Mantra Sadhana Book Telugu Pdf Free Download
Calfu Baransky
A mantra is a potent spiritual sound formula. A mystical sound which not only enchants the mind and helps to make it single-pointed and concentrated, but also being pregnant with ideas, helps purify the mind as well as reveal to us great mysteries about ourselves and the universe when we contemplate on its deeper meanings.
Of the many mantras that are available to us in our Scriptures, the most popular and highly emphasized is the Gayatri Mantra. There are many stories that indicate the greatness and importance of the Gayatri.
This Gayatri Mantra was revealed to Sage Vishwamitra who was the Rishi or the seer of this mantra, who gave out this most precious jewel of the Vedas. Truly as His name implies, He is the mitra, or friend, of the vishwa or entire universe. Later on in history the Gayatri was personified as the all-loving and benevolent Mother Goddess known as Gayatri Devi or Savitri Devi.
Symbolic meaning: I meditate on That Sun who is the illuminer of the three worlds(Body Mind & Intellect), who is an ideal of tireless service, warmth of love and light of knowledge. May That Sun illumine our Intellect and inspire us to grow Holistically in life.
The simple principle of mind is - "as we think, so we become". We become what we constantly dwell upon. The rishis called this technique as Upasana. Upasana literally means "sitting, asana... near, upa.... the ideal or object of worship". In other words, to fix your mind on the object of your concentration in such a way that the nature of the ideal becomes integrated into your personality
The Rishis found none other than the blazing sun as the perfect representative or embodiment of all the noble ideals along with the Supreme Knowledge; ....of God, the Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer; and of the Absolute Reality. For a child or youngster, in fact for the whole of mankind, there is no greater ideal that amply represents the brilliance of knowledge and intelligence, as well as the warmth of love and caring, other than the sun. The principle of dynamic work, the spirit of dedicated service without any expectations, and the virtue of unlimited sacrifice -- these are best exemplified in nature by the quiet sun which unceasingly burns of itself to give heat and light to all of Creation, yet demands nothing in return. Thus the Sun represents the blossoming of the personality and holistic growth at body, mind and intellectual levels.
Thus, from childhood till the time of death or till one renounces the world and takes up sanyaas, one is urged to do the upasana of Surya Devata, who is also known as Savitr. We are advised to rise in the morning and greet the sun with oblations of water in the cupped palms, called as arghyam... accompanied by the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra, and at dusk, to conclude the day in the same manner; this practice is known as SandhyaVandanin its simplest form.
When we regularly pray like this, invoking the brilliance of the sun, we develop in ourselves those powers of understanding, that clarity of vision, subtlety of intellect, alertness and purity required to gain the Supreme Knowledge.
In each of us there is a light of intelligence, shining equally bright in every one of us. But then why is it that we find that some of us are more intelligent than the others? Why do we find that some people are dull and cannot understand even the simplest things, whereas others can pick up the most profound things so fast? Even in the same house, between two children born of the same parents, one comes first in his class while the other fails miserably. If we look into this question closely, we find that the intellect is sharp and bright when the mind is calm. When the mind is agitated, the intellect cannot think properly. The secret of intelligence is to quieten the agitations of the mind. It is only when the agitations of the mind are quietened that the intellect becomes bright and can think clearly. So what is obstructing the intelligence in us is these lower tendencies, the baser vasanas. For example, haven't you noticed now and then how your children get very good marks in their studies for a certain period, and then suddenly they fail miserably in some test? If you try to make a chart based on these observations you will find that at the time of failure there was some distraction in the child's life. Perhaps a soccer or cricket game was going on, some conflict or confusion, or depression and dejection, was raging in the child's mind, or simply, the youngster had suddenly, madly fallen in love! We may think that this is true only of children or the young ones, but isn't the same true of us also?
Therefore through the Gayatri Mantra, we invoke the Lord Sun, saying: O Lord Sun, please purify our mind for the higher sadhana... please purify my mind, so that the light of my intellect may shine forth.
What covers the brilliance of consciousness within me are my own vasanas or innate tendencies which also veil my intellect." Thus the seeker understands that the sun outside is just the symbol of that ever-shining consciousness within, and that I turn my mind towards it so that in the brilliance of its knowledge, my ignorance and negative tendencies are detroyed... and the light of consciousness floods through my intellect unobscured as the light of intelligence. Thereafter the Gayatri Mantra becomes for the seeker a prayer to the Consciousness, the Atma, or the Higher Self, in the light of which everything is experienced, and without which not even the brilliant sun or the shining moon can be perceived.
