Nagara chouti / panchami / Naga Chaturthi

By: Smt. Meera Tadipatri

Art by Smt.Vani Rao,Baton Rouge,LA

Audio links :
Naaga chaturthi/Panchami 2019

Naagara chouti & panchami part 1&2

Sesha devara kritis

Lyrics
Naagara Panchami Kathe
Garuda Devara kritis

Garuda - Shesha in HKS:

Eng Kan Dev Tel Tamil

List of things needed:

Silver Naaga/drawn picture or rangavalli
Peeta for puja,
Water,milk,Haldi,kumkuma, akshate,gandha, flowers,vastra(16 gejje), fruits, deepa, arati.

Naga Chauti is a mandatory worship/puje to Shesha devaru and His in-dweller [antaryaami] Jayapati Sankarshana who gives instigation to Shesha deva.

Just like how one doesn't go about worshiping every monkey elephant, fish, boar etc., that one comes across as “god” so do, we DON'T worship the “live” helpless and/or harmful snakes we see as Shesha Deva – there is difference between jiva and the in-dweller god.

As a matter of fact, Sri Jagannathadasaru says in “ Harikathamrutasaara” that one should feel happy if bad harmful snake is killed – no paapa comes to such person! Shesha Devaru is worshiped in the pratima of “silver snake” “hand drawn picture” “ “rangavalli” “mud from ant-hill”.

Naaga means the one who gives praana/movement and instigation from within to the one that doesn't have praana shakti

[na+a+ga] = naaga

ga = movement, knowledge

aga = lack of movement and knowledge

na = one that removes the absence of movement etc.

Thus, naaga means that gives movement, instigation, and thus life to the one lacks it independently. Thus Lord Sankarshana is the Naaga and is also present in Shesha Deva [through Mukhyapraana/Vaayu Deva] to give instigation and praana shakti to every being in the universe. Thus, Shesha Deva is also called as “Naaga”.

This Shesha deva has two forms. One is “purusha” form and other being uraga “snake” form just like how Ganesha has elephant face. In this form he is born from Bharathi + Vaayu deva before the creation of the world. As a true son, along with Vaayu, he is staying inside each one of us as “kundalini shakti” and maintains “praana shakti”. That is why Upanishads call Shesha also as “praana”.

“praana shakti” is always pure/Shuchi/madi – hence we do pranaayaama when there is any abberation during puje like if we get any interruption, anger etc., that affect mental purity/focus. With this shakti, we can elevate ourselves and evolve with “higher thoughts” adhyatmically. Also, praana shakti is responsible mainly for “speech” and Upanishads call him as “chanda purusha”. Speech is an outcome of well thought of mental concept. Shesha Deva is also the deity of “mind”. Thus we owe our “life”, development through speech, mental upliftment to him apart from Vaayu and Shri Hari.

Apart from being inside, he is also present outside us – as “sam-karshana” shakti aka “gravitation” force and bears the entire Universe effortlessly due to the presence of Lord Sankarshana and Vaayu Deva inside him. Thus we owe our very existence in this universe and function with every individual with mutual likes/dislikes due to his ”pull of attraction” or the lack of “praana shakti” and his grace is thus vital for creation/santati.

Like Shesha Deva, his parivaara which is of 8 key groups – ashta-maha-naaga, also who protect life and our santati.

The Ashta maha nagas whose families were imprisoned due to the mantra bala of Shukracharya { Mahabharata-tatparya-nirnaya # 14.75] These , Duryodhana used on Bhimasena.

By praying these 8 maha naagas and that Bhimasena saved them from the clutches of Duryodhana, protects our family too.
They are:

"ananto vAsukiH padmo mahapadmashcha taxakaH

karkoTakaH shankhapAlo mahA-shankhaH"

अनन्तो वासुकिः पद्मो महापद्मश्च तक्षकः

कर्कोटकः शन्खपालो महा-शन्खः

Thus, for progeny, Shesha Deva is worshiped. Also, he is the one who brings mutual affection between couples, among siblings, parents-children. If a father lacks “shesha shakti”, then he may lack the inclination, mental attraction, inability to carry forward santaana. If the mother lacks Shesha Devara grace, she cannot “hold on” to the life force that has entered into her either physically or mentally or both. Not just the mere santaana, but Shesha Devaru, being “Chanda purusha” controls the mind-speech co-ordination and elevates the worshiper [their children] to take the “high road” and by providing rational, logical thinking AND communication skill set to win over others in a way that protects dharma.

