Usage of mobile phones by purohithar/vadhyar while performing homam/pujas etc.

[alva183]

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Dear All,

Recently we have performed Sudharsana Homam in our house and 5 purohitar's headed by our regular purohitar came to perform the Homa and while the homa was going on every 5 minites the mobiles were ringing and they were talking on the mobiles virtually stopping the homa. It totally hurt me since we are performing such homams once in a blue moon after spending a lot of money(Vadhya Sambhavana alone Rs.11000/-). On enquiry with my friend's the feed back I got was that they also faced such problems. Now I would like place the following points before the forum for views/comments.

1) Are we going to attain any salvation by performing such homas with the so called purohits after burning our pockets.

2) The so called vadhyars/ganapadigal etc. are also proffessional's like a CA or ACS while the CA's/ACS's are having proffessional code of conduct and control by their respective institutes and do these vadhyar's have any control and atleast cant' they have self control.

Pranams to All

SUBRAMANIAN VENKATESAN

 

[kunjuppu]

venkatesan

you alone can answer #1.

re #2, could you not have told the vathiar's that you do not appreciate such interruptions. is it difficult to do that?

 

[sangom]

Dear All,

Recently we have performed Sudharsana Homam in our house and 5 purohitar's headed by our regular purohitar came to perform the Homa and while the homa was going on every 5 minites the mobiles were ringing and they were talking on the mobiles virtually stopping the homa. It totally hurt me since we are performing such homams once in a blue moon after spending a lot of money(Vadhya Sambhavana alone Rs.11000/-). On enquiry with my friend's the feed back I got was that they also faced such problems. Now I would like place the following points before the forum for views/comments.

1) Are we going to attain any salvation by performing such homas with the so called purohits after burning our pockets.

2) The so called vadhyars/ganapadigal etc. are also proffessional's like a CA or ACS while the CA's/ACS's are having proffessional code of conduct and control by their respective institutes and do these vadhyar's have any control and atleast cant' they have self control.

Pranams to All

SUBRAMANIAN VENKATESAN

Shri Venkatesan,

Performing "Sudarsana homam" will not, I repeat, will not make the yajamaanan to attain salvation. It will at best make the foolish performer (yajamaana) a pauper

Normally Sudarsana Homam is performed for some esoteric purpose like curing some incurable disease, removing some suspected evil like Preta baadhai, pitru saapam, etc. If the vaadhyaars go on talking on their mobiles, it will be necessary to tell your vaadhyaar very clearly that no purohit should bring mobile. But then your homam will never be done, that is how it is today

Why not then think a bit logically and dispense with all such vaadhyaars and all the functions to be performed by them? Or, still better, turn agnostic like me !

 

[tbs]

hi
my simple opinion......

1, no code/conduct....no self control/discipline too....

2, my personal experiences for my son's upanayanam last yr....my vadyar is using 3 mobile phones while doing upanayanam....thanks to

former telecom minister A Raja...

3, solution....put a big board/banner in front of the homan kundam NO MOBILE PHONES ARE ALLOWED IN MY HOME WHILE DOING HOMAM.....

4, MOBILE PHONES ARE PROHIBITED IN MY HOME

regards
tbs

 

[N.R.Ranganathan]

The purohits ask you to chant the mantra - mantraheenam, kriyaheenam.-
The Deity will forgive the Vaadhyar for all these even though it is meant
for the karta !!!!.

In some cities, it is very difficult to get vadhyars, since vadhyar population
is few. They commit to all who have called them. I have heard them
answering - ithO vanthuttEnna, ungAthu pakkathilethaan irukken -
when this fellow is miles away !

All economics of modern days . Marx is right.

 

[Iyyarooraan]

I think the problem could be addressed to Kaanchi Math, Sri Matt or Vaideeha Samajam.I doubt it would be addressed. I think what Sangam sir said is right and will soon become only right.

 

[kunjuppu]

I think the problem could be addressed to Kaanchi Math, Sri Matt or Vaideeha Samajam.I doubt it would be addressed. I think what Sangam sir said is right and will soon become only right.

why should these organizations address such an issue. does anyone listen to them anyways?

or have these any moral these days to address any issues, considering the issues that these have within them?

if you are paying the vathiar, you tell him, 'no phones', and if he would not comply ask him to get out. there is no other way.

have the grihasthas become so eunuchly mute, that we cannot even stop a little object like the cell phone at the
door, like the way, we do with the chappals!

shame on us.

