Sri Yagam Summary

Sriyagam, a mass prayer for world peace was organized grandly by Jet USA under the aegis of HH Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Jeeyar Swamy at the Jeeyar Asram at 222, Dey road, Cranbury, New Jersey from July 23rd to 1st August. Sri Yagam is a powerful prayer as per the vedic and agamic scriptures for the well being of all the living beings of the world at large.

The Jeeyar Asram, a vast ten acre land with green trees around looked divine and peaceful with a big beautiful yagasala that has been erected to house the 33 kundas (altars) – 5 for veda and moola manthra havan and 27 for the 27 stars for nakshatra homa. One Istisala with a special altar was erected to perform Ishtis. About 70 vedic and agama scholars (ruthwiks) from India and about 60 ruthwiks the different parts of USA are brought to New Jersey for the Yagam. Jet USA made all the arrangements for their stay in Holiday Inn and provided the transport facilities. They were all given Deeksha on 23rd evening after the Vastu puja, Vastu Bali and Paryagnikaranam.

On 24 the Sri Yagam and nakshatra homas were started under the guidance of Swamiji. Side by side the Ishti homa was also commenced. The participants of the nakshatra homa are given the nakshatra sloka to repeat while the homam was performed. Every morning after the theertha goshti, the ruthwiks started the yagam and Ishti. HH personally initiated the participants of the Ishti with the manthram and Mala manthram which they meditated on while the oblations were offered in the altar. Thus Sudarsaneshti, Vainatheya Ishti, Nrusimha Ishti, Vaibhava Ishti, Hayagreeva Ishti, Lakshmi Narayana Ishti and Vishwaksena Ishti were performed.

Everyday Samuhika pujas like Sri Krishna, Sri Srinivasa, Sri Hayagreeva, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha, Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Pedda Jeeyar Swamy, Sri Mahalakshmi Samuhika pujas, were conducted in the big discourse hall with discourses by Swamiji, Dr.Sri Samudrala Ranga Ramanujacharya Swamy and others. HH personally distributed the Lord’s dollar to the participants. On all the days of Sri Yagam Akhanda Harerama Sankeerthana and Akhanda Sri Suktha, Lakshmi
Ashtotthara Parayans were done round the clock by the devotees.

Every day after the morning purnahuti in the yagasalas, sponsors were blessed with prasadam, Lord’s
dollar and clothes by HH. Afternoons cultural programs of carnatic vocal and instrumental music and classical dances were performed. Evenings started with Samuhika Vishnu Sahasranama Parayana by all the devotees. Then each day a Mass Prayers specially composed by Swamiji in English was chanted by all the devotees under his guidance. Afterwards there were discourses by Sri Swamiji and Dr Samudrala Rangaramanujacharya swamy and others.

After this program all the devotees attended the purnahuti of the evening in the yagasala. Evenings Vahana Seva to the Lord and Mahalakshmi were done on a grand scale. The bearers were personally trained by HH. They carried the beautifully decorated lord in ‘chaturgatis’ and different speeds. The Nadaswaram team brought from India played beautifully for which all the devotees sang and danced in ecstasy.

Health program, Cancer Awareness program etc. are being organized in the campus by various doctors from India and local Health centers from Princeton. VT Seva had put up their booth and provided information about their service activities. The Book Store put up there provided the needed materials to the devotees. A Homeopathi doctor and allopathy doctors provided the medical help to the public. All the needed things and homam materials were brought to USA from India.

Many dignitaries and thousands of devotees attended the yagam. The volunteers rendered wonderful
service round the clock. All of them were felicitated with shawls and momentoes by Swamiji. Prasadams were provided in separate tents to the devotees and rithwiks all through the day. On 1st August the Mahapurnahuti was conducted in a grand manner as per the agamic scriptures. All the ruthwiks were properly felicitated by Swamiji. He sprinkled the divine purnakumbham waters on all the devotees. Thus the Sri Yagam was concluded.

People witnessed the live events and some recorded events on relianceiptv.com who sponsored the live
broadcast just for the welfare of the world !

Sri Yagam Day 9 (Final)

Sri Yagam Day 8

Sri Yagam so far...