The ones who have His grace can also “give” “needed praana shakti” to their children – the praana shakti comes out in the form of “speech” ”eyes” and from the center of our “right palm”. That is why we use the words “let your krupa drushti” fall on us. Let your “speech” as “ashirvaada” save us. This applies to “great souls” while for the likes of us who worship Shesha [along with Vaayu, Shri Hari], we can give our children/youngsters the shakti by merely putting our right palm on the head of our kids to give them “inner strength”. This, has been mentioned several times by pujya Shri Bannanje Govindacharyaru, especially to mothers with small kids. Of course, while doing this, one has to pray and know where from we get that “shakti”. This is the purport of doing “ashirvaada” by placing our right palm on the head of younsters.

Thus, the puje is to show our gratitude daily and if not at least remember him with gratitude on Chauti day. Men, of course have to do puje with Veda mantra while women do without Veda mantra. Since women is the one who “brings out” santaana and there by lifts both the families – the one in which she is born and the one she goes to, it is very important that she observes this puje according to her best of capacity given by God. When the gratitude in the form of “thought word and deed” -- as noted Shesha is the deity of “mind-vaak-chalana” is shown, surely, he protects the worshiper and her siblings, children /students with wisdom and long life.

There are several purana stories, and while listening we should take the spirit of the stories, and leave out the peripherals.
For each tithi, there is a presiding deity and “Nagaraja” is the presiding deity of Panchami, thus we do puje on both the days. Naga panchami is also worshiped as Garuda Panchami as both Shesha Devaru and Garuda belong to same kaxa and also they are siblings.

When there is both deha-mano shuchi, Shesha Devara grace will be present.
Hence shuchi is given great importance.

Also, remembering/listening/telling of the Story of Astika -- as to how he saved the good snakes like taxaka from the sarpa-yajna keeps us and our families away from poison/snakes etc.,

Just like how it paved way for Janamejaya to listen Mahabharata from Vaishampaayana, so also let Bhagavan inside us help us to do nirantara shastra-shravana especially in this month of Shravana, whose abhimani is Indra. Let him lead us from shravana--->manana---dhyana and take us close to Bharati-Ramana Mukhyapranantargata, Dhanya Shridhara, who is the niyamaka of this shravana maasa.

Here "Dhanya" not only refers to the Laxmi rupa, but also it refers to the Bhagavatrupa in Her especially this month of shravana.

Dhanya means the one who has all the Sowbhaagya gunas as His svabhavaika guna -- that is,
such a "soubhagya" guna is non-different from Him just like how sweetness is non-different from sugar.

Dhanya shabda also means [as per Sri VAdirajaru] the one who makes the truthfulness in the faulty arguments of the evil ones non-existent like the ashtamarasa. Just as ashtama rasa never exists, the truthfulness in the faulty arguments also never exists. One can eliminate the faults in oneself by doing smarane of "Dhanya rupi Bhagavan" in Laxmi.

Such a Laxmi is protected and supported by Sridhara.
Apart from remembering the Astika story, Bhimasena's protection on ashtamaha naagas etc., one has to "see" Sheshadevaru in every jaDa pratika that we use today for worship.

The description is given by Acharya in Tantra Saara Sangraha:

dadhAno halasaunandau svetavarnaH krutAnjaliH

sahasramUrdhA advitIyakarnabhUshhaH priyAyutaH

vanamAli nIlavAsA dyeyo vishhnostu prushhTataH

दधानो हलसौनन्दौ श्वेतवर्णः कृतान्जलिः

सहस्रमूर्धा अद्वितीयकर्णभूषः प्रियायुतः

वनमाली नीलवासा ध्येयो विष्नोस्तु पृष्टतः

Shesha devaru is contemplated as having white color with 4 hands -- in two hands he has hala musala and the other two are folded in dhyana to Sankarshana rupi bhagavan. He has sahasra/several heads and wearing one kundala -- often one kundala or bangle is an indication of an award due to shreshta kaarya. That is, it is given by someone higher to them in recognition of vishesha kaarya. That is why it is "advitiiya-karna- bhushana". He is wearing vanamaala and blue color vastra and standing behind Vishnu as a sevaka.

Sheshadevaru is the dharaka of not only this brahmanda but also our own deha. He is the sharira purusha protecting our sharira and gives prana shakti. In puranjanopakyana [bha.pu 4.24] this "sarpa" is mentioned as the raxaka for our deha.

In this Seshadevaru, we have to see Bharati ramana Mukyaprana and in Him Bhagavan Jayapati Sankarshana giving the very chalana/prerana shakti to Seshadevaru and thr' him to all of us.