 

[tbs]

hi
sometimes theoritically may be correct...practicallity is very tough...i saw each and every vadyar does in chennai....i may be wrong....

but majority.....when i saw 3 mobile phones with my vadyar in chennai...i asked curiously why 3 phones....he said 1 for incoming call...

which is free in india..no in USA...2 for outgoing...3 for SMS or texting.....many chief vadyars use like this....many sub vadyars have

may be 1 or 2....eveni im from USA using with limited minutes here.......time will give answers..my 2 cents....

regards
tbs

 

[sangom]

The problem is essentially with a community which elevates the so-called "vādhyārs" as some sort of a guru or aachaaryan — a person to be regarded with utmost respect and so on —whereas in truth the vādhyārs is a parasite living off the moneys extracted from the gullible gṛhastas and should be treated on par with others who live in the same way, by charities offered by the gṛhastas.

This situation has evolved despite the fact that most TBs do not perform many of the samskaras prescribed in the Dharmasastras whereas they throw away tons of money in performing a few items. Vādhyārs today exist mainly because of marriages, poonals (upanayanams) and the most important, most urgent and unavoidable of all — the funeral rites. If TBs in a particular settlement take a joint decision not to spend money on vādhyārs and the mumbo-jumbo they make - and which the majority of the gṛhastas do not understand, anyway - you will find the vādhyārs community coming to proper senses. But the TB community's faith in God and notion of final liberation (mukti) and the religious rites are so utterly mixed up that there is no hope of wisdom dawning in the TB brains easily. (One member feels that by performing sudarśana homaṃ is a means to salvation!)

Only the God in which our theists believe so firmly has to descent and make the vādhyārs decent.

 

[kunjuppu]

sangom,

re your post #9,

personally, i would term today's vathiars as someone performing a service.

we gristhas have a need - to officiate a function. there is a satisfaction, that the presence of a vathiar brings - as i observed recently, in a funeral in toronto. the vathiar, was delayed, as funerals cannot be pre planned, and it took him a while to end whatever he was doing prior to this.

the tuft, the panchakachcham and the dirty cotton bag, all familiar paraphernalia to define a vathiar, came after a few hours of waiting at the funeral parlour here, awaiting cremation, and watching the clock, as toronto does not allow cremation after 6 pm.

the man arrived around 5 (we were waiting from noon), did his job, and we send away the remains to the gas pyre satisfied.

so, to sum up, he provides a service. i treat this service, void of religiosity, depth, philosophy or even intelligence. i treat it like the inane repetition of certain sanskrit mumbojumbo, which after so attending so many funerals in my life, and after performing so many tharpanams, i join in just for the heck of it.

it is sad, that for the money we pay, we get poor service. the today vathiar leaves behind an unhappy customer, from the looks of it. that should be not tolerated. under any circumstances. other business cannot survive or thrive with such service. unless it is an oligopoly or monopoly ofcourse.... and thanks due to caste prejudices, we will not entertain vathiars from castes, and thus encourage competition with infulsion of new talent and blood.

so we deserve what we get. !!

 

[Iyyarooraan]

Kunjappu Sir,
The idea is to formally inform the heads of all sects. Not that it matters. They do all in the name of 'achaarya' including the sambhavana part of which should reach the head of their sect. The heads have complained too that these do not remit any part. Still there is a distant chance that they have mutual communications on matters of administrations. It is also 'pot calling the kettle black'syndrome. We just give them respect on the occasion and would not want to earn the wrath of the "heavens"! More and more people are getting more and more convinced of the hollowness of all these rites and the quality of the conducting priests. Many do not consider these as worth discussing or debating. I think on the whole the withdrawal also should be with grace.

 

[sreeindia111]

ஒரே வார்த்தையில் சொன்னால் -- திருடனாய் பார்த்து திருந்தாவிட்டால், திருட்டை ஒழிக்க முடியாது.

