GAYATRI MANTRA STEP SIXTEEN AND SEVENTEEN

                                          STEP SIXTEEN AND SEVENTEEN

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            THIS IS THE ONE STEP THAT'S PERFORMED ONLY ON THE FIRST DAY AND IS NOT REPEATED ON ANY OTHER DAY THROUGHOUT YOUR SADHANA. NOW, WE TAKE A SANKALPA, A VOW. WHEN YOU TAKE A SANKALPA, YOU MAKE A COMMITMENT WITH THE UNIVERSE THAT YOU ARE UNDERTAKING A CERTAIN PRACTICE WITH A PARTICULAR INTENTION. THIS IS DONE ONLY ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE PURUSHCHARANA.

              WHEN YOU TAKE A VOW AND FULFILL IT, IT BOOTS YOUR WILLPOWER. TO TAKE A SANKALPA, JUST POUR A LITTLE WATER FROM YOUR VESSEL INTO YOUR RIGHT PALM.IF YOU HAVE A FLOWER, PUT THE FLOWER WITH IT, A BIT OF RICE IF YOU HAVE IT - IF YOU DON'T HAVE RICE, NO PROBLEM. WITH YOUR UTMOST SENTIMENT, SAY TO THE DIVINE. I SUCH-AND-SUCH PERSON (IF YOUR GURU HAS GIVEN YOU A NAME, THIS IS THE MOMENT TO USE THAT IS THE MOMENT TO USE THAT NAME, BECAUSE THAT WILL IDENTIFY YOU WITH THE LINEAGE TO WHICH YOU BELONG), AM TAKING A VOW OF CHANTING"X" NUMBER OF MANTRAS OVER THE NEXT "N" NUMBER OF DAYS. I'M DOING THIS FOR THE GRACE OF VEDMATA GAYATRI".

              OR, IF YOU HAVE TAKEN A SANKALPA OF CHANTING LET'S SAY, ONE HOUR EVERY DAY OR 50 MINUTES EVERY DAY, THEN YOU WILL SAY, "I, SO-AND-SO, WILL CHANT THE GAYATRI MANTRA FOR "X" MINUTES/HOURS EVERY DAY FOR THE NEXT "N" NUMBER OF DAYS. I'M  DOING THIS FOR THE GRACE OF VEDMATA GAYATRI"

             YOUR SANKALPA MAY BE THAT, "I WILL CHANT THE MANTRA OF VEDMATA GAYATRI OF THE GAYATRI MANTRA "X" NUMBER OF TIMES, OVER THE NEXT "Y" NUMBER OF DAYS. AND I AM DOING DO BECAUSE I WANT "Z". THE BST THING TO SAY IS "I AM DOING SO FOR DEVI'S GRACE, BECAUSE IN THE BEGINNING , YOU SHOULD ACCUMULATE THE ENERGY OF THE MANTRA. DON'T SAY, "I AM DOING IT BECAUSE I WANT TO WIN THE LOTTO", OR WHATEVER. ACCUMULATE THE ENERGY, BECAUSE ONCE YOU HAVE ENOUGH, YOU CAN DO KAMYA PRAYAGA-YOU CAN ACTUALLY USE IT FOR APPLICATION.

                  WHEN YOU VIOLATE YOUR SANKALPA, YOUR SADHANA IS COMPROMISED AND YOU MUST EITHER START FROM THE BEGINNING OR SEEK A REMEDIAL MEASURE FROM YOUR GURU. FOR EXAMPLE, IF IN YOUR SANKALPA, YOU STATE THAT YOU WILL CHANT 4000 MANTRAS EVERY DAY FOR THE NEXT 40 DAYS BUT YOU MISS ONE DAY OR CHANT LESS ONE DAY, THIS COMPROMISES YOUR SADHANA. YOU MUST RESET THE COUNTER AND START ALL OVER AGAIN.

