HOW TO PERFORM ACAMANAM?

Acamana vidhi contains a lot of niyamas to be followed. Some important aspects are covered below:

gokarNAkruti hastena mAshamagnam jalam pibet !
tannUnam adhikam pItvA surApAna samam bhavet !!

The inner right hand to be folded like cow ear and water to be consumed which is of the size of "MAsha" . If it is more or less, it is equivalent to consuming surApAnam .

apsu prAptAsu hrudayam brAhmaNaS SuddhimApnuyAt !
rAjamyah kaNThatAlU ca vaiSyaSSUdras tathA Striyah!!

The water consumed should reach hridayam for brAhmaNas ( in order to get purified), neck for kshatriyas, palate for vaiSyas, SUdras and women.

samhatAngulinA toyam grihItvA pAninA dvijah !
muktvAngushtha kanishthye tu SishtasyAcamanam caret !!

Use five fingers together while taking tIrtham. Then separate the thumb finger and little finger. Whatever water remains in the hand is to be used for Acamanam. { This is also interpreted as MAshamagnam tIrtham}

---- and so on ----

Asanam :
kukkutAsanam

Direction:
East ot North


PAtram:

While doing anushtAnam, a separate vessel is preferable for Acamanam as Acamana tIrtham is not be used for other purposes like prokshaNam.

Procedure:

(1) Consume water three times saying Om acutAya namah, Om anantAya namah and Om govinDAya namah

(2) Use thumb finger to cleanse the closed mouth

(3) Cleanse the thumb finger with water

(4) Touch the twelve parts chanting the DvAdaSa namas starting with Om KeSavAya namah (each one at a time) and ending with Om dAmodarAya namah

Number of times

(1) Two times before homa, japa and one time at the end
(2) Two times before and after food



SrotrAcamanam

tasmAt AcamanAsambhave nAsikA karNa Sparsah kAryah !

If Acamanam cannot be done with water, by touching the tip of the nose and right ear, one gets the benefit of doing the Acamanam. It is known as SrotrAcamanam.

Brahma Yajna Acamanam

While doing brahma Yajnam one Acamanam is done in a different format without mantra.

AcamanIyam during devatArAdhanam

When arghya, PAdya and AcamanIyam are offered to BhagavAn, as part of devatArAdhana, it has to be shown with reverence. One should not consume the water so offered as AcamanIyam because the same is offered to BhagaVan with the bhAva that it is consumed by Him.


As regards a simple thing like Acamanam, there are subtler aspects, different interpretations and varied practices . Hence it would be advisable for those interested in karmAnushthAna to know these things personally in a traditional guru -sishya format.

WHETHER WHILE DOING SANDHYA VANDANAM ANGANYASA HAS TO BE DONE FIRST?

In traditional way of doing sandhyA vandanam, the karanyAsam is done first and thereafter the anganyAsam is done. This is the practice of those who are following dharma SAstras.

WHETHER VEDAS ARE AGAINST TEMPLE IDOL WORSHIP?

The Vedic statements “na tasya pratimA asti” from Sukla Yajur Veda and "na tasya pratimA syAt" from SvetAsvatara Upanishad are misquoted by some to prove that Vedas are against temple idol worship. Let us see why such interpretation is erroneous and baseless.

na tasya pratimA asti yasya nAma mahadyaSah! ---Sukla Yajur Veda samhitA XXXII-3

na tasya purushasya pratimA pratimAnabhUtam kincit vidyate ! yato yasya nAma mahadyaSa ityesha vedAntavidah pathanti hiraNyagarbha ityesha catur ruco anuvAkodUra viprakarsheNa hiraNyagarbham pratimAbhUtamAha !
---Uvata

Tasya purushasya pratimA pratimAnam upamAnam kincit vastu nAsti ! ata eva nAma prasiddham mahat yaSah yasyAsti! sarvAtirikta yaSA ityarthah !
---MahIdhara

Standard English translations like Griffith and Robert Ernest Hume also convey the same meaning as aforesaid.