 

[kameshratnam]

I have seen many instances where this thing happens. There is no Sraddai in whatever vathiyars do these days. Hence many of us have stopped doing many rituals and instead annadanam and other stuff happens

 

[sangom]

sangom,

re your post #9,

personally, i would term today's vathiars as someone performing a service.

we gristhas have a need - to officiate a function. there is a satisfaction, that the presence of a vathiar brings - as i observed recently, in a funeral in toronto. the vathiar, was delayed, as funerals cannot be pre planned, and it took him a while to end whatever he was doing prior to this.

the tuft, the panchakachcham and the dirty cotton bag, all familiar paraphernalia to define a vathiar, came after a few hours of waiting at the funeral parlour here, awaiting cremation, and watching the clock, as toronto does not allow cremation after 6 pm.

the man arrived around 5 (we were waiting from noon), did his job, and we send away the remains to the gas pyre satisfied.

so, to sum up, he provides a service. i treat this service, void of religiosity, depth, philosophy or even intelligence. i treat it like the inane repetition of certain sanskrit mumbojumbo, which after so attending so many funerals in my life, and after performing so many tharpanams, i join in just for the heck of it.

it is sad, that for the money we pay, we get poor service. the today vathiar leaves behind an unhappy customer, from the looks of it. that should be not tolerated. under any circumstances. other business cannot survive or thrive with such service. unless it is an oligopoly or monopoly ofcourse.... and thanks due to caste prejudices, we will not entertain vathiars from castes, and thus encourage competition with infulsion of new talent and blood.

so we deserve what we get. !!

Dear K,

Sorry, I missed this thread for some days.

I agree with you mostly. But today's Vadhyars, at least here in Trivandrum, have formed a "cartel" sort of. If one vadhyar is changed on one occasion, then he won't come afterwards for any ritual. Getting a new vadhyar on a long-term basis is also difficult unless you can bring sufficient "pressure" upon a new vadhyar to accept you as a grihasta in his list of customers.

Therefore, while many tabras have accepted the rituals as mere வழிபாடு, a few others are trying to learn how to perform the smaller rites (Ganapathy Homam, Ayushya Homam, Pooja to different deities, etc.) themselves, so that at least to that extent the need for vadhyar will not arise. But the other side of the picture is that these latter group invariably send the "Dakshinai" to their regular vadhyar. So, the vadhyar gets money without work - bonus!

 

[kameshratnam]

Some of the few incidents i would like to tell you.
1. during a funeral when the pyre was to be lit, the vadhyar gets a call and starts talking on the phone. For us our grand ma is a treasure but for the vadhyar its another _____ ..sorry i am not able to get the right word
Fleecing:
After the death ceremony for performing the rites on the other days, the vadhyars have a package. The word which they use is "Atma will not get shanthi"...already we are in deep emotional pain due to the loss of a dear one and now vathiyar does this to us?
What a can middle income group do ? A man who earns 30 000 per month and has a family (wife and a child)..what can he do?> How much can he afford

 

[itsmesiva]

my vadyar is using 3 mobile phones while doing upanayanam....

Idhaan 3-G yaa?

 

[vvskoman]

hello all,
one thing i could observe from reading views of all, is that our vaadhyaars and purohits are technologically advanced.
let us appreciate that.
a vaadhyar or acharyan without following the rules of any homams or ritual will not get salvation first!!!!!!!

then how to address this problem .. please try the following ideas..

1) Announce 20% additional dhatchinai if their cell phones are switched off from entry to exit ......!!!-- this will definitely work out because beneficial to vaadhyar -- but loss to us (loss only financial-if homam performed without cell phones, we MAY get salvation which is more beneficial to the performer!!!!!!)
2) Start doing all these rituals only through mobiles of vaadhyar and reduce the fee to 25% --(beneficial to the performer)....!!!!

3) Select a 90% damaram (both the ears) vaadhyaar who do not use mobiles...

PLEASE TRY THIS AND INFORM THE RESULTS.... I AM WAITING ....

--VVS KOMAN FROM NAGERCOIL

 

[itsmesiva]

vvskoman Sir:

1. Nalla comedy pOngO... avaa velaya avaa distraction illaama seiyaradhuku 20% bonus aa? Can you please talk to my boss? Andha loose FB ellaam block panni vechu iruku office la... FB allow panni, naan adha use pannaama irundha 20% bonus... appadi dhaane? You should start a company, am sure you will get 2 million resumes right from this forum...

