Slokas Chanted at the Beginning and End of Gita Sessions

As we start our study of the Bhakti yoga chapter 12, I have compiled here once again (for the earlier document click here), for convenience, the slokas chanted at the beginning and the end of our Gita sessions. Please keep a hard (or soft) copy with you. We may cut short sometimes, but here is the full version. Guru vandanam and Dhyaanam slokas are extremely important when we study the scriptures.

http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/out/images/1324271762_Krishna-Arjuna.jpg

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First Chant Om (3 times)
Om Sahanaavavatu l Saha nau bhunaktu l Saha veeryam karavaavahai l Tejasvinaa-vadheemastu maa vidvishaavahai ll ll Om Shantih Shaantih Shantihee ll

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Gurur Brahma gurur VishNuh gurur devO Maheshwarahaa l Guruh saakshaat parabrahma tasmai Shree gurave namah ll

Please note that the correct way of chanting here is gurave with the a sound, NOT guruve with the u sound. Similarly, we must say Rahave namah, Ketave namah. This has to do with Sanskrit grammar rules (the chaturthi case) for nouns with end with the sound of u like guru, Rahu, Ketu. I have never heard anyone say dhenuve, with the u sound in the Raghavendra Swamy sloka (see below). Why? We do not use the word dhenu in our languages and say obeisances to the cow in our languages and so everyone has learned that sloka pronunciation correctly. But, we use guru, Rahu, Ketu in our languages and so say them incorrectly. I sincerely hope everyone will learn to say these slokas correctly, at least after reading this. Also, Gurubhyo namah means we are offering obeisances to many gurus whereas gurave namah means we are offering praNams to One Single Guru of our choice. In this sloka, we are referring to that one guru who is considered to be the embodiment of all the three: Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara. He is also the Absolute Reality (parabrahma). Alternatively, it means to us, our (one) guru is all the three and the Absolute reality. (I was asked the question, about difference between gurave and gurubhyo, recently, so I thought I should add this here.) Ajnaana timiraandhasya jnaanaanjala chalaakayaa l Cakshurunmeelatam yena tasmai Shreegurave namah ll

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Following this, I have added slokas that address the acaryas of the three important schools of Hindu philosophy - Advaita, Dvaita, and VishishTadvaita and finally the sloka addressed to Lord Hayagriva who is considered to have battled the
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demons Madhu and KaiThabha and retrieved the Vedas. The demons attacked Brahma and took away the Vedas and threw them into the deep waters of the pralaya. (The Devi Mahatmyam gives a different version of this story.) The sloka addressed to Sri Raghavendra Swamy is used since it is a very simple, yet profound, one telling us about the compassion of a guru. He is also considered to be in the direct lineage of Madhavacarya (see also the nice article by Praveen Shanker Pillai, click here).

Shruti smruti puraaNaanaam aalayam karuNaalayam Namaami Bhagavadpaada Shankaram lokashankaram

Poojyaaya Raghavendraaya satyadharma rataaya cha Bhajataam kalpavrukshaaya namataam kamadhenave

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Raamaanuja dayaapaatram jnaana vairaagya bhooshaNam Shreemad Venkatanaathaaryam vande Vedaanta Deshikam

Lakshmeenaatha samaarambhaam Naathayaamuna madhyamaam Asmadaacaarya paryantaam vande guru paramparaam

Guru is also one of the thousand naamaas in the Vishnu Sahasranaamam. Verse 23 says: Gurur guruttamo dhaama satyah satya-paraakramah l nimishOnimishah sragvi vachas-patir udaaradheehih ll

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http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/albums/196902/Lakshmi%20Hayagriva%2005.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JJrwVHJzUy8/ULKGwsaRVvI/AAAAAAAADPg/DMIdXMEZXso/s1600/Dakshinamurthy.jpg

Jnaanandamayam devam nirmalam sphatikaakrutim Aadhaaram sarva vidyaanaam Hayagreevam upaasmahe

Gurave sarva lokaanaam bhishaje bhava roginaam l Nidhaye sarva vidyaanaam Shree DakshiNaa moortaye namahaa ll

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Following this we chant the introductory slokas of the Vishnu Sahasranamam from Shuklaambhara dharam VishNum to Yasya smaraNa maatreNa janma samsara Then we chant the Gita Dhyaanam slokas (Om Paarthaaya pratiboditaam Bhagavataa) and finish with KrishNa Ashtakam.

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At the end of the Gita session we chant the short version of the Gita Mahatmyam (composed by Adi Shankara) with just 8 slokas.