The above proves that the Sukla Yajur Veda Mantra means that there is no comparison for the Supreme and it does not refer to idol worship by any stretch of imagination.

na tasya pratimA syAt !
---SvetASvatara Upanishad iv-19

na hi tasya iSvarasya pratimA upamA kAcit asti nishpratiyogikatvena brahmamAtratvAt !
---- SrI upanishad brahma yogI bhAshyam

Hence the translation of the word "pratimA" as "Idol worship" is erroneous as it is totally out of context. Thus there is no Vedic Statement which condemns Temple idol worship

WHAT ARE APASTAMBA AND BODHAYANA SUTRAS?

Apastamba and BodhAyana are the two prominent SUtras of those who are born in the family of KrishNa yajurvedis.

The SUtras are named after the great Rishis Apastamba and BodhAyana

Though both SUtras follow KrishNa Yajurveda texts, the two grihya SUtras are different in prayoga in certain respects.

As the SUtra is determined by birth, one has to follow the SUtra belonging to his family while performing the various Vedic karmas.

WHO ARE ALL THOSE WHO GET SATISFIED BY PERFORMANCE OF SRADDHAM?

Seven types of persons get satisfied by performance of SrAddham:

(1) Devas by homa done in agni
(2) Pitrus in svarga by brAhmaNa bhojanam
(3) Pitrus in pitruloka by pInda DAnam
(4) People by anna DAnam
(5) PiSachas by ucchishtha
(6) Those in naraka by vikira annam
(7) Unknown relatives by vAyasa piNda.

agnau hutena devAsca svargasthA vipra bhojanAh !
yamasthAh piNda dAnena mAnushA bhUri bhojanAt !!
!ucchishThena piSacAdyAh nArakAh vikireNa tu !
ajnAtAh kAkapiNdena SrAddhe trupyanti saptadhA !!

STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

According to Vedanta, three states of consciousness are there --- jAgrat, svapna and sushupti. The Atman is known as viSva, taijasa and prAjna in these three states respectively.The turIya is the fourth which is different from the three. According to Paingala Upanishad there are five states - Waking, dream, deep sleep,swoon and death.

There is a forward movement from one state to another which involves the intermediary stage.

Thus from waking to dream , there is an intermediary stage. This in my humble view has to be construed as belonging to the previous State of consciousness. Thus the intermediary stage between waking and dream experience should be considered as waking state.. Similarly the intermediary stage between dream and deep sleep experience should be considered as dream state

According to SAstras, in the state of deep sleep, there is total ignorance about the existence of the objects except the awareness that "I Exist." While the experience during waking and dreaming states is different for different people, the deep sleep state is same for all. The witness "I" exists in all the three states.

Considering the position of SAstras on this topic, if the meeting of one's departed ancestor has happened in the intermediary stage just before svapna, it has to be construed as jAgrat state. If it has happened in the intermediary stage just before deep sleep, it has to be construed as svapna state.

WHETHER THE USAGE "ABHOJANAM" IS CORRECT IN THE CONTEXT OF BHOJANA NIYAMA?

According to dharma SAstras, in the context of Bhojana niyama , "ApoSanam" is the correct usage and not "Abhojanam".

I

am giving a list of pramANam from dharma SAstras wherein the word "ApoSanam" is used.

ApOSanamakritvA tu yadyannam vistrutam bhavet !

tadannam MAmsa tulyam syAt bhuktvA cAndrAyaNam caret !!

---- Sangraham

ApoSanenoparishtA dadhastAccaiva bhunjatA !

----- YAjnavalkya

ApoSanam parIdhAnam pUrvamAcchAdanam param !

---- SAtAtapa

ApoSanam vAma bhAge surApAnasamam bhavet !

---- smrutyarthaSAra

ApoSanam tu ya: kuryAt vAmabhAge tathaiva ca !

---- Smrutiratnam