vedic mantras in nitya karmas

[narayan iyer]

Pranams,

While doing nitya karmas yesterday, my mind kept wandering to the articles of bhakti and karma which I had read in list archieves (of Sept. 2001, I think) and to the wonderful article written by Sri K Sadananda and also the quotation of HH Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati Swami.

When I applied my mind more to the task at hand and concentrated on mantras, I observed that except for Sri Rudram, other mantras like Purusha sookta, Narayana sookta (except once), Sri Sookta, Durga sookta etc. do not appear to contain (to my very limited understanding of sanskrit) the word "namaha:" I checked with sandhya mantras (only of vedic portion) and again found the same to the case.

Of course I understand that the mantras I quoted are stuti and doesnt probably require namah:, but still can someone elaborate, how the vinamrata aspect is covered/implied by vedic mantras? I mean, I can be reciting the stutis and still be haughty without any concept of samarpan or saranagati and not have the required Bhav. And also, if someone can explain the origins of namah:, the explicit vinamrata bhav in mantras?

thanks and regards

narayan

[sriram]

Dear Sri Narayana Iyer
A general reading of the Sukthas you had mentioned will clear your doubts
about the vinamrata aspect contained in them.Sri Suktham says saranam aham
prapadye and goes on to describe the golden brilliance of Lakshmi and the
prayer addressed to Her.Durga suktham contains sutharasi tharase nama:It is
more or less addressed to Durga in the form of Agni.it is also prayer to
remove all obstacles and bless the progeny with prosperity.Sandhya mantras
are full of vinamrata aspect only.The mantras say that all my sins-these are
also listed -sarvam punanthu mam -papebyoh rakshantaham-.The two sins -manyu
kruthebyah and kamo kruthebyah are again and again listed and prayed to the
Devathas to protect one from these two very difficult sins.Whether one has
actually committed these sins are not still these are said to emphasise
that these two are very difficult to overcome.Manyu is anger and Kama is
desire.Also it is prayed that one may be absolved of sins committed by
manas,vak and and karmendriyas -like hands,feet,stomach and genital
organs.All indicate vinamratha only.That is we as humans are very prone to
commit sins at a drop of a hat as it were and we plead that we may be
saved.It also indicates that it is very very difficult to conquer anger and
passion.The mantra says only desire and anger have done the sins!Meaning
human being have no control over these two emotions.How
true!.Krishnamoorthy.
----- Original Message -----
From: "narayan iyer" <z1e1b1r1a-/***@public.gmane.org>
To: <advaita-l-4gKAAF5ltrLLd2BZh+***@public.gmane.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 1:11 AM
Subject: [Advaita-l] vedic mantras in nitya karmas

Post by narayan iyer
Pranams,
While doing nitya karmas yesterday, my mind kept wandering to the articles
of bhakti and karma which I had read in list archieves (of Sept. 2001, I
think) and to the wonderful article written by Sri K Sadananda and also
the quotation of HH Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati Swami.
When I applied my mind more to the task at hand and concentrated on
mantras, I observed that except for Sri Rudram, other mantras like Purusha
sookta, Narayana sookta (except once), Sri Sookta, Durga sookta etc. do
not appear to contain (to my very limited understanding of sanskrit) the
word "namaha:" I checked with sandhya mantras (only of vedic portion) and
again found the same to the case.
Of course I understand that the mantras I quoted are stuti and doesnt
probably require namah:, but still can someone elaborate, how the
vinamrata aspect is covered/implied by vedic mantras? I mean, I can be
reciting the stutis and still be haughty without any concept of samarpan
or saranagati and not have the required Bhav. And also, if someone can
explain the origins of namah:, the explicit vinamrata bhav in mantras?
thanks and regards
narayan
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[Sundaresan, Vidyasankar (GE Infra, Water)]

The namaka praSna has a special place in the yajurveda saMhita portion.
It is perhaps the only example one can give from Sruti, for a list of
names. All other lists of 108 or 1008 names used for pUjAs are from
various smRti texts.

There are other veda mantra-s in which the namaH word is repeated. E.g.

namo vAce yA coditA yA cAnuditA tasyai vAce namo namo ... - one of the
SAnti mantra-s,

namo brahmaNe namo astv agnaye namaH pRthivyai ... ... namo vishNave
bRhate karomi

namo rudrAya vishNave mRtyur me pAhi - taittirIya AraNyaka

namo (a)gnaye (a)psumate nama indrAya namo varuNAya namo vAruNyai namo
(a)dbhyaH - aghamarshaNa sUkta from taittirIya braHmaNa

yakshvAmahe saumanasAya rudram namobhir devam asuraM duvasya - Rg veda
(usually recited after yajurveda namaka during pUjA).

Regards,
Vidyasankar