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Dear Friends,
Hope you understood the meaning of the title ‘Jeevema Sharadhah Shatham’.
Yes, they mean ‘We will live hundred years’.
The title words of this article are from Atharva Veda, one of the four Vedhas of our great Hindu Sanathana Dharma. Vedas are the oldest and the most sacred texts of Hindu Religion.
The words ‘Jeevema Sharadhah Shatham’ are expected to be uttered during ‘Maadhyanhikam’, ie. while performing the ‘Sandhyavandhanam’ at noon. Though Sandhyavandhanam is a Nithyakarma to be performed thrice daily without fail by most of the Hindu males – Brahmana, Kshathriya and Vaishya males, it is seldom followed strictly now a days, thanks to the scant respect we give to our sacred scriptures and also to the words of wisdom of our great Rishis. Even many of the Brahmins do not perform this Nithyakarma now a days, probably due to lack of understanding of its importance or due to their materialistic approach to the life instead of a spiritualistic one. Lack of Samskrutham knowledge is also one of the reasons. While doing Sandhyavandhanam one does the following : Pranayama, Asanas, Vedhadhyayanam, Chiththa Shudhdhi, Meditation, Sidhdhantha Mananam etc. Sandhyavandhanam has mantras from Vedhas, Shrimadh Bhagavatham, Puranas etc, the core being the GAYATHRI MANTHRA. Each letter in the Sandhyavandhanam has a potent meaning, a special sound effect that can influence your mind and thereby your thought process. You must follow the niyamas prescribed meticulously to obtain maximum benefit.
In this connection I would like to say here that we have to learn a lot from the believers of other religions in respect of obeying the religious injunctions of their Holy Books. Example: Muslims and Christians. They respect their Holy Texts and follow them strictly in their day today life. Most of them pray regularly according to the instructions in their holy books.
In this blog, I would like to mention various religious injunctions of our Hindu Sanathana Dharma that are to be followed by us in our day to day life which in turn would bestow on us a long and happy life of ‘Sharadhah Shatham’. ie a life of one hundred years as enjoined in Vedas. The human birth that we have in this world at present is the result of our Punya Karmas done in our previous births. There should be no doubt about it in anyone’s mind. We have to see how we can utilize this precious birth of ours in a judicious manner by following the traditions of our great Sanathana Dharma and thereby attain liberation while serving the humanity at large. By strictly following the religious injunctions of our great Rishis and by leading a spiritual life based on Vedhic Tradition, while enjoying the benefits of materialistic life right from the childhood, I am sure a man can definitely live a life of one hundred years or more without any difficulty.
The ‘Pole Star’ like shining example in this connection was the ‘Maha Periyava’ Shri. Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Maha Swamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, who lived a wholesome life of one hundred years following the spiritual path! There are other stalwarts like our great Chakravarti Rajagopalachariar alias ‘Rajaji’ and also the former Prime Minister of Hindhusthan Shri. Morarji Desai who had also crossed their nineties and led a harmonious life living in the midst of mundane materialistic atmosphere but leading a spiritual life like the great King Janaka of Ramayana.
With our prostrations to the above great spiritual giants we will see more on the above subject in the ensuing posts.
WithRegards,
‘Shubhakara’ Mahadeva Sarma
– To be continued.
Jeevema Sharadhah Shatham 