyavA’s blessings, I have been doing Sahasra Gayathri for the last one year here in Australia. Apparently, I started in May last year which was when exactly You all started in the States! Looks like it’s All His wish and all His AasirvAthams. I will pool in our group here and motivate every soul to start with Sahasra Gayathri every Sunday.
– Sriram
Namaskarams Mahesh, thanks for shring this. A doubt in my mind. All these years I have been doing Gayatri Japam by moving my lips, whispering to my self. Elsewhere I read not to move lips. If I were to say in my mind, would I be not pronouncing wrong. Can you please clarify.
Thanks – jaya jaya shankara Hara hara shankara.
If you think that you need to move your lips, that is fine. My reply might get 100 replies saying that I am wrong…most of them would be advanced practioners of meditation etc. IF you are a novice like me, it is ok to move the lip…The vidhi is not to chant gayathri mantra loud. as long as you follow that rule, you are fine….slowly, periyava/gayathri matha will take us to the next level where we can chant nicely without even moving lips…let us be patient…
Dear Sri Sridharanji, I am myself a novice and hence, please pardon if I am sounding anywhere arrogant. I was invested with Upanayanam when I was 12 and ever since, I also had the same problem, either I mis-spell or completely forget the Gayatri Maha Mantra when meditating, or if I concentrate on the Mantra, there is no meditation.
So, what went on for close to a decade was uttering the mantra closing mouth but moving the lips inside just to keep the mantra intact. As per my humble understanding from the great seers who thought me @ Adambakkam Sankara mutt, the following seems to be the best possible approach.
1) Gayatri Maha Mantra is a vedic mantra and hence has its own intonations ( Udattam, anudattam, swaritham & deergam ).
2) Gayatri, as the name suggests, is a song – hence it must be gotten in deeksha as with the intonation as a vedic song – all veda is song. ( There are 3 types of gayatri in Sandhyavandhanam – one, which is uttered in Arkyam, the other during the japam – these two are invested during our upanayanam – there is a 3rd type, which was given by Sri Vasishtar – which is invested in 105th year of an individual – it takes 105 years of Sri Viswamitra Gayatri to attain the Sri Vasishta Gayatri – so, lets take it slowly 😉 ).
3) The mind picks up the song quickly than words and hence the first few years, the song should be repeated first with mouth closed and the song hummed very silently internally.
4) Later, when the song is imbibed in the mind, the song repeats by itself when in deep meditation.
5) Once, the saadhaka has reached a level of competence in uttering this song mentally in the right rhythm and starts the mental concentration, a Guru appears with the mercy of Sri Gayatri mata – who can give the meaning of the mantra.
6) After this the saadhaka, who now sings the Mantra with vedic swara automatically inside the mind, contemplates on the meaning of mantra – which is to auto-suggest the mind(buddhi) to concentrate and just leave the thoughts arising ( manas ) as it is.
( Deeyoyonah – prachothayat).
7) Once this state is achieved, then the concious mind ( buddhi ) will win over the un-concious mind ( mind ). Which gets one to ‘Chitta Suddhi’ – Sri Maha Periyavaa time and again stresses this Chitta suddhi for any upasana to be successful. If this chitta suddhi is not acheived, Ego prevails and destroys any upasana.
That is why it is always told that no upasana is complete without doing Sandhyavandanam. And if one does Sandhyavandhanam in itself it is a upasana. Even Sri Krishna says he is Gayatri among Mantras in Srimadh Bhagavad Gita.
Please pardon me if this is not helping in your answer and kindly excuse if any of the above things are incorrect.
Seeking grace of Sri Mahaperiyavaa,
Thanks and regards,
P. Vijay
Great piece of information…..However one does not have get intimidated with highest levels of meditation techniques etc. let us start simple leaving the rest to Veda matha and Periyava to guide us to next level…
Dear Vijay Ji, thanks for taking time to reply. Great knowledge gained. I am sure knowledge will never go wate.
May Periaval’s blessings be on all.
Jaya jaya Sankara, Hara hara Sankara.
Hi Mahesh,
Thanks for sharing this. Till now i was on in the assumption that i can sahasara gayathri as part of morning sandhi and i was not bothered to cross check with others. I did like that last week(first time). Pranams to periyava and thanks to you .
Namaskaram
Thiagu
yes, you can do sahasra gayathri along with your regular sandhyavandhanam. this procedure is for those who wants to do at a different time – say 3 PM in the afternoon etc.
Dear Sri Maheshji,
Wonderful subject. Will continue the Sunday sahasra gayatri Japam and track process.
The spreadsheet idea is pretty neat. Remembered Sri Mahaswamy’s Sri Ramanama likya yagya.
Praying Sri Mahaswamy to guide us all in this great endeavor.
The mahanyaasam given mentions only pranavam and vyahruthi, there are two more parts to nyasam, one for savitri and other for gayatri siras.
Please refer to lifco or Sri Anna’s book ( sandhyavandana bhaashyam) from r.k.mutt publishing.
Just humble info pardon me for my ignorance if the above info is incorrect.
Also mitrasya vedic chanting post upaasathaanam is also important.
Sandhyavandanam classes are about to start in adambakkam Sankara mutt for weekend evenings from 6:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Those interested can come directly.
Seeking grace of mahaswamy,
Thanks and regards,
P. Vijay
Dear Mahesh,
Very pleased to hear this. May Maha Periyava shower His Blessings immensely on you and your friend and all who follow His Upathessm.
Dr Ravi