Abhivadaye is a religious practice among Hindu men.........

Abhivadaye..............

Abhivadaye is a religious practice among Hindu men to introduce themselves to others especially the elders. It is practiced even today widely among the Brahmins.

Practice.......

The importance of giving respect to elders, in whole means it is an introduction of self with lineage. It consists of a set of lines which is essentially used to introduce one's.....

Pravara

Gotra

Sutrakaara or the author one has been following

Branch of Veda one is versed.

One's own name.

It varies based on one's Gotra for example someone belonging to the Kaushika Gotra has the following as his Abhivadaye

Abhivaadaye Vaishwamaitra, Aghamarshana, Kaushika Thrayaarisheya, (Pravara)

Kaushika Gotrah (Gotra)

Apasthambha Sutrah, (Sutra)

Yajussaakhaadhyaayee, (Veda)

Shri Venkatesha Sharmaa Naama aham Asmi (Name)

Bhoh (Salutations) .

Translation: I am prostrating, having three pravara rishis Vishamitra, Aghamarshana and Kaushika, of Kaushika Gotra, following the rules or manual of Apasthambha, learning the branch of Veda called Yajur. I am Venkatesh Sharma by name. Your Honour.

ABHIVADAYE.........Preamble.

Now a days even a three year old kids are tutored to tell dad, mom, address and school name and the parent feel proud. In earlier days specially amongst brahmins there was saying....... that kamam puguvadurku munnal kalviyai puguttu.

So they use to do sacred thread ceremony. Parents and guru whisper in the ears of the boy Gayatri mantra. After getting gayatri mantra the boy is supposed to do

abhivadaye to elders for seeking the blessiongs of elders. Abhivadaye is nothing but an introduction of self with lineage. But the present trend, leave aside abhivadaye, they even shorten the name from subramanaiam to mann or raman to ram . How many of us know the lineage? Even if they know lineage ,they are ashamed of telling with a fear his friends will think of him as outdated and karnatakam

1.ABHIVADAYE NAMASKARAM......

It gives the introduction of the boy. After reciting the Abhivadaye Mantra, he prostrates before the elders and seeks their blessings.

2. AASEERVADAM - BLESSINGS:

After the function the elders bless the boy. "May this boy be like......

Vedavyasa.................................................. in knowledge,

Panini.......................................................... in grammar,

Adi Shankara............................................... in vedanta.

Janaka......................................................... inPhilosophy,

Prahalatha................................................... in devotion,

Harichandra................................................. in adhering to the truth,

Bhishma....................................................... in Brahmacharya .......and lead a long life like......Markendeya.

"Abhivaadaye" - meaning & procedure –

When we say "Abhivaadaye", it is a sort of self introduction. One should touch both ears while doing this and touch the left foot by the right hand and the right foot by the left hand of an elder, parents or guru after mentioning the following.

(1)Pravaram (2) Gotram (3) The name of the Sutra Kaara or the authour whose rules one follows (4) The branch of the Veda one is learning (5) One's name (6) Addressing the other person.

The person addressed should do the Pratyabhivaadanam saying

Aayushmaan Bhava Soumya Or Dirghaayushman Bhava keeping his

hand in the blessing position. It is mentioned in the Smriti that one

should not do Abhivaadanam to a person who does not know how to

do the Pratyabhivaadanam.

Pravara - Imagine a big tree with several branches. Each branch may have two or more sub branches. These sub branches together are called pravaraas. The number of pravara rishis vary from two to five. The person belonging to the same sub branch is called sa-gotra. Persons of two separate gotras mentioned in the pravara group are called samana-pravaras. According to ancient rules, one should not marry a girl belonging to the same gotra or same pravara.......samaanagotraam

samaanapravaraam na udvahet.

In the above example, a boy of Kousika Gotram should not marry a girl of Kousika Gotram or Viswamitra Gotram or Aghamarshana Gotram. Nowadays the pravara rule is not adhered to. However, other divisions like sects and subsects (Vadama, Brahacharanam etc.) came about due to difference in customs and manners.

The entire Veda is divided into saakhas or branches. These are riksaakha, yajussaakha, (further divided into krishna and sukla which is not indicated in the Abhivadaye), saamasaakha and atharvasaakha. A student would be learning one of these saakhaas.

For each Veda Saakha there are mannuals or rules for performing the rituals.These are called Shroutha Sutras. There are several such Sutras each authoured by a particular rishi. When one says Apastambha Sutra, it means that he is following the mannual authoured by Apasthambha.

But what is a Sutra?

A Sutra is a concise statement which could be easily memorised.

Its defenition is.......

alpaaksharam asandigdham saaravat vishvathomukham /

asthobham anavadyam cha suthram suthravido viduh //

People learned in sutra literature say that a sutra should be concise and

unambiguous, give the essence of the arguments on a topic but at the same time deal with all aspects of the question, be free from repetition and faultless.

Now let us conclude the dry subject in a humorous note.

Dealing with nityakarma or day to day practice to be observed by a Brahmana, there is a Sutra.... "shvaanam sprishtvaa snaanamaachareth", meaning "take bath after touching the dog".

There was a Brahmin who was very meticulous in obeying the Sutras. Every morning he would be searching for a dog to touch before taking his bath. Obviously, the

correct meaning is that if you happen to touch a dog, you should take a bath.

concepts of customary law. They are known as the "angas" or limbs of the four Vedas, but are considered smriti.

J.KANNAN, M.Com, FIATA

"WE DON'T THINK TO BREATHE

 WE BREATHE TO THINK"