S Narayanaswamy Iyer
Active member
What are upakarmas, and why are they important to Brahmins?
The purohits will tell you, and you will find from the almanacs, that in 2018 Rig-Veda upakarma occurs on 24 August, Yajur-Veda on 26 August, and Saama-Veda on 11 September.
What happens on those days?
The old ladies and some others will tell you that you simply go to the priest and "change your poonal". And pay him a fee, of course.
The purohits and elderly Brahmins will say it involves far more than that. They will say that all Brahmins belonging to each Veda separately assemble annually on that special day at a sacred and public place to refurbish their Brahma-thejas, to reaffirm their identity, to re-establish their ties with their community, to perform japam solemnly and humbly attributing blame for past year's misdeeds to uncontrolled anger and to lust (which they implicitly promise to overcome).
By offering libations of pure cold flowing river water (sometimes mixed with black sesame seeds and white husked rice) they renew spiritual and ritual contact with the celestials, with the inspired ancient guiding rishis, with the athmas of departed male and female ancestors up to three generations back and beyond, with the Brahma-athma within themselves, with the four Vedams and the Ithihaasams, with those unique beings called "kaanda-rishis".
They catalogue the various religious and moral transgressions, big, intermediate, and small they might have committed knowingly or unknowingly, by inducement or voluntarily, and seek purification and deliverance from all these by triple immersion in the sacred Ganga River, reciting "Govinda! Govinda! Govinda!" after seeking and obtaining permission to do so from the guardian of the Varanasi river-banks - the Bhairava form of Bhagavaan Sri Rudra-Mahadeva Shiva.
Shubra-vasthra-dhaaranam and yagnyopaveetha-dhaaranam come next, followed immediately by special Kaanda-rishi tharppanam of Ganga jalam mixed with black sesame seeds and white husked rice. The purohits then lead the assembled Braahmana parishad in extended chathur-Veda-abhyaasam and paaraayanam. The most important concluding ritual is homam which includes special Kaanda-rishi homam and ends with the grand Jayaathi homam. Attendees pay aachaarya sambhaavana to the purohits, do namaskaaram, and accept aasheervaathams (and prasaadams including raksha from the homa-bhasmam) before returning home.
My musings -
Our Vedams say, "poornasya poornamaadaaya poornam-evaa vashishyathe." This aphorism encapsulates succinctly and beautifully the truth about the Barahminic concept of Ishvara or the Paramaathman. "anubischa mahadbhishcha," say our Vedams, further positing the omnipresence of the immanent Ultimate Reality.
Whether we study the upanishads, the aaranyakams, the samhithas, the braahmanams, or other texts (or all of them), the same message percolates through.
Today, Brahmins might well be identified as exponents of heliocentrism, votaries of savithr. The misconception arises mainly because of our perceived commitment to the thrice-a-day reverence of the Sun in His celestial positions at sunrise, noon, and sunset, as He exerts His irresistible gravitational (and centri-petal and centrifugal) forces on our circum-ambulating Earth.. And perhaps because of our practice of doing surya-namaskaaram reciting arunam e.g. on ordinary Sundays and especially on Sundays in simha (aavani) maasam.
My take is that this devotion to the Sun is the absolute minimum. What is noteworthy is that at each of the 132 namaskaarams we chant, "Shree chchaaya suvarchalaambaal sametha shree soorya-naaraayana svaamine namaha: ohm namo naaraayanaaya!" In this context the nomen "naaraayana" represents not just Lord Maha Vishnu but the Parabrahmam Itself as embodying all the celestials worthy or worship (and the entire conceived Universe).
Who are the celestials, and who are the Brahmins? The Vedams answer: "braahmano vai sarvaa devathaaha", intimating that when performing their religious duties such as yagnyam, the Brahmins are (equivalent to and indistinguishable from) the celestials themselves. See the praarthana part of our scriptures beginning: "yadagnim poorvagum harathyath-aagni-hothram." Our Vedams envisage Brahmins as searching to discover brahma-nishta - realisation of Ishvara. To achieve this end the kartha has perforce to resort to karma-nishta. Two concurrent paths of activity are prescribed, intelligent and purposive studies of the Vedams, and performance of yagnyams (fire-sacrifices).
Reverting to the upakarma rites and rituals, my own thinking is that on balance the sine-qua-non and most significant parts are the mahaa-sankalppam followed by Ganga-snaanam, the Kaanda-rishi tharppanam, and the homams. Merely changing the yagnyopaveetham can be done quickly by oneself at home, reciting the required manthrams.
