BPHS Ch.86 Amavasya Birth Shanti, Karma Transfer via Dakshina & Priest Spiritual Caliber

Shani Trayodashi — Special Observance

The class opens with the two Vedic mantras of Shani (one in Ushnik metre, one in Gayatri metre). That reminds PVNR that the day before was Shani Trayodashi.

• Shani Trayodashi = Saturday (Shani Vara) and the 13th tithi (Trayodashi) falling together.
• Prayer to Shani on that day gives much quicker results than on any other day.
• Krishna Paksha Shani Trayodashi is more powerful than the Shukla Paksha one.
• Prasada Shani likes: urad dal and sesame seeds cooked with rice. Black sesame is preferred; white may be used.

"If you do any Shani mantra on that day, it is equivalent to 1000 times the count compared to normal times."

---

BPHS Chapter 86 — Amavasya Birth: Result and Shanti

Chapter 86 in Santhanam's edition; other editions number it 87–89. The verse says darśa. PVNR notes this is normally taken as Amavasya, though it could mean the day the Moon is just visible (Shukla Pratipada). The class assumes Amavasya.

Result of Amavasya Birth

"Mata pitro daridrata. For mother and father, there will be poverty."

• The dosha falls on the parents, not mainly on the child.
• Poverty is not only of wealth: "Poverty of happiness also. Basically being deprived of everything that is valuable."
• If the parents are well off and nothing bad is happening, PVNR leaves it to judgment. If you are not sure what tomorrow brings, be safe, follow Parashara and do the shanti.

Shanti Procedure

Step 1: Kalasha Sthapana

• A kalasha is a metal bowl of water with a coconut on top, set up by the standard procedure (vidhi-pūrvakam).
• Put into the water the tender leaves (pallava), the bark (tvak) and the roots (mūla) of five trees: udumbara, vata, ashwattha, chūta and nimba (neem). PVNR does not translate the tree names; any priest knows them.
• Santhanam's translation says only "fresh leaves". The verse plainly says roots, bark and tender leaves.
• Add five gems (pancharatna). Parashara does not name them. PVNR's suggestion: choose from the Navaratnas, and take the cheaper five if the costly ones are out of reach.
• Apply turmeric paste to the coconut and place it on the kalasha.
• Vastra-yugma: two cloths — one on the coconut, one wrapped around the kalasha. Parashara does not give colours. Tradition: yellow on top, red below.

Step 2: Sanctify the Kalasha

• With three Vedic chants (tryṛca): Sarve samudrāḥ, Āpo hi ṣṭhā, and a third that Parashara does not name.
• The priest should know the third. Otherwise use a Varuna mantra such as Imam me Varuna, as in the Satyanarayana vrata.

Step 3: Place the Kalasha in the Agneya Corner

• Vahni-koṇa = the angle of Agni = southeast.
• Both printed translations in the class said "southwest". PVNR: "The translation is wrong. Vahnikona is southeast only."
• A student asks whether this means the southeast of the house, where the kitchen is. No: it is the southeast corner of the puja area. Facing east, that is in front of you and to your right.

Step 4: Idols of Moon and Sun

• The deities of Amavasya are the Moon and the Sun. Idols of gold, silver or copper.
• A student objects that Amavasya is lorded by Rahu. PVNR: the tithi is lorded by Rahu, but the concept of tithi itself is ruled by Sun and Moon — tithis are based on the Sun–Moon angle.
• Invoke the Moon with the Āpyāyasva mantra and the Sun with the Savitā mantra.
• Then upachāra — the sixteen services (shodasha upachara puja), or more.

Step 5: Homa

• First with samidhs (PVNR: darbha, a particular dry grass; wood twigs may also be used), then with charu (cooked food).
• Parashara does not say which charu. PVNR's idea: wheat kheer for the Sun, rice kheer for the Moon.
• Mantras: the Savitri mantra and the Soma mantra Somo dhenum.
• Count: 108 or 28. "If you give this option to your priest, he will take 28. So just tell him to do 108." Even 1000 of each is only a few hours, and for a puja done once it is good to do as many as you can.
• Other Sun and Moon mantras from the Rig Veda may be added: the main ones 108 times, the secondary ones 28 times.

Step 6: Abhishekam

• After the homa, do udvasana (release the deities from the idols and the kalasha).
• Husband and wife sit with the baby in their lap. The water of the kalasha is poured over all of them.
• That water has been charged by the mantras. "Water is easily charged with energy. That water basically works as a reservoir which captures the energy."
• PVNR mentions a Japanese study in which the crystal structure of water turned orderly after Om was chanted before it and chaotic after disorderly music or a microwave. From the Vedantic view there is consciousness in every object, so this is no surprise.