                TO DO THE SANKALPA, SIMPLY TAKE WATER IN YOUR RIGHT PALM, PUT A FEW GRAINS OF RICE AND A FLOWER AND SAY IT IN ANY LANGUAGE YOU KNOW.M FILL IN THE BLANKS:

             I......... (YOUR FULL NAME).... BORN IN...... (STATE YOUR GOTRA. IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR GOTRA, SIMPLY SAY NARAYANA GOTRA FOR EVERYONE IS CHILD OF THE DIVINE).... ON.... (STATE YOUR DATE OF BIRTH) HEREBY VOW TO DO A PURUSHCHARANA OF ..... (THE NAME OF YOUR MANTRA LIKE GAYATRI, SRI SUKTAM, GURU MANTRA, ETC, )..... OVER THE NEXT....(STATE THE NUMBER OF DAYS YOU'LL BE CHANTING THE MANTRA OVER, FOR EXAMPLE, 40,90,100,300, AND SO ON) DAYS .... SO I MAY BECOME A WORTHY RECIPENT OF YOUR GRACE AND ATTAIN THE DESIRED OUTCOME.

           AFTER YOU HAVE MADE YOUR SANKALPA, KEEP THE WATER THAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR PALM, WITH YOUR FLOWER AND RICE, IN A SMALL PLATE IN FRONT OF YOU AND ON THAT VERY DAY POUR IT ON THE BASE OF ANY TREE OR PLAT. AS I HAVE WRITTEN, AVOID CACTUS- ALL OTHER PLANTS ARE FINE.    

                                                                  STEP SEVENTEEN

                       MANTRA SHVASA IS VERY SIMPLE, YOU BREATHE IN WHILE YOU ARE CHANTING YOUR MANTRA,M AND YOU BREATHE OUT WHIL CHANTING, ON THE FIRST DAY, I RECOMMAND DOING 21 TIMES IN THE CASE OF DOING THE SMALL INVOCATION, I ROUND IF YOU ARE DOING THE STANDARD INVOCATION, 3 ROUNDS IF YOU HAPPEN TO PERFORM THE EXTRAORDINARY INVOCATION AND 7 ROUNDS IN CASE YOU ARE DOING THE GRAND INVOCATION. REMEMBER THAT ONE ROUND IS 108 TIMES. THAT'S NOT CHANTING THREE TIMES - IT'S THESE ROUNDS.

                 ON ALL SUBSEQUENT DAYS, DO ONLY 3,11,21,OR 31 TIMES FOR SMALL, STANDARD, EXTRAORDINARY AND GRAND INVOCATIONS RESPECTIVELY.

                 WHILE INHALTING, YOU OBVIOUSLY CANNOT CHANT ALOUD. WHEN YOU ARE INHALING, YOU CAN DO ONE CHANT AND WHILE EXHALING YOU CAN CHANT AS WELL. THIS IS CALLED MANTRA SHVASA. THE COUNTING MENTINED IN THE EARLIER PARAGRAPH IS NOT P SHVASA BUT PER CHANT. SO 7 TIMES MEANS 4 EXHALATIONS AND 3 INHALATIONS. ONE EXHALATION IS EXTRA BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS START WITH EXHALATION.

               IT IS POSSIBLE TO DO AN ENTIRE SADHANA ON JUST MANTRA SHVASA. IF YOU ARE USED TO MANTRA SHVASA, OR LET'S SAY, ALL YOU WISH TO DO IN YOUR SADHANA IS MANTRA SHVASA, THEN YOU TAKE A VOW LIKE, FOR THE NEXT "X" DAYS I AM GOING TO DO MANTRA SHVASA, "Y" ROUNDS EVERY DAY". YOU COULD BE PRACTICING IT WHILE WALKING, COMMUTING OR DOING ANY OTHER ACTIVITY WHERE YOU MAY DO IT WITH MINDFULNESS. MANTRA SHVASA IS A VERY EFFECTIVE PRACTICE, BECAUSE YOU ARE CHANTING YOUR MANTRA IN YOUR DAILY LIFE. THE MORE YOU CHANT WITH FEELING, THE MORE ENERGY YOU ACCUMULATE. BEAR IN MIND THAT IT'S LIKE DOING SHIFT WORK, THE MORE SHIFTS YOU WORK, THE MORE MONEY YOU MAKE. IT WILL TIRE  YOU OUT, BUT YOU WILL GET USED TO MANTRA SHVASA AND YOU WILL CONTINUE TO ACCUMULATE ENERGY.

                                  

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