As always, we have to see pancha bheda in everything we worship.

Puje becomes complete ONLY when we do "aikya chintane" aka non-difference in the Bhagavatrupas that exist everywhere outside [bahishhTam] with that of the bimbarupi inside us [jiva-antastha]. This is samanvaya puje. The vyatireka puje is noticing the difference and gradation in the adhistana of these bhagavatrupa. Together they become parama-archanam.

Garuda - Sesha in HKS:

Eng Kan Dev Tel Tamil

Puja Paddhati :

Reference:

Vrata Muktaavali

Madhva Mitra

Chaturvedi Vedavyasacharya book

When to do: Shraavana Shukla paxa chaturthi and Panchami

List of Puja Vastu:

1. Basic mangala items like Haldi, Kumkum, flowers, coconut, deepa

2. Gejje Vastra [ with Haldi]

3. Bella/Jaggery mixed water in a Kobri BaTTlu or silver container.

4. Salt and pepper

5. milk

6. Ghee

7. For neivedya raw Chigali unde, soaked chana, tambittu, aralu hittu, araLu unde.

Procedure:

After mangala snaana, mangala vastu dharana, do the regular Shri Krishna japa [if you have already taken the guru mantra japa] else proceed to with cleaning the floor, put a pair of rangavalli of naaga reprenting Sheshha and Vasuki [one small and one slightly bigger] Place on this the vigraha of naaga on small plate. Similarly draw a pair of "naaga" outside entrance wall with gopichandana or gomaya, or kemmannu/redsoil, or haladi.

1. Asana

2. Praanaayama,

3. sankalpa:

Twice Achamana, followed by Sankalpa:

"vishhNorAj`nayA pravartamAnasya AdyabrahmaNaH dvitIya parArdhe shvetavaraha kalpe vaivasvata manvantare aShTAvimshatitame kaliyuge prathama pAde jambUdvIpe bhArata varshe asmin pradeshe shAlivaahana shake buddhAvatAre parashurAma xetre asmin vartamAne chandramAnena ---- samvatsare, daxinAyaNe varsha rutau shrAvana mAse shuklapaxe chaturthyAm/panchamyAm -------- vAsare--naxatre -- yoge--karane--- evaM guNa visheshaNa vishhishhTAyAm asmaakam sakuTumbaanAm xema, sthairya, vijaya vIrya,AuyuH, aishvaryAbhivruddhyartham mama saparivaarasya sarvadaa sarvabhaya nivruttipUrvaka sarva janma doshaparihaaradvaara Jayapati sankarshaNasya anugra siddhyartham naagaantargata bharathi ramana mukhyapraanantargata chaturmurtyaadyananta avatArAtmaka Jayapati Sankarshana preranayaa Jayapati Sankarshana preetyartham naagaraajasya pUjAm karishhye..

[ with these do samarpana pouring water from uddarani into palm and pour it into pyala along with axate held in the palm]

5. Kalashapuja: Invoke the above chintana in the water kept in the kalasha. Instead of this, "Ganga Kalasha" can also be used as it has nitya sannidhaana.

6. Dhyaanam:

Meditate on the rupa of Jayapati Sankarshana in Shesha and the ashta kula naagas in the hrudaya and pray Him to come and accept our puje and bless us by keeping JHis sannidhaana in the "naaga pratima" before us.

"brahmAnDAdhArabhUtam cha bhuvanAntaravAsInam

phaNAyuktamaham dhyAyet nAgarAjam hari priyam

nAgAntargata samkarshhanAya namaH dhyAyAmi dhyAnam samarpayaami

[thus invoking Nagantargata Sankarshana with parivaara from hrudaya, with folded palm/namaskaara with flower axate] place it on the vigraha.]

For women the rules are not strict and mantra is not needed and just prarthana to beg Nagantargata Sankarshana with parivaar to come from hrudaya kamala in one form and stay in the vigraha till puja is done.]

6. Avaahana:

"AgachchhAnanta devesha kAlapannaga nAyaka

anantashayanIyam tvAm bhaktya avAhayAm aham

nAgAntargata samkarshhanAya namaH, AvAhayAmi

[ put flower or mantraaxate to the vigraha]

Next to the naaga vigraha, do avaahana [putting axate]of ananta etc., 8 kula naaga represented by mruttika naaga or rangavalli.

