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Listen the Chanting of Shri Datta
Few Datta-devotees have asked whether to celebrate Datta-jayanti during the period of eclipse. It is, in fact, more beneficial to worship God during the period of eclipse; therefore, Shri Datta-devotees should celebrate Datta-Jayanti !
When to celebrate Shri Datta's birth ceremony? : At the time of 'Pradosh' when 'Vyapini' Pournima is falling on two days, those who celebrate normally at the time of sunset on the day of Pournima, instead of celebrating during 'Parva' period of eclipse (from 6.15 p.m. to 9.48 p.m.), they should celebrate Shri Datta Jayanti, only for this year as a change, on 10.12.2011 in the afternoon.
On the day of Pournima, the 'Vedha-kaal' of eclipse starts from 9.45 a.m. Since one should not eat during 'Vedha-kaal'; 'naivedya (food offerings)' can be prepared and may be fed to cow after birth ceremony. 'Sunth-sakhar (dry ginger powder and sugar)' or 'Khadi-sakhar (Lump sugar)' can be had as holy 'sacrament (prasad)'.
Ritualistic worship, birth ceremony, preparation of 'Naivedya' can be made during 'Vedha-kaal'; therefore, those who celebrate birth ceremony on the day of 'Pournima' can celebrate it on 10.12.2011 in the afternoon or at 4.30 p.m. It will not be proper to celebrate it on Friday on the day of Chaturdashi, in the evening or after sunset.
- Compilation Mrs. Prajakta Joshi, Kudal (Ref. Date almanac)
Datta Jayanti is a celebration of the birth of Shri Datta. Shri Datta was born in the evening of the full moon day (paurnima) of the Hindu lunar month of Margshirsh. Hence this day is celebrated as Shri Datta's birthday.
In the era gone by, demonic energies grew enormously in the gross and the subtle. The Deities efforts to vanquish them were unsuccessful. Then, under orders from Deity Brahma, Shri Datta had to incarnate at various places, in various forms and destroy the demons. The day of His incarnation is celebrated as Shri Datta Jayanti.
On the day of Shri Datta Jayanti, the Shri Datta principle is 1000 times more active on Earth as compared to other times. On this day if one worships Shri Datta with devotion then one gets the maximum benefit from the Shri Datta principle.
a. Shri Datta is one who has been given the unmanifest (nirgun) spiritual experience that 'the Self is Brahman,' or that 'the Self is the soul' or that 'one is free.' A seeker has to do spiritual practice for many births in order to get this spiritual experience. The importance of Shri Datta can be understood from this point.
b. Shri Datta is the principle, which bestows the manifest (sagun) and unmanifest (nirgun) waves of Deities to the embodied soul (jiva).
a. Shri Datta blesses human beings by giving momentum to departed ancestors and reducing their ancestral problems. God relieves humans from the debt unto ancestors through the rites done to give momentum to ancestors and the chanting of Shri Datta's chant.
b. As per Hindu holy scriptures, every person has 4 debts - debt unto God, Sages, ancestors and unto society. Often people think that by fondly remembering their ancestors, displaying their photos or publishing an obituary they are helping pay the debt unto ancestors. However this is not so. As per Hindu shastra this debt is repaid to some some extent by chanting Shri Datta's Name. From this one can understand that it is important to worship Shri Datta in order to be relieved from the debt unto ancestors. Worship of the divine such as this also helps us to reduce the debt we have unto God.
c. The main Deity of the nether region (bhuvalok) is Shri Datta and the specialty of Shri Datta is to give momentum to the subtle bodies (lingadeha) in the nether region (bhuvalok), so that they can move on to the next plane of existence.
a. As the embodied soul (jiva) gets spiritually pure (sattvik) energy from Shri Datta, it can fight with negative energies.
b. An embodied soul (jiva) gets the energy from God (Shiv) by chanting the Shri Datta chant.
c. Negative energy trouble reduces, if one chants the Shri Datta chant while sitting in one place, every day for 15-20 minutes.
d. The atmosphere in the house remains blissful as the ancestors get momentum to go to the next subtle plane of existence.
a. Formation of a protective shield: A protective shield is formed around the person through the energy created by chanting the Shri Datta chant.
b. Ancestors getting momentum: As many people do not do regular spiritual practice, they are entangled in the materialistic world (maya). Therefore after death their souls (lingadeha) remain unsatisfied. Such souls get stuck in the region of the dead (martyalok), which is between the Earth plane and the Nether region. By chanting Shri Datta's name, our ancestors trapped in martyalok get momentum. Hence, later they proceed towards the next region according to their deeds and gradually the trouble caused by them to the person reduces.
