THE SPECIFIES OF GAYATRI SADHANA
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?
THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO ACCUMULATE THE ENERGY OF THE GAYATRI MANTRA IN YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS. HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR YOU TO COMPLETE THE SADHANA DEPENDS ON WHAT KIND OF PURUSHCHARANA YOU UNDERTAKE. AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE IDEA IS QUITE SIMPLE, THE MORE YOU GATHER, THE MORE YOU HAVE AVAILABLE FOR USE AT A LATER DATE. HOWEVER, NOT EVERYONE HAS THE TIME OR INCLINATION TO UNDERTAKE A LONG PURUSHCHARANA. IRRESPECTIVE OF HOW LITTLE OR MUCH YOU DO, THE IMPORTANT THING TO BEAR IN MIND IS THAT THE QUANTITY OF JAPA SHOULD BE THE SAME EVERY DAY THROUGHOUT YOUR PURUSHCHARANA.
LAGHU PURUSHCHARANA (MINI INVOCATION)
3-9 DAYS
MINI INVOCATION IS DONE OVER A MINUMUM PERIOD OF THREE DAYS TO A MAXIMUM OF NINE. MANY PEOPLE DO IT FOR NINE DAYS DURING THE NAVARATRAS, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN UNDERTAKING LAGHU PURUSHCHARANA, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO DO A MINIMUM CHANTING OF 1000 EVERY DAY. THE MORE THE BETTER, AS LONG AS YOU MAINTAIN THE SAME QUANTITY EVERY DAY. DOING IT DURING THE NAVARATRAS IN PARTICULARLY AUSPICIOUS AND YOU CAN CONSULT PANCHANGAM ONLINE OR ASK ANY VEDIC SCHOLAR ABOUT THE DATES OF THE NAVARATRAS THAT CHANGE EVERY YEAR.
SADHARANA PURUSHCHARANA (STANDARD INVOCATION)
40-120 DAYS
THIS IS THE ORDINARY KIND OF PURUSHCHARANA. THAT'S NOT TO SAY THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE AN IMPACT - IT DOES. MORE THAN THE FIRST ONE AND LESS THAN THE NEXT ONE. IT IS CALLED ORDINARY OR STANDARD PURUSHCHARANA BECAUSE THIS IS THE BARE MINIMUM YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE YOU CAN START ACCUMULATING THE ENERGY OF THE GAYATRI MANTRA. IN THE STANDARD INVOCATION, YOU CHANT THE MANTRA A MINIMUM OF 100,000 TIMES. IDEALLY, THIS SHOULD BE DONE OVER A PERIOD OF 40 DAYS, WHICH MEANS YOU COULD CHANT APPROXIMATELY 2500 TIMES EVERY DAY FOR 40 DAYS. IF YOU ARE NOT DOING YAJNA OR THE OTHER POST-JAPA RITUALS, THEN IT IS RECOMMENDED TO CHANT 3000 TIMES EVERY DAY FOR 40 DAYS. IT IS ALSO PERMISSIBLE TO DO THIS OVER 60, 90 OR120 DAYS DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH TIME YOU ARE ABLE TO DEVOTE ON A DAILY BASIS.
I WOULD LIKE TO REMIND YOU THAT THE VOW TO DO A PURUSHCHARANA IS TAKEN BEFORE YOU BEGIN ONE. THEREFORE, YOU MAINTAIN THE SAME QUANTITY EVERY DAY. IF YOU DECIDE TO DO A 60 - DAY PURUSHCHARANA AND CHANT 2000 TIMES ON THE FIRST DAY, THAT CONSISTENCY THEN MUST BE MAINTAINED FOR THE REMAINING 59 DAYS. YOU CAN'T CHANGE YOUR 60- DAYS PURUSHCHARANA TO A 120- DAY OR A 40- DAY ONE ONCE YOU'VE BEGUN IT.