S Narayanaswamy Iyer
The purohits will tell you, and you will find from the almanacs, that in 2018 Rig-Veda upakarma occurs on 24 August, Yajur-Veda on 26 August, and Saama-Veda on 11 September.
What happens on those days?
The old ladies and some others will tell you that you simply go to the priest and "change your poonal". And pay him a fee, of course.
The purohits and elderly Brahmins will say it involves far more than that. They will say that all Brahmins belonging to each Veda separately assemble annually on that special day at a sacred and public place to refurbish their Brahma-thejas, to reaffirm their identity, to re-establish their ties with their community, to perform japam solemnly and humbly attributing blame for past year's misdeeds to uncontrolled anger and to lust (which they implicitly promise to overcome).
By offering libations of pure cold flowing river water (sometimes mixed with black sesame seeds and white husked rice) they renew spiritual and ritual contact with the celestials, with the inspired ancient guiding rishis, with the athmas of departed male and female ancestors up to three generations back and beyond, with the Brahma-athma within themselves, with the four Vedams and the Ithihaasams, with those unique beings called "kaanda-rishis".
They catalogue the various religious and moral transgressions, big, intermediate, and small they might have committed knowingly or unknowingly, by inducement or voluntarily, and seek purification and deliverance from all these by triple immersion in the sacred Ganga River, reciting "Govinda! Govinda! Govinda!" after seeking and obtaining permission to do so from the guardian of the Varanasi river-banks - the Bhairava form of Bhagavaan Sri Rudra-Mahadeva Shiva.
Shubra-vasthra-dhaaranam and yagnyopaveetha-dhaaranam come next, followed immediately by special Kaanda-rishi tharppanam of Ganga jalam mixed with black sesame seeds and white husked rice. The purohits then lead the assembled Braahmana parishad in extended chathur-Veda-abhyaasam and paaraayanam. The most important concluding ritual is homam which includes special Kaanda-rishi homam and ends with the grand Jayaathi homam. Attendees pay aachaarya sambhaavana to the purohits, do namaskaaram, and accept aasheervaathams (and prasaadams including raksha from the homa-bhasmam) before returning home.
My musings -
Our Vedams say, "poornasya poornamaadaaya poornam-evaa vashishyathe." This aphorism encapsulates succinctly and beautifully the truth about the Barahminic concept of Ishvara or the Paramaathman. "anubischa mahadbhishcha," say our Vedams, further positing the omnipresence of the immanent Ultimate Reality.
Whether we study the upanishads, the aaranyakams, the samhithas, the braahmanams, or other texts (or all of them), the same message percolates through.
Today, Brahmins might well be identified as exponents of heliocentrism, votaries of savithr. The misconception arises mainly because of our perceived commitment to the thrice-a-day reverence of the Sun in His celestial positions at sunrise, noon, and sunset, as He exerts His irresistible gravitational (and centri-petal and centrifugal) forces on our circum-ambulating Earth.. And perhaps because of our practice of doing surya-namaskaaram reciting arunam e.g. on ordinary Sundays and especially on Sundays in simha (aavani) maasam.
My take is that this devotion to the Sun is the absolute minimum. What is noteworthy is that at each of the 132 namaskaarams we chant, "Shree chchaaya suvarchalaambaal sametha shree soorya-naaraayana svaamine namaha: ohm namo naaraayanaaya!" In this context the nomen "naaraayana" represents not just Lord Maha Vishnu but the Parabrahmam Itself as embodying all the celestials worthy or worship (and the entire conceived Universe).
Who are the celestials, and who are the Brahmins? The Vedams answer: "braahmano vai sarvaa devathaaha", intimating that when performing their religious duties such as yagnyam, the Brahmins are (equivalent to and indistinguishable from) the celestials themselves. See the praarthana part of our scriptures beginning: "yadagnim poorvagum harathyath-aagni-hothram." Our Vedams envisage Brahmins as searching to discover brahma-nishta - realisation of Ishvara. To achieve this end the kartha has perforce to resort to karma-nishta. Two concurrent paths of activity are prescribed, intelligent and purposive studies of the Vedams, and performance of yagnyams (fire-sacrifices).
Reverting to the upakarma rites and rituals, my own thinking is that on balance the sine-qua-non and most significant parts are the mahaa-sankalppam followed by Ganga-snaanam, the Kaanda-rishi tharppanam, and the homams. Merely changing the yagnyopaveetham can be done quickly by oneself at home, reciting the required manthrams.
S Narayanaswamy Iyer