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Sri Yagam Day 7

Sri Yagam Day 6

Sri Yagam Day 5

The day started off with sevakalam and teertha goshti, after which HH Sri Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji and the devotees proceeded to the Ishti Sala for the Vaibhaveishti. Vaibhaveshti is conducted to repay our debt to our forefathers. Each person is born on this Earth with three debts – deva runa, rushi runa and pithru runa. We live on this Earth, with the help of devathas since we depend on the natural elements for our survival. Thus, we are indebted to them, and need to worship them. Lord Srimannarayana is the root of this creation. If we worship Lord Srimannarayana, the whole multitude of devathas too receive our worship like a tree that receives water for its roots but supplies the nourishment to the entire tree. However, if we worship only some celestials (devathas), it is like watering only some leaves ignoring the rest of the tree. If we worship the source, Srimannarayana, the entire creation is likewise worshipped. Worshipping Lord Srimannarayana clears one of our debts, Deva Runa. Our rishis had taught us and helped us learn customs, traditions, the do’s and don’ts for our sake. They have recommended to us what we should and shouldn’t do. We are indebted to them for teaching us how to live on this Earth. If we follow their words, and spread their messages, publish their works, read the scriptures, observe and teach future generations this knowledge, then our Rishi Runam is cleared. We are indebted to our parental lineage as well, for this body. This is Pithru Runam. To repay this runam, one must beget righteous children, and bring them up to become a part of this Vedic society, so that they take care of the prosperity of passing on our culture to
future generations.

Unless these runas or debts are cleared, we cannot make any progress towards salvation For this purpose, Vaibhava Ishti is recommended. HH initiated the Ishti by giving the mulamanthram and malamathram to the participants. Today, there was no puja, so the participants of the Ishti stayed in the Ishti Sala and did manthra japam. The morning’s events were concluded with purnahuti. The ruthwiks and participants had a photo session with HH, following which devotees and ruthwiks partook the mahaprasadam and retired for the afternoon. But the Hare Rama chanting continued throughout, with batches signing up for specific times. The evening’s program was initiated with Vishnu Sahasra Nama Stothram, and the Mass Prayer. Sri Yagam is dedicated to Sri Mahalakshmi, the universal Mother. She takes care of all her kids, but we rarely realize this. Vedas instruct us to chant the Lord’s name and surrender to Him, and His grace will take care of us. That had been proved time and again. Prayer has immense power. Swamiji along with all the Vedic students had taken a tour on foot through the terrorism infested state of Punjab, chanting the Vedas while they walked. The peace march with the power of prayer had set things right in Punjab. The effects of prayer in Krishna Vasanthotsavam in April 2004 filled the once dry river Krishna with water, in time for the Krishna Pushkarams. Any peace prayer is very powerful when done with sincerity and deep faith. Successful results are sure to follow. Samrudala Ranga Ramanujacharya Swami reiterated in his speech the power of mass prayer. After the discourses two young kids Anirudh and Anvitha children of Sri N.V.Rao and Sumana from California demonstrated their excellent ability of ‘Avadhanam’ of Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Sthothram. When the audience mentioned a number they could recite the sloka and vice versa. They also narrated the slokas till the end skipping any particular number in between. Swamiji praised them for their dedicated training and skill and blessed them that they should succeed in doing more and more programs in the coming years. The spectators gave them a standing ovation. The day’s program concluded with purnahuti and prasadam.

Sri Yagam Day 4

Swamiji arrived at the yagasala for the aradhana of Perumal by 7 AM. HH along with the 108 ruthwiks and devotees did ‘Sattumurai’. After the theertha goshti, all the ruthwiks started offering oblations at the altars. HH came to the Ishtisala to initiate the devotees with Nrusimha dhyana slokam and Malamanthram for Nrusimheshti. HH elaborated on the importance of Nrusimheshti. People today face many uncontrollable health problems or mental disturbances that normally go undetected by the medical science. Occasionally, some external problems creep in creating disturbances rendering the person incapable of meeting one's goal(s). Manthra protects one who chants it. Chanting the manthra implies surrendering at the lotus feet of Lord forever for His sake alone. That’s what our manthras say. Usually a manthra consists of one or more syllables. When a manthra contains too many words which are mostly adjectives, then it is called the ‘mala manthram’. HH initiated the devotees with the dhyanaslokams and the malamanthram of Narasimha Swami. HH had gone to the pravachanamandap for the collective Lakshmi Nrusimha Puja. There on the dais, as HH explained about the incarnation of Nrusimha, devotees listened with rapt attention and devotion.

He said, “Good people always practice dharma. But hindrances stall their way. The world is habited by many asuras too who cause obstacles and anguish whenever the good people practice dharma. Though Lord neither loves nor hates anyone, He comes down to protect the righteous so that dharma gets reestablished through them.” “Prahlada was a great devotee of Srimannarayana. His father Hiranyakasipu declared himself as the