ASADHARANA PURUSHCHARANNA
(EXTRAORDINARY INVOCATION)
18 - 24 MONTHS
VERY FEW PEOPLE UNDERTAKE THIS KIND OF PURUSHCHARANA. IN FACT, OVER THE LAST THREE DECADES, I'VE MET ONLY THREE PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE THIS KIND. IT INVOLVES CHANTING THE GAYATRI MANTRA 2,400,000 (24 LACS) TIMES OVER A PERIOD OF 18 OR 24 MONTHS.
THE JAPA IS PEGGED AT 24 LACS BECAUSE THE GAYATRI MANTRA HAS WHAT WE CALL 24 VARNAS. THOSE ARE: TAT, SA, VI, TUR, VA, RE, NA, YAM, BHAR, GO, DE, VA, SYA, DHI, MA, HI, YO,YO, NA, PRA, CHO, DA AND YAT. MANTRA, YOU HAVE TO CHANT AS MANY LACS OF TIMES AS THERE ARE VARNAS IN A MANTRA - NOT LETTERS, BUT VARNAS, WHICH ROUGHLY EQUATE TO SYLLABLES.
MAHA PURUSHCHARANA (GRAND INVOCATION)
24 - 32 MONTHS
THIS IS THE ULTIMATE FORM OF PURUSHCHARANA AND I'VE ONLY KNOWN ONE PERSON WHO DID THIS 19 TIMES IN HIS LIFE. SHRIRAM SHARMA OF SHANTI KUNJ, HARIDWAR, WAS SAID TO HAVE DONE GAYATRI MAHA PURUSHCHARANA MULTIPLE TIMES. THE STORY I WROTE IN THE CHAPTER "THE POWER OF GAYATRI MANTRA" WAS OF A DIRECT DISCIPLE OF SHRIRAM SHARMA.
IN MAHA PURUSHCHARANA, THE GAYATRI MANTRA IS CHANTED 32 LACS OR 3,200,000 TIMES BECAUSE WHEN WE ADD OM-BHUR-BHUVA-SVAHA TO THE ORIGINAL GAYATRI MANTRA FOUN IN THE RIG VEDA , THE COMPLETE MANTRA HAS 24 VARNAS. THEY ARE 24 AS EXPLAINED EARLIER PLUS A, U, M (FOR OM ), BHU, BHU, VA, SVA AND HA.
THE MAXIMUM PERIOD ALLOWED TO DO A MAHA PURUSHCHARANA IS 32 MONTHS. THERE IS NO RELAXATION OF RULES FOR THE LONGER PURUSHCHARANA. THE SAME PRINCIPLES OF DIET, ABSTINENCE AND CONDUCT APPLY TO ALL FOUR TYPES. I MUST REMIND YOU HERE THAT JUST RECKLESS OR MINDLESS CHANTING HAS NO PLACE OR REPECT IN MANTRA YOGA. YOUR CHANTING MUST BE DONE WITH DEVOTION AND MINDFULNESS. I CANNOT STRESS THIS POINT ENOUGH. WHEN YOU SIT DOWN TO CHANT, DO SO PATIENTLY AND MINDFULLY, LISTENING TO YOUR OWN VOICE, EVERY WORD, EVERY LETTER OF YOUR MANTRA. IT WILL GET TRING AT TIMES, BUT KEEP GOING IF YOU CARE TO GO TILL THE END.
THE ONE WHO DOES 32 LAKHS OF JAPA OF THE GAYATRI MANTRA IS BOUND TO HAVE THE GRACE OF DEVI IN IMMEASURABLE, INEXPLICABLE WAYS. NEW DIMENSIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, NEW WAYS OF THINKING AND NEW AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM OPENS UP TO ANYONE WHO DOES THIS PURUSHCHARANA, AND IF YOU DO SO WITH DEVOTION, YOU WILL ALSO ATTAIN WHAT WE CALL VAK SIDDHI. VAK SIDDHI MEANS WHEN YOU SAY SOMETHING FROM YOUR HEART, IT BECOMES THE TRUTH, INDEED, EVERYTHING YOU SAY FROM YOUR HEART BECOMES THE TRUTH. THAT'S HOW OUR SAGES ACHIEVED AN EXALTED STATE IN THEIR OWN LIFETIMES.
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