There are certain steps taken to worship each deity and each step has its own spiritual significance. By following these steps one receives the maximum benefit of that deity's principle. Knowledge received about what should be done while worshipping Shri Datta, is given below.
| Action of worship | Knowledge received from God about actions | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Before worshipping Shri Datta, how should the worshipper apply the sandalwood paste tilak to self? | Two vertical lines, made with the right ring finger, just like Sree Vishnu. | |
| 2. Which finger should one use to apply sandalwood paste (gandh) to Shri Datta? | The ring finger of the right hand | |
| 3. Offering flowers |
| |
| a. Which flower should one offer? | Jasmine | |
| b. How many flowers should be offered? | 7 or multiples of 7 | |
| c. What is the method of offering flowers? | The stalk should face Lord Shri Datta. | |
| d. In what shape should the flowers be offered? | The flowers should be arranged in the shape of a spade | |
| 4.Waving lit incense sticks |
| |
| a. Which incense sticks should be used to worship the saviour (tarak) form of Shri Datta? | Sandalwood, Jasmine, Kewda, Jaai, Amber | |
| b. Which incense sticks should be used to worship the destroyer (marak) form of Shri Datta? | Heena | |
| c. How many incense sticks should be offered? | Two | |
| d. How should the lit incense sticks be waved? | They should be waved three times, in a clock wise direction while holding them between the index finger and thumb of the right hand. | |
| 5. How many circumambulations should one do around Shri Datta ? | Seven | |
There is no specific spiritual scientific ritual found, which guides us in Datta Jayanti celebrations. There is a tradition though of reciting the Gurucharitra (a holy scripture which describes the glory of Shri Datta), seven days before this celebration. Singing holy songs (bhajan and kirtan) and ritualistic worship (puja) are the types of devotion that are prevalent in the celebration. In Maharashtra (a state in western India), the towns of Aoudumbar, Nrusinha Vadi and Gangapur are famous for the celebration of Datta Jayanti. Datta Jayanti is also celebrated in Tamilnadu (a state in southern India).
In the present times most people suffer from the trouble caused by their departed ancestors' souls as they do not do spiritual practice or perform shraddha-paksha (ritual for helping ancestors move forward). Only a spiritually evolved person can tell us if there is a possibility of suffering due to departed ancestors.
If one does not meet a spiritually evolved person, then one may consider the following types of problems as caused by departed ancestors: Inability to get married, if married then husband and wife not getting along well, getting along well but not able to conceive children, if conceived having an abortion, or having a premature baby, baby being mentally challenged or handicapped, or having all daughters, etc.
1. If one is not facing any kind of ancestral problems, then in order to avoid problems in the future or if there are mild problems, one should regularly chant a minimum of 15 minutes (or 3 rounds of a 108 bead rosary) of the 'Sree Gurudev Datta' chant. Along with this, an ordinary person or seeker in the initial stage of sadhana should chant his family deities name as much as possible, so that he does not face ancestral problems and progresses spiritually.
2. If ancestral problems are of medium severity then one should chant six rounds of japmala (rosary) of 'Sree Gurudev Datta' along with chanting the family deity's name. Also one should visit Deity Shri Datta's temple every Thursday, circumambulate the idol seven times and chant 1-2 rounds of japmala while sitting there. One should do this for a year. After that one should continue with 3 rounds of japmala everyday.
3. If the ancestral problems are severe then one should chant nine rounds of japmala (rosary) of the 'Sree Gurudev Datta' chant. One should visit any Jyotirlinga (shrines of Deity Shiva) and perform the rites of narayanbali, nagbali, tripindi shraddh, kalsarpashanti (ancient rituals). Along with that one should live and do spiritual practice in areas that are famous for Shri Datta's worship or serve a Saint and receive His blessings.
(Ref: Forumforhinduawakening.org)
Police prohibited members of Hindu organizations from performing puja in Dattapeetham at Chikkmagalur. Muslims have encroached upon the Dattapeetham area and have constructed a Durgah. |  |
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