Step 7: Dakshina and Feeding Brahmanas

• Dakshina to the priest: a black cow, gold and silver.
• Feed brahmanas. Brahmana here is not the thread and the marks on the forehead; it is a learned person with the temperament of a brahmin. Feeding anybody is good, learned people in particular.

When to Do It

• The 21st day counted from the birth is ideal and is common for many of these shantis. The 41st is also used. The 11th is too early. Any good day will do.
• It can be done later, at any age. A grown person sits with the parents on either side.
• PVNR knew cases of a strong Sankranti dosha where the rest of the chart was good and the person struggled. They did the shanti at 28–29 in one case and in the thirties in another, and much improved afterwards.
• If the parents are no longer living, you may not need it — this dosha is bad for the parents rather than for you. If you feel you are suffering from it, do it on your own.

---

Karma Transfer via Dakshina and the Caliber of the Priest

What the Dakshina Carries

• Anything taken freely from another carries karma with it.
• The baby born on Amavasya has some bad karma. Apart from the ritual, the dakshina itself transfers some of it to the brahmin.
• The brahmin must be able to burn that karma through his own sadhana.
• If somebody doing a puja gives you food or dakshina freely, PVNR does not say refuse it. Do extra sadhana the following week — if you do 10 malas of a mantra, do 20.

"The brahmin who is taking the dakshina, he should be capable of taking some karma on himself. … If he is a Tom, Dick and Harry who takes the dakshina, then he is in trouble."

Shanti Is a Business — How to Judge a Priest

(This discussion comes after Chapter 87 in the class.)

• A learned brahmin is supposed to be untouched by money. Money should be a trifle (tuccha) to him. Mantra sadhana gives that attitude; a man who lacks it lacks the caliber.
• You cannot tell a person's caliber from the face. Only the inner eye that sees the subtle and causal bodies can.
• A mantra does not work by sound alone. It works through the caliber of the one who chants it. Done by a man who is only after money, it still has some effect, but it will not work the way Parashara says.
• Story: a man in Singapore paid eleven brahmins in Chennai to recite the Rudram eleven times at a Shiva temple on a certain day each month. A yogi friend of his went there and found they only met, chatted and went home — not even one recitation.
• Asked about readers who charge 20,000–25,000 rupees for a puja: "Anybody who puts a particular price on it, you should be suspicious." His caution: it may be that the native is meant to let that much money go, so you cannot be sure of intentions — but a man running after money can do nothing for you.
• The other side: by taking the money he does take some of your karma on himself.
• Scare names are a trick — "Karkotaka Kalasarpa Maha Dosha" where plain Kalasarpa does not frighten enough.
• Story: a man who himself performs homas was told by an astrologer in India that his daughter had a sarpa dosha. He offered to do the mantras himself. "No, if you do it, it won't work. Only my priest has to do it." PVNR: that is a business deal between the priest and the astrologer.
• Use a priest your family knows. He need not specialise in this homa — show him the verses; a priest trained in homas can work it out.
• If you cannot find a good one, do it yourself.

"If such a person does a mantra, forget 108 times, even one time in your house, the energy of your house will rise."

"It is better to do it yourself than hire somebody for 25,000 rupees. … If you have that devotion, maybe you can do a better job if you do the homa yourself."

"Getting them done right is more important than getting them done."

Why Homa Works

A student asks whether prayer is not the best remedy. PVNR: yes, and homa is this kind of prayer.

• When the priest has the caliber, the devatas can come into the fire as fire and accept the offering. The higher deities are of pure ākāśa tattva and can take the form of fire.
• The smoke carries that energy. The gross body needs earth or water to be affected; the subtle body takes in vāyu and ākāśa, and the causal body takes the vibrations in the ākāśa.

A Muhurta Aside

A student announces the consecration of Navagraha idols at a temple on a Saturday morning, 23 September, between 8 and 10, and asks about the time. PVNR will not second-guess the priest's choice, but reads the day: Kanya lagna at the start; from about 8:40 Tula lagna with Jupiter in lagna and Sun, Moon, Ketu, Mars and Mercury in the 12th — the house of moksha very strong. Brahma Yoga, Hasta nakshatra. Shukla Pratipada is a mixed tithi, but it is the first day of Devi Navaratri.

---