2. e-srardham, e-upanayanam andha madhiriyaa? avaa maattum webex la pOttu samasht-e-poonal aakida pOraa...

A SasthrigaL who did Seemandham at my place demanded full physical, mental and emotional focus from all of us during those 2 hours... Agreed, good for us only... but surprisingly he was on the phone a few times informing people of his coordinates, ETA, etc... so what happened to his focus? At times I am bewildered wondering who is serving and who is being served... A call or two for a few seconds call I dont think any of us will mind... but not... "Mamo paatha... hello.... sollungonnaa... samastha... dhuritha... naan dhaan pesaren... kshayadhwara... innum oru faaarti faive minutes la.... maami akshathaya eduthundu vaanGo..." multi tasking in this context is NOT accetable... IMHO.

Anbudan,

Siva

 

[badrishiyengar]

Hi All,

My opinion is like this. Communication is very important now a days. We will be able to track the position of Vadyar's stauts. I was on the side and had been a victim once. We were waiting for the vadyar for more than one hour without knowing his whereabouts.

But like we do in all meetings, we can ask the vadyars to put their mobile phones on silent mode and take the call only if it is an emergency

Every new invention has both advantages and disadvantages

S.R.Badrish Iyengar
Mobile no:+91 897 888 4799

 

[B Suresh Kumar]

The vadhyars because of the demand they have and the money they get on giving attendance have cut short most of the mantrams and speed up things. I am very much interested in doing my amavasai thanrpanam the proper way and give dhakshinai to the vathiyar but the way my vadhyars were doing it I have stopped asking my vadhyar to come to my house for performing amavasai tharpanam. i do it on my own now and I am happy that I am doing justice to my father and forefathers according to my belief system

 

[S. Krishnamoorthy]

Vadhyar is now a professional rendering a service. When we seek his services by agreeing to his fees, we enter into a contract with him. We can stipulate a condition or conditions regarding use of cell phone during the period of contract. This is a very delicate matter of trust and inter-personal relationship and can be amicably settled.
S. Krishnamoorthy

 

[B Suresh Kumar]

Dear Krishnamoorthy,
I do not know how many vadhyars understand what is contract and how many will abide by the contract. They know very well that we are attached to the sentimental values and we will not oppose them. If we start giving conditions than the house elders will start abusing us as atheist. It is more because of the sentimental blackmailing that we are going to vadhyars and less becuase of the trust we have in him.

 

[prasad1]

I agree with Kunjappu.
Any one providing you a service and does not have the curtsy to provide you the best service you deserve, should be punished. I can not speak for service In India. Here in USA I will on the basis of service. This is the way we operate, generally the temple assigns the priest, the temple charges fixed price, the priest gets an additional dakshina of at least 50% of the temple charges, more if the devotee is happier. The devotee may also complain the Temple puja committee. The puja committee may take action against the pujari. Puja committee has reprimanded, fined, and fired for improper behavior.

 

[tbs]

I agree with Kunjappu.
Any one providing you a service does not have the curtsy to provide you the best service you deserve, should be punished. I can not speak for service In India. Here in USA I will on the basis of service. This is the way we operate, generally the temple assigns the priest, the temple charges fixed price, the priest gets an additional dakshina of at least 50% of the temple charges, more if the devotee is happier. The devotee may also complain the Temple puja committee. The puja committee may take action against the pujari. Puja committee has reprimanded, fined, and fired for improper behavior.

hi prasad,
in USA ....the service of vadyar is not a choice....this purely as business modal....u pay service fee to the temple...the temple

provides vadyar to u....u can not demand the temple.....may be u can request....here in USA purely scheduling system.....becoz

vadyar's fixed salary with medical/accomodation facilities....every vadyar has to file income tax with IRS....how many vadyar do

file income tax in india? ....i dont think so ...not a single vadyar does?.....its not comparable....the dakishanas are taxable in USA....

my 2 cents.....

regards
tbs

 

[prasad1]

Mr. TBS Post#24.
You are right, that is my I preface my post with location. It is my experience that I right about. My comments may not even worth 2 cents, it is more like 2 paisa.

tamaso maa jyotir gamayaa