Courtesy: http://www.salagram.net/BG-Dhyanam.htm http://chinmayabirmingham.org/sites/default/files/images/Gita_Dhyanam.pdf Gita study begins with the recitation of these dhyanam slokas. With these, we offer our humble obeisances to the divine powers that brought us this knowledge and extol the virtues of the Divine. (The Sanskrit text may be found after the English transliteration and brief translation of the slokas.)

Gita Dhyanam
MEDITATION ON THE GITA
Om paarthaaya pratibodhitaam bhagavataa naaraayanenaswayam, Vyaasena grathitaam puraanamuninaa madhye mahaabhaaratam; Advaitaamritavarshineem bhagavateem ashtaadashaa dhyaayineem, Amba twaam anusandadhaami bhagavadgeete bhavadweshineem. 1. Om. O Bhagavad Gita, with which Partha was illumined by Lord Narayana Himself, and which was composed within the Mahabharata by the ancient sage, Vyasa, O Divine Mother, the destroyer of rebirth, the showerer of the nectar of Advaita, and consisting of eighteen discoursesupon Thee, O Gita, Oaffectionate Mother, I meditate!
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Namostu te vyaasa vishaalabuddhe phullaaravindaayatapatranetra; Yena twayaa bhaaratatailapoornah prajwaalito jnaanamayah pradeepah. 2. Salutations unto thee, O Vyasa, of broad intellect and with eyes like the petals of a full-blown lotus, by whom the lamp of knowledge, filled with the oil of the Mahabharata, has been lighted! Prapannapaarijaataaya totravetraikapaanaye; Jnaanamudraaya krishnaaya geetaamritaduhe namah. 3. Salutations to Lord Krishna, the Parijata or the Kalpataru or the bestower of all desires for those who take refuge in Him, the holder of the whip in one hand, the holder of the symbol of divine knowledge and the milker of the divine nectar of the Bhagavad Gita!

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Sarvopanishado gaavo dogdhaa gopaalanandanah; Paartho vatsah sudheer bhoktaa dugdham geetaamritam mahat. 4. All the Upanishads are the cows; the milker is Krishna; the cowherd boy, Partha (Arjuna), is the calf; men of purified intellect are the drinkers; the milk is the great nectar of the Gita. Vasudevasutam devam kamsachaanooramardanam; Devakeeparamaanandam krishnam vande jagadgurum. 5. I salute Sri Krishna, the world-teacher, son of Vasudeva, the destroyer of Kamsa and Chanura, the supreme bliss of Devaki! Bheeshmadronatataa jayadrathajalaa gaandhaaraneelotpalaa; Shalyagraahavatee kripena vahanee karnena velaakulaa; Ashwatthaama-vikarna-ghora-makaraa duryodhanaavartinee; Sotteernaa khalu paandavai rananadee kaivartakah keshavah. 6. With Kesava as the helmsman, verily was crossed by the Pandavas the battle-river, whose banks were Bhishma and Drona, whose water was Jayadratha, whose blue lotus was the king of Gandhara, whose crocodile was
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Salya, whose current was Kripa, whose billow was Karna, whose terrible alligators were Vikarna and Asvatthama, whose whirlpool was Duryodhana. Paaraasharya vachah sarojamamalam geetaarthagandhotkatam; Naanaakhyaanakakesaram harikathaa sambodhanaabodhitam; Loke sajjana shatpadairaharahah pepeeyamaanam mudaa; Bhooyaadbhaaratapankajam kalimala pradhwamsinah shreyase. 7. May this lotus of the Mahabharata, born in the lake of the words of Vyasa, sweet with the fragrance of the meaning of the Gita, with many stories as its stamens, fully opened by the discourses of Hari, the destroyer of the sins of Kali, and drunk joyously by the bees of good men in the world, become day by day the bestower of good to us!

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Mookam karoti vaachaalam pangum langhayate girim; Yatkripaa tamaham vande paramaanandamaadhavam. 8. I salute that Madhava (the husband of Mahalakshmi, Maa = Mahalakshmi and dhava = husband), the source of Supreme Bliss, whose Grace makes the dumb eloquent and the cripple cross mountains! Yam brahmaa varunendrarudramarutah stunwanti divyaih stavaih, Vedaih saangapadakramopanishadair gaayanti yam saamagaah, Dhyaanaavasthitatadgatena manasaa pashyanti yam yogino, Yasyaantam na viduh suraasuraganaa devaaya tasmai namah. 9. Salutations to that God whom Brahma, Indra, Varuna, Rudra and the Maruts praise with divine hymns, of whom the Sama-chanters sing by the Vedas and their Angas (in the Pada and Krama methods), and by the Upanishads; whom the Yogis see with their minds absorbed in Him through meditation, and whose ends the hosts of Devas and Asuras know not!

