Re: Vedic deities

From the Bhakti List Archives

• June 2, 1999


Mani Varadarajan  wrote:


> Sri Ramakrishnan wrote:
>
> > Anand Karalapakkam  wrote:
> > > Our AchAryAs have declared that there does exist a dEvata
> > > named "gAyatri" ie. a jIvAtma given the post of "gAyatri".
>
> > I'd like to know what dhyAna shloka tradition Srivaishnavas recite
> > after the kara and a.nga nyAsas before gAyatrI japam. For smArtas,
it
> > goes muktAvidru ... and describes the form of gAyatrI. If it is
the
> > same for Sri Vaishnavas, then Anands explanation would be the most
> > natural.
>
> Anand is correct and I am wrong.  The detailed sandhyA krama
> for Sri Vaishnavas also includes the 'muktAvidru' sloka as part
> of the gAyatrI dhyAnam.
>
> By the way, this is recited before gAyatrI AvAhanam ('ayAtu varadA
devi')
> and consequently before anga-nyAsa and kara-nyAsa.
>
> Another sloka is recited right after 'muktAvidru...'. It is
> 'arkamaNDala-madhyastham sUryakoTisamaprabham |
>  brahmAdi-sevyapAdAbjam naumi brahma ramAsakham ||'

That is very interesting. I was taught the order karanyAsa,
a.nganyAsa, dhyAnam, kalpapUjA and then the following verse:

yo devaH savitA.asmAkaM dhiyo dharmAdhigocharAH |
prerayettasya  yadgarbhastadvareNyamupAsmahe ||

_then_ do gAyatrI japa, then again only a.nganyAsa, with a small
modification at the end (bhUrbhuvaH suvaromiti digvimokaH instead of
digbandhaH, with the final mudra anticlockwise instead of clockwise).

I'd be interested in knowing what order Sri Vaishnavas follow. If you
don't mind, please also post  which forms of devatas are invoked for
each nyAsa. Just the devatas would be sufficient, if you don't want to
post the entire mantra. Thanks.

Rama