So in the initial stage the chanting of the mantra is a special vibration that has the power to quieten the mind. Then it is taught that it is a prayer invoking the blessing of the all-adorable Lord Sun which sustains the entire universe. For a devotee, it is a prayer to his own chosen personal Lord of the Heart to destroy all the negative tendencies that cause sorrow in one's life and interfere in one's devotional practices and duties. But as the seeker starts growing, this prayer becomes more subjective, invoking the light of intelligence, the atma within, to bring out the brilliance in our intellect. But for the student of Vedanta, who seeks Truth and liberation, for him it becomes an indicator, a means of contemplation, a revealer of Truth. Each and every word represents the very depth of the Upanishads.
Listed above are some of the benefits. Many such wonderful and almost fantastic results or gains have been attributed to the chanting of this mantra. The list is simply endless. But for those of us who are seekers of Truth and of a better way of living, it would be enough to say that nothing is impossible for the person who regularly and sincerely, with complete devotion chants or repeats in his/her mind the Gayatri Mantra.
Shava sadhana (śāva sādhanā) is a Tantric sadhana (spiritual practice) in which the practitioner sits on a corpse for meditation. Shava sadhana is part of the vamachara ('heterodox') practice of worship, which is followed by the esoteric Tantra.[1]
Shava sadhana is regarded as one of Tantra's most important, most difficult and most secret rituals. Tantric texts as well as oral tales detail the process of the ritual and also tell its importance. The purpose of practicing the ritual range from knowledge, propitiating a deity, material motives, even dark objectives to gaining control over the spirit of the deceased. There are strict rules that need to be followed in the ritual, even in selection of a suitable corpse for the ceremony.
The following Tantric texts detail the ritual process: Kaulavali-nirnaya, Shyamarahasya, Tara-bhakti-sudharnava, Purasharcharyarnava, Nilatantra, Kulachudamani and Krishnananda's Tantrasara.[2] The Kali tantra says that those who worship goddess Parvati without shava sadhana will suffer in Naraka (hell) until dissolution of the world.[1]
An oral tale about the shava sadhana is told by the Tantrikas of Bengal. Vasudeva Bhattacharya of Tipperah (West Bengal) went to the Goddess temple of Kamakhya and worshipped the deity by Tantric means. A voice told him about the ritual and that he will gain moksha in his next life when he will be reborn as his own grandson Sarvananda. Vasudeva gave his servant Purvananda an engraved copper plate with a mantra. Purvananda, now an old man, now served Sarvananda, who he passed the secret of shava sadhana ritual, told by his former master. Purvananda volunteered to be used as the corpse for shava sadhana and Sarvananda performed the ritual, where ghosts tormented him; storms tried to interrupt his practice; beautiful dancers tempted him, until the Goddess gave him a vision. She blessed him with vak siddhi, the ability to make something happen by just saying it. She also revived the servant. Sarvananda became a siddha and the first tantrika to see the theophany of the Goddess' ten mahavidya forms. The Shakta poet Ramprasad Sen is also told to have performed the ritual and gained the vision of his patron, goddess Kali.[1]
Shava Sadhana is regarded the most important ritual in Shakta Tantra, particularly in West Bengal. Shaiva Aghoris from Varanasi are also known to practice this ritual.[1] Shava sadhana is "the most secret part of Tantric mysticism" and is regarded one of the most "misunderstood".[3] It is also regarded as the "most difficult form of spiritual practice". The sadhaka needs to adhere to all rules of the ritual and is warned that violation of the regulations may lead to dire consequences.[3] Even a small mistake in the ritual can lead to death or insanity of the practitioner.[4] Due to the intensity of consequences if the ritual is not properly done, a Tantric priest from Bolpur said that the ritual is rarely practiced in the area.[4]
The purpose to do shava sadhana varies from person to person. An aim of shava sadhana is to unite the Kundalini with Param Shiva.[3] From a yogic or Tantric point of view, it signifies detachment from the physical world, and uniting with the Absolute, identified with the male god Shiva, the Divine Mother Shakti or the abstract Brahman. The detachment leads to freedom from Samsara (the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation) and the adept goes beyond the orthodox concepts of purity and impurity; auspiciousness and inauspiciousness. The ritual is done using a corpse, considered a highly impure and inauspicious symbol in traditional Hinduism.[1] Since it deals with directly encountering death, it is believed to lead to non-death, symbolized by longevity, wealth and power. The ritual is said to erase the fear of death from the practitioner's mind. It may also be conducted to placate a personal deity. For Aghoris, the purpose is not spiritual, but simply to acquire the skull for rituals or gain power over the soul of the deceased so that he can act as a medium to other spirits or acquire powers to control them. Andre Padoux interprets shava sadhana as black magic which is done to accomplish evil motives.[1]
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