Sarva dharmaan parityajya maam ekam sharaNam vraja l Aham tvaam sarva paapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shucah ll

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Sanskrit text below copied from http://ebookbrowse.com/gita-dhyanam-text-pdf-d257337831

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Click here for Krishna Ashtakam in various languages; see also http://www.vignanam.org/veda/krishna-ashtakam-devanagari.html

Krishna Ashtakam Devanagari

View this in: | English | Devanagari | Telugu | Tamil | Kannada | Malayalam| Gujarati| Oriya| Bengali |

This stotram is in (Samskritam). View this in ( ), with simplified anuswaras for easy reading.

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 **************************************************** Sri GITA MAHATMYA

http://www.salagram.net/gita_mahatmya.htm
The Glory of the Gita (Chanted after the recitation on the Gita) as spoken by Sripad Shankaracharya

Read summary overview of each chapter of Bhagavad Gita Bhagavad Gita On-line Bhagavad Gita Dhyanam

gita shastram idam punyam yah pateth prayatah puman vishnoh padam avapnoti bhaya-shokadi varjitah (Gita-mahatmya 1) (1) He who studies this Gita scripture with humility is freed from fear and misery and attains the feet of Lord Vishnu.

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gita adhyayana-shilasya pranayaama-parasya cha naiva santi hi paapani purva janma kritani cha (Gita-mahatmya 2) (2) That person who is in the habit of reading the Gita and who is also devoted to practising pranayama (breathing exercises) is not touched by sins, even those done in his previous birth.

mala nirmochanam pumsam jala snaanam dine dine sakrud gitaambhasi snaanam samsaara mala naashanam (Gita-mahatmya 3) (3) Human beings must bathe in water every day to get rid of the dirt (of the body), but bathing in the water of the Gita once is enough to get rid of the dirt of this samsara (cycle of birth and death).

gita sugitaa kartavyaa kim anyaih shaastra vistaraih yaa svayam padma naabhasya mukha padmaat vinihsrutaa (Gita-mahatmya 4) (4) This Gita which has come out of the lotus-like face of the Lord (He who has the lotus in His navel) and which is so melodious, should be studied. There is no need to study any other scriptures in detail.

bharataamruta sarvasam vishnor vaktrad vinihsrutam gitaa gangodakam peetvaa punar janma na vidyate (Gita-mahatmya 5)
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(5) After drinking the water of the Gita which is the nectar of the entire Bharata (the epic Mahabharata) and which has come out of the mouth of Vishnu, there is no more birth (in this world).

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sarvOpanishado gaavo dogdhaa gopaala nandanah paartho vatsah sudheer bhoktaa dugdham gitaa amritam mahat (Gita-mahatmya 6) (6) All the Upanishads are the cows, the one who milks the cows is Krishna, Arjuna (Partha) is the calf. Men of purified intellect are the enjoyers; the milk is the great nectar of the Gita.

ekam shaastram devakeeputra gitam eko devo devakeeputra eva eko mantrah tasya naamani yaani karmapyekam tasya devasya sevaa (GMahatmya 7) Lord Shiva in Gita Mahatmya, states that "only one God - Krishna, the son of Devaki" (Verse 7). The only scripture is the song of the son of Devaki. The only deity is the son of Devaki.The only mantra is His Names. The only action is the service of That Deity. (7) In this present day, people are very eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation. So, therefore, ekam sastram devaki-putra-gitam: let there beone scripture only,one common scripture, for the whole worldBhagavad-gita. And Eko devo devaki-putra eva: let there be one God only for the whole worldSri Krsna. Eko mantras tasya namani: And one hymn, one mantra, one prayer onlythe chanting of His name: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva: And let there be one work onlythe service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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http://ebooks.iskcondesiretree.info/pdf/Lives%20of%20the%20acharyas/Gaudiya_ Siddhanta.pdf Nice article on Madhvacarya and the guru paramparas and also the scriptural definition about who is a Brahmana many references here to the fact that it is NOT fixed by birth. https://sites.google.com/site/harshalarajesh/detaileddevatapooja Madhva style pooja and Guru vandana

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