Nitya Karmas

                                                     Sri Gurubhyo Namaha 

Sharing my knowledge on Aupaasanam, Sthaalipaakam and Vaishwadevam

Daily obligatory karmas like snAnam, trikAla sandhyAvandanam, brahmayagyam, deva Rushi pitru tarpanam, aupaasanam, Shiva Puja and vaishvadEvam are to be performed daily and so they are nitya karmAs

Aupaasana agni should be preserved by every Husband/wife together. Aupaasanam should be performed after Sun rise in morning and after  Sunset. Agni has to be preserved inside Bran. In a small Agni Kundam we should keep Dried Cow dung (Muttaan) and fill it with Bran. On top of it we should have Agni placed after doing the Aupaasanam. Bran will observed the Fire inside and will preserve it for 12-14 Hours. Hence it is advisable that we do Aupaasanam within one hour of Sun rise/set.

If husband has to travel or not in good health, wife can perform aupaasanam without any mantras up to 2 days i.e. 4 times. Beyond which wife can't do it. Whenever Aupaasanam is performed wife should be residing in the same house irrespective of their Bahishta status. If you & your wife have to travel as per Bodhayana sustra, you can do Samith samaropanam and carry the samith (which imbibes agni by reciting a mantra). 

If your marriage is a single/two day event, it is unlikely that all the process of a 4 day event is observed. Hence it requires 4 days of Veda parayanam, Naandi and cleansing process (Sarvaangam, Kooshmanda homam etc).

After which Vivaha mantras to recited again and few vaideeka process to be reinitiated. Previous day of initiation, there should be a fasting in food with no mix of Salt, Taramarind or Alkali. 

Sthaalipaakam

While you are performing Aupaasanam, within every fortnight after Full moon & New moon day, Sthaalipaakam should be performed mandatorily. Best day is Prathamai thithi i.e. First day after Fullmoon or New moon day. Twidhiya should be avoided.

In Sthaalipaakam, a cup of rice is cooked in the homa kundam itself and the same has been offered to Agni twice by reciting mantras.

Vaiswadevam

Vaiswadevam is a nithya karma. It has to be followed by everyone. We cook & offer food for all the nature, animals, birds, insects, human beings and forefathers. We are supposed to have food only after them. By intentionally or not, we do harm to all of the above in some way or other and carry those sins. By doing the Vaiswadeva karma, we feed them to cleanse ourselves from those sins. 

1st is Alavana vratham. I.e. No Salt, Tamarind or Alkali in the food for 12 days. Last 3 days we need to perform Gana Homam. Atleast last day should be a fasting day.  Gana Homam has 8 different parts and it has to be recited and aajyam (Ghee) to be offered to Agni 3 times within a day. 

Vaiswadevam karma has 5 parts. 1. Sakala Homam ( to be performed by offering samith to Agni), 2. Vaiswadeva Homam (Offering Avis(cooked in Kumutti) to Agni),3. Baliharanam - placing avis as per the sustra in a clean place in the floor, 4. Pancha-maha yagnam and 5th is reciting Simha Anuvaaham. Overall it takes 30 minutes to do the above exclusive of time taken for making the avis.   

After completing the above, we need to wait for 6 minutes in the road to check if any Athithi would turn up. After that you can have your food, but if a athithi accepts to come for food, he is to be considered as a God sent person. 

Vaiswadevam has to be done twice a day. After sun rise & sun set. But you can combine in mantra for evening and do once a day, provided you don't eat freshly cooked food (rice) in the evening for dinner.

By the blessings of Lord Nataraja, everyone of us should strive to practice our samskaras as i feel these are the ones that we are leaving to our next generations.

- "Shiva Shiva"