1. Anantaaya namaha, anantam avaahayaami

2. Vasukaye namaha, vasukim avaahayaami

3. taxakAya namaha, taxakam avaahayaami

4. kArkotakAya namaha, kArkotakam avaahayaami

5. padmaya namaha, padmam avaahayaami

6. mahapadmaaya namaha, mahaapadmam avaahayaami

7. shankhapAlAya namaha, ShankapAlam avaahayaami

8. kambalAya namaha, kambalam avaahayaami

Nagapatnibhyo namaha, nAgapatnim avaahayaami.

[along with this 8 kula naaga which includes 80 types of their parivaara] Again, if ladies are doing puje, then, no need to chant these mantra, but one should invoke all these 8 kula naagas along with the Antaryaami [aka bharathi ramana mukhyapraanantargata chaturmurtyaadyananta avatArAtmaka Jayapati Sankarshana]

7. Keep Ganesha or Adike baTTlu representing Ganesha. Do simple prarthana, puje.

8. Asanam for Naagantargata Jayapati Sankarshana

[these and following can be done using drop of water representing the 16 upachaara puja, from uddharani into pyaala]

9. Arghyam samparpayaami

10. PAdyam samparpayaami

11. Achamanam samparpayaami

12. mAdhuparkam samparpayaami

13. xira abhishekam samparpayaami

14. snaanam samparpayaami

15. vastra yugmam samparpayaami

16. yajnopavitram samparpayaami

17. mangala vastu samparpayaami-- haladi-kumkumam [for naaga patni-s], abharanam, gandham, axate, samarpayaami

18. garike, patra, pushpa samarpayaami.

19. Worshipping 12 angas of Bhagavan in Naaga:

1. Sahasrapaadaaya namaha -- paadAn pujayaami [repeat namaha, pujayaami for the rest accordingly]

2. GudagulphAya namaha gulphaan.... [ankle]pujayaami

3. Hema janghAya namaha, janghAn ... -- Shin

4. Amandagataye namaha, jAnunI -- knee cap

5. pitAmbadharaaya namaha, kaTim -- waist

6. gambhira nAbbhaye namaha, nAbhim -- nabhi

7. pavanaashanAya namaha udaram pujayaami-- stomatch

8. uragAya namaha, hastau -- hands

9. kAlIyAya namaha, bhujau -- shoulder

10. kambhukanTaya namaha, kanTam -- neck

11. vishhamavaktrAya namaha, vaktrANi, --face

12. phnAbhushhaNAya namaha,lalATAn --- forehead

13. laxmanAya namaha shirAn -- head

14. nAgarAjAya namaha, sarvAn angAni --- whole deha

[with axate or just few drops of water as before]

21. offering all as "tani ereyuvadu" -- water with bella, soaked kaDale, salt, pepper, milk, ghee, mosaru, sakkare, etc.,

22. Deepa

23. Neivedya, For chaturthi, just raw items araLu unde, tumbiTTu, Chigili, salt free food, and sapata is allowed in some mane paddhati

For panchami, regular items like roasted kadale hittu laddu, roasted chigaLi laddu, araLu hittu laddu dry coconut etc.,godhi paayasa, milk, ghee,fruit, coconut, however no roasting, frying, grinding as these two days minimum damage to unseen praani-s who live in all these and get separated from their abode. So, all roasting etc., has to be made in advance before habba

24. paaniyam -- water in between.

25. hastha praxaalane, paada, mukha, achamana.

[offer droplets into pyaala]

26. Phala tambulam samarpayaami

27. Daxinam samarpayaami

28. Mangalaarathi

with 5 bhatti, with ghante naada offer.

29.Mantra pushpam

Offer with flowers mantraxate

30. Rajopachaara: chatra, chaamara, vyajana, darpana, nrutya, geeta, vaadya, andolika samarpana [mantraxate or with water]

31. Pradaxina, Namaskara, prarthana

32. samarpanam:

yasya smrutyA cha nAmoktakyA tapah pUjAkriyAdishhu

nyUnam sampUrNatAm yAti sadyo vande tamuchyatam

mantrahInam kriyAhInam ramApate

yatpUjitam mayA deve paripUrNam tadastu me

[with water mantraxe, leave in pyaala as before]

33. Udvaasa: invoking back into hrudi

yantu devaganAH sarvAn prithvim pUjyAm aadaaya punar aagamanaaya cha

anena sri naagaantargata bharathi ramana mukhyapraanantargata chaturmurtyaadyananta avatArAtmaka Jayapati Sankarshana preranayaa Jayapati Sankarshana preeyatAm prIto varado bhavatu.

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