Rudra Saavarni Manu - Mar/17/99
A Very Important Spiritual Observance
In our introduction to the spiritual hierarchy,
we described the many levels between God and humans.
We pointed out that humans must understand and respect
the spiritual hierarchy; it's our duty to propitiate the highly evolved beings in the hierarchy.
The statement, "I'll worship God and no one else," is not an enlightened one, contrary to what one may think.
It is neither erudite nor is it respectful towards God.
Not acknowledging the spiritual hierarchy is an affront to God.
After all, it was God who put the spiritual hierarchy in place for us to abide by.
A foot soldier in an army receives commands from his immediate supervising officer,
not from the supreme commander of the armed forces.
Petitioning God for every trifle is like a foot soldier demanding
an audience with the supreme commander for each and every instruction that's he's asked to follow.
We humans are like foot soldiers in God's army.
Our spiritual position is so insignificant that we must acknowledge the spiritual hierarchy and discharge
our duties to it without question.
Worshipping the intermediate beings in the spiritual hierarchy does not mean that we are pandering to demigods.
Rather it means that we are heeding the command of God.
We worship the beings in the spiritual hierarchy because that is what God wants us to do.
It's with this realization that we approach the spiritual hierarchy.
Manu
Sri Brahma is the Creator aspect of the divine Trimoorthi Trinity in the spiritual hierarchy.
A day in the life of Sri Brahma lasts a kalpa,
a time span of one thousand Maha Yugas.
The universe exists during Sri Brahma's day and it's dissolved during His night.
The kalpa cycle continues into eternity.
The time period of existence of a given instance of the universe, a kalpa, is divided into fourteen periods called
manvantaras. Thus each manvantara spans a time period of around 71 Maha Yugas.
By the command of God, each manvantara is ruled by a being called Manu.
At the outset of creation, Sri Brahma manifested His creative potency as male and female energies
and created the first being. The being thus born was Svaayambuva Manu, the very first Manu.
The thirteen subsequent Manus in order are
Svaróchisha,
Utthama,
Thaamasa,
Raivatha,
Chakshusha,
Vaivasvatha,
Saavarni,
Daksha Saavarni,
Brahma Saavarni,
Dharma Saavarni,
Rudra Saavarni,
Rouchya and
Bouthya.
The current kalpa is known as the Svéta Varaha Kalpa.
The current age is the twenty eighth Kali Yuga in the seventh manvantara of this kalpa.
The current manvantara, being the seventh in this kalpa, is under the jurisdiction of
Sri Vaivasvatha Manu.
The Manus are thus the forbears of our forbears.
All of us are descended from the Manus and the gótra adhipathis.
Thus there are absolutely no differences amongst humans based on
race, religion or nationality.
To construe such differences is sheer ignorance.
The Manus oversee the functioning of the universe.
By the command of God, they are responsible for the day to day administration of the universe.
The sookshma sakthi (subtle spiritual force) of the Manu ensures the normal functioning of the universe.
Debt of Gratitude
It's not difficult to imagine the spiritual potency that's required to administer the universe.
Only spiritually exceptional beings can hold the position of Manu.
Thus these beings are exteremely important in the spiritual hierarchy.
It's our duty to propitiate them by following the appropriate worship procedures.
All humans, irrespective of race, religion or nationality,
owe a debt of gratitude to the Manus, Dévas, rishis and pithrus.
We are all nourished by these spiritual beings and hence
we are indebted to them.
The daily tharpanam worship has been prescribed as a way of remembering
our indebtedness to them.
But this daily worship procedure is becoming a thing of the past.
It's quite rare to find those who perform this worship even once a month.
The Siddhas warn us that this sorry state of affairs must not continue.
Just like we offer the tharpanam ceremony in grateful remembrance of our forbears,
we must perform the tharpana argyam ceremony in honor of the Manus who are the forbears of our forbears.
Since the Manus are the forbears of all beings, there are no distinctions based on race, religion and
nationality amongst humans.
This is reinforced by the Manu tharpana argyam worship procedure.
Every human is required to perform the Manu tharpana argyam worship
at the very least on the appearance dates of the fourteen Manus.
The Siddhas say that if humans everywhere perform this worship procedure without fail,
we can easily set aside our racial and religious differences and prejudices.
The world will become a peaceful paradise in no time, they tell us.
In other words, our sincere aspirations as a whole will create a spiritual energy field
that will manifest itself tangibly as world peace.
This is not idle theory; it can be experienced by each one of us personally.
Therefore all of must follow these instructions of the Siddhas.
We should realize that this worship is a great service to the world
because it can make the world a more peaceful place.
Those who perform this worship without fail are thus angels of peace.
Rudra Saavarni Manu
The third day of the Panguni month (mid March to mid April)
is the avatara (appearance) day of Sri Rudra Saavarni Manu,
the twelfth of the fourteen Manus.
This day falls on March 17 this year (1999).
Amongst the many spiritual accomplishments of Sri Rudra Saavarni Manu,
an important one is that he
planted vilvam trees around the world and conveyed the spiritual significance of vilvam
to all of humanity.
He performed many tharpanam worship procedures under the vilvam tree and
instructed us to do the same.
The Rudra Saavarni Manu day is ideal for tharpanam worship.
On this day, we must offer tharpana argyam to the fourteen Manus
just as we do for our forbears.
Sri Suparna is the spiritual being who formulated the Rudra Saavarni Manu tharpanam worship procedure.
This procedure is simple and can be done by each one of us
without requiring the assistance of others.
The Siddhas say that doing tharpanam worship on this day makes up
for the thousands of tharpanam and sraadham worship procedures that we may have missed in the course of our lives.
It also wins us the spiritual blessings of the Manus and the gótra adhipathis.
It's these blessings that pave the way for our spiritual progress.
March 17, 1999
The Manus, Dévas and rishis perform their worship during the
Brahma Muhoortham time period.
It's ideal if we can make our worship period coincide with the worship periods of spiritually advanced beings.
So on Rudra Saavarni Manu day,
offer tharpana argyam for the Manus two hours before dawn
during Brahma Muhoortham
by following the procedure described below.
On a banana leaf (with the tip of the leaf intact), place a thin layer of white rice grains.
On top of this, arrange sampangi flowers in a circle and place the darbha grass frame on it.
Offer the tharpanam on this frame.
Please remember that the tharpanam worship procedure is for all of us
irrespective of race, religion or nationality.
On this day, it's particularly appropriate to offer argyam for the fourteen Manus on top of this
circular sampangi floral arrangement. Offer the argyam water while reciting the names of the Manus
as follows:
| Sri Svaayambuva Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Svaróchisha Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Utthama Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Thaamasa Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Raivatha Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Chakshusha Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Vaivasvatha Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Saavarni Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Daksha Saavarni Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Brahma Saavarni Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Dharma Saavarni Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Rudra Saavarni Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Rouchya Manu Tharpayaami |
| Sri Bouthya Manu Tharpayaami. |
At or after sunrise, visit a temple which houses the sacred vilvam tree.
(The one shown in the adjoining photograph is the age old vilvam tree in the Nagar Graamam temple near Trichy
in the state of Tamil Nadu in south India.)
Clean the bottom part of the trunk of the vilvam tree with water
and apply turmeric, kumkum and sandalwood paste to it.
Draw kólam decorations in front of the tree and
circle it fourteen times in honor of the fourteen Manus.
Then feed the poor with dishes made out of rice, the very first grain created for our subsistence.
This is the fitting finalé to this special worship procedure conveyed to us by the Siddhas.
Om Salutations to Sri Rudra Saavarni Manu.
Om Salutations to the Fourteen Manus.
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