Bhojana kramam also known as.................Pariseshanam

Bhojana kramam also known as.................Pariseshanam

Bhojana Kramam, which includes Pariseshanam, Pranahoothi mantras are described .......Below......

Karma:........

After Sandhyavandhanam and Thiruvaradhanam, Bhojana kramam starts.

Bhojanam offered to Lord during Thiruvaradhanam should be had just as it is without any addition / omission.

Short version:

First you address the food “AsmAkam nityam astu Etat”

1. Om Bhurbhuvasuvaha:...... Sarva sAdhArana Prokshana Mantram for purifying the

food

2. Satyam tvA ruthEna ParishinchAmi:...... Here the food is addressed as satyam.

I encircle you with ‘rutham’. These two words are often used in vEdAs. For

eg. Brhma Yagnyam etc., In the evening the address is reversed. I recall

the meaning of rutham as righteousness.

3. amruta upastaranam asi;..... Be a ‘lining’ to the amrutam(i.e. the food)

4. amruta abhidAnam asi:....... Be a ‘lid or cover’ to the amrutam.

Extended Version:..........

1) Wash your feet and palms and perform aachamanam.

2) After the rice and ghee are served, sprinkle little water on the food

while chanting the following mantra, inorder to do nivedhanam to

Bhagawan who resides in you as an antharyAmi.

Om antharyAmiNE nama:

3) In your right palm, have some water, and put it around your leaf(or plate)

in clockwise direction and chant the following mantra.

Om bhurbhuvassuva:

4) Do the following nyasam.

prANAgnihotramanthrasya bhrahmA rushi: (touch top of the head)

anushtup cchandha: (touch the tip of the nose)

vaishvAnarAgnirdevathA (touch the heart)

prANAgnihotrE viniyOgha: (both the palms together do the

semicircular motion starting from outside towards you)

5) In your right palm, have some water, and put it around your leaf(or plate) in

clockwise direction and chant the following mantra.

sathyam thvarthEna parishinchAmi (during the day)...&...

rutham thvA sathyEna parishinchAmi (during the night)

6) Then partially lift the top left corner of the leaf or you could touch the

plate.

Use only the thumb, index finger and middle finger of the left hand. You can

skip this step if perumAL theertham is self-served.

7) Request for the perumAL theertham to be served. First, sprinkle the

theertham...

onto the food. Second, hold the perumal theertham(pAdhyam). Don’t have yet,

wait until the theertham is served for all.

8) Chant the following manthra and then have the theertham without noise.

amruthOpastharaNamasi

9) Then perform the following prANAhoothi. Use only the thumb, index finger

and middle finger of the right hand and take a very little amount of the rice

and ghee mixed and swallow it without touching the teeth.

Om prANAya svAhA (east)

Om apAnAya svAhA (south)

Om vyAnAya svAhA (west)

Om udhAnAya svAhA (north)

Om samAnAya svAhA (center)

Om bhrahmaNE svAhA (center)

Om bhrahmaNi mama AthmamruthathvAya (center)

SriGovindhAya nama:

10) Now, switch the one you are holding with left hand to right hand....&.... Request to serve water to purify your left hand at that corner.

11) Until you come to this point don’t have anything other than what you had

during parisEshanam.

12) Have thrupthi bhOjanam.

13) Have what you need to (food, fruits, water etc) before the utthara bhojanam.

14) utthara bhojanam. Request for the perumAL theertham to be served. Hold the

perumal theertham(pAdhyam). Don’t have yet, wait until the theertham is served

for all.

Chant the following manthra and then have half what was served.

amruthApidhAnamasi

15) And pour the rest around the leaf while chanting the following.

rauravE apuNyanilayE padmarbudha nivAsinAm |

arththinAmudhakam dhaththam akshayyamupathishtathu ||

16) Then, gargle 16 times, wash your feet and perform the Achmanam twice.

Gyana: ( Philosophy )......

There is actually philosophical significance to the parisecana and prANAhuti mantras.

1) Parisecana..............

As has been explained earlier, after we sit down for our meal, we say the mantra:

satyam tvartena parishincAmi....Means.....

(O Food! You are True. I encircle you with divine righteousness.)

and we circumambulate our food with a sprinkling of water......

This sprinkling of water is known as “parisecana”.

At night, this mantra is....... ‘Rtam tvA satyena parishincAmi’,

transposing the ‘Rtam’ and ‘satyam’.

To surmise one meaning from the mantra. “Satya” means that which is real

or true. “Rta” is a notion of the Divine Law or moral principle.The term “Rta” is often found in the Rg Veda, and it is from this that the idea of “dharma” later evolved.

From this we can gather that the parisecana mantra is sort of a formulaic “protection” for the food we are about to eat. Practically, it does also serve to ward off insects, etc.,

and perhaps this is another reason why the ritual developed in this particular form.

2) prANAhuti — the offering to the vital breaths.......

The next step is the part of greater philosophical significance. Recall that in the Vedic tradition, every act eventually becomes an act of worship, an act of recognition of the pervasiveness of the Supreme Brahman and Its power.

When we eat, we nourish our bodies. Food is therefore essential for bodily sustenance. Within our body is the “ana” or vital breath. The “ana” has five activities or “prANa-s”.

The five prANa-s represent the various bodily functions that are critical for survival. They are considered a manifestation of the power of the Supreme in the bodily plane.

It is almost a universal cultural idiom to recognize breath as the vital force behind life. In English, when someone dies they are said to have “breathed their last”. In Tamil,

the word “ushir” or “uyir” can mean both breath or life.

The idea is that by first making an offering to the prANa-s, we pay homage to their life-giving power by virtue of their performing the bodily activities that are crucial to our

survival. In this way, this ritual recognizes that not only is food important to survival, but the very bodily functions that we take for granted are essential, and we owe all of this to the Supreme, who sits as the superintending power behind all bodily activity, no matter how mundane.

The vital breaths or “prANa-s” are five in number. The latter four are derived from the first. They are:

prANa — the principal breath

apAna — responsible for excretory activity

samAna — responsible for digestive activity

vyAna — responsible for circulatory activity

udAna — respiratory activity

This act of thanksgiving to God who through these bodily functions sustains life is done by saying the following mantras, and eating a little bit of rice and ney (ghee)

without chewing it (because, after all, the food is an offering, not meant for personal consumption):

om prANAya svAhA

om apAnAya svAhA

om vyAnAya svAhA

om udAnAya svAhA

om samAnAya svAhA

om brahmaNi ma AtmA-amRtatvAya

The last line means, “May my self be united in Brahman (the Supreme), so that I may attain immortality.”

Eating, then, is a profound act of worship which sustains the body so that we may further worship Brahman. There is also an implication that the swallowing of tasty food symbolizes the oblation of the individual self to God, so that God may,

in a sense “eat” and “enjoy” us.

Before and after eating the meal, water is sipped, once again with a mantra. The rishis of yore found this aspect of the ritual so important that they mention it in both of the largest Upanishads, the Brhadaranyaka and the Chhandogya, in virtually

identical terms:

Realized people, while eating, do as follows: before and after their meal, they “dress up” the prANa with water. The prANa receives clothing in this manner, and

is does not remain naked.

— Chhandogya 5.2.2 & Brhadaranyaka 6.1.15

“clothing the prANa” with water is so important, but both Sankaracharya and

Ramanujacharya write that meditation on prANa having

water as its garments is very important.

It does make some sense, however, from other angles.Water is a purifier, and drinking water before and after (Acamanam) is a purifier and sustainer of the body.Furthermore, the yoga shastras recommend that we eat food to fill only half our stomach; one half of the rest, i.e., one quarter of the stomach we should fill by drinking water. The rest

should be air. This is supposed to be the ideal proportions for spiritual and bodily health...............Thus...........

The mantras recited when sipping water before and after imply this as well:

amRtopastaraNam asi — Oh water! You are the seat

of immortality.

Since water is drunk before and after the food, perhaps this is a suggestion that to approach immortality, one should drink water to fill the stomach 1/4 way.

J.KANNAN, M.Com, FIATA

"WE DON'T THINK TO BREATHE

 WE BREATHE TO THINK"