Direction devtas and Various Ragas:
While performing various poojans in our sadhana, we have to do dikpal poojan i.e poojan of devtas of various directions. Thus knowing them before hand, their form and direction will be useful in our sadhana path. As per the Narad puran these details are as follows:
Devta of East: Indra is the devta whose wife is Shachi and he is astride his elephant Eravat. Indra is golden in hue, in his hand he is holding Vajra and is adorned with celestial ornaments.
South-East: Agnidev is the lord of this direction. It is said that he has 7 tongues, 6 faces and 7 hands and is astride a goat. He is reddish in colour and is holding sruk and sruva in his hands. His shakti is Swaha.
South: Yama, the lord of death is the devta of this direction. He is holding his dand and is astride a buffalo. His colour is mixture of red and black. His eyes are red in colour. He is holding his face upwards. He is shubh.
South-West: Nairretya is the lord of this direction. His colour is blue and is holding a sword and shield. His eyes are fearful and is astride a human. His hair is standing on its ends. He can do anything and his neck is very thick.
West: Varun dev is the lord of this direction. He is of yellow hue. He is with naag paash. He is astride a crocodile and is the husband of Kalikadevi and is adorned with various ornaments. As per Uttar Bhartiya Pradhaan Hindu dev aur Deviyan, he is the lord of water as well as the seasons. He is astride a hamsa or swan, holding conch, noose, lotus, ornamental patra or cup. In his left lap is sitting his beautiful wife Varuni. Seven swans in his chariot actually represent seven oceans. He is the king of Gandharvas. Conch represents wealth, Noose represents worldly bindings, lotus represents Dharma, cup represents Vasundhara, Chatra on the chariot represents yash etc.
North-West: Vayu dev is the lord of this direction. He is dark in colour, riding a deer, husband of Anjani ( mother of Hanuman), he is the life force in the animate kingdom, has two arms and is holding a dand. As per book, Uttar Bhartiya Pradhaan Hindu dev aur Deviyan, he rides a chariot in which red coloured horses are there, his mouth is open, his hair loose, on his left is his wife Shiva standing holding his clothes.
North: Kuber, the king of yakshas and Gandharwas ,is the lord of this direction. He rides a horse, his wife is Chitrlekha, is golden in colour. He is fat in tummy and carries a small bag with him. Kuber is son of Vishrava and grand son of Pulastaya and basically a Rakshas but given the standing of a devta by lord Shiva. In another book, Uttar Bhartiya Pradhaan Hindu dev aur Deviyan, his vahan is said to be an elephant. He is fat and ugly. His shaktis are Vibhva and Vridhi. His statues are found two armed and four armed as well. His money bag is of the form of mongoose and hence called Nakulak. His wife is named Bhadra.
North-East: Ishaan is the lord of this direction. He is husband of Gauri and is astride a bull. His body is white in colour and is adorned with moon on his forehead. Wearing a snake as the sacred thread, yagyopaveet.
Upper Direction is presided by Brahma
Lower Direction is presided by Ananta.
Ragas:
All of us have read from time to time at various places connection between various ragas and our poojan. While going through Narad puran one came across a similar interesting subject which is being shared here. Hope it will enlighten us further on the usage of various ragas in our poojan procedure.
In total 6 parts are said to form 6 limbs of Vedas. Shiksha1, Kalp2, Vaiyakaran3, Nirukt4, Jyotish5, Chandshastra6. The four Vedas represent Dharma. A Brahmin who has learned the above six limbs of Vedas from his Guru is called ANUCHAAN. It is said that one who has learnt them like this is the real knower else one may study innumerable shastras but still he wont know anything.
Swar is divided in to three forms. Archik1 ( connected with Rig veda), Gathik2 (connected with Gathas) and Samik3 (connected with Sam veda). In Richa’s vyavdhan is of 1, in Gatha it is 2 while in Saam mantra it is 3.
Whole Vangmaya is chanted from three places in our body, chest, neck and head. These three places are called SAVAN.
Whatever that is chanted from below the chest is called Pratah Savan, Whatever is chanted from throat is called Madhyadin Savan and what ever that is chanted from the head is called Tritiya Savan. Saam which comprises of all the seven swaras is divided in to three parts. Urobhag, Kanth and Head(shir). All the seven swaras roam around in these three places.
The whole swar mandal comprises of A.7 Swaras, B.3 Gram, C.21 Moorchana and D.49 Taan.
A.
The seven swaras of Saam are Shadaj1, Rishabh2, Gandhaar3, Madhyam4, Pancham5, Dhaivat6 and Nishaad7. To have the knowledge of these seven swaras is called Shiksha for Brahmins.
B.
Shadaj, Madhyam and Gandhaar are called three grams. Shadaj came from Bhur lok, Madhyam from Bhuvar lok and Gandhaar from Swar lok.
C.
Out of the 21 Moorchana, 7 belong to Devtas, 7 to Pitras and 7 to Rishis as detailed below.
Shadaj Rishabh Gandhaar Madhyam Pancham Dhaivat Nishad
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Dev Nandi Vishala Sumukhi Chitra Chitravati Sukha Balaa
& Gandharvas
Pitra Apyayini Vishvabhrita Chandra Hema Kapardini Maitri Vyahriti
& Yakshas
Rishi Mandra Abhirodhata Ashwakranta Sauveera Hrishika Uttaarayata Rajni
& Humans
It is said that Shadaj makes Devtas happy, Rishabh makes Rishis and Munis happy, Gandhaar makes Pitras happy, Madhyam makes Gandharvas happy while Pancham makes Devtas, pitras and maharishis happy, Nishad makes Yakshas happy and Dhaivat makes whole of the bhoot fraternity happy.
Out of the seven rags, Pancham, Madhyam and Shadaj are called Brahmin, Rishabh and Dhaiwat are called Kshtriya and Gandhaar and Nishad are called half Vaishya and being of lower order are also half Kshudras.
Shadaj was sung by Agni, hence is the presiding devta of this raag.
Rishabh was sung by Brahma, hence is the presiding devta of this raag.
Gandhaar was sung by Chandra/Moon, hence is the presiding devta of this raag.
Pancham was sung by Narada, hence is the presiding devta of this raag.
Dhaivat and Nishad were sung by Tumbaru, hence is the presiding devta of this raag.
Ati-sandhi of Shadaj, Rishabh and Gandhaar is called Dhiawat, and where the antar bhava or Nishadan of swaras take place that is called Nishaad.
Hope the above information can be utilized in ones daily sadhana…….Om!
Dear Sir,
ReplyDeleteHave been following your blog and it is very informative and interesting! Please publish chid vilas in sanskrit!
With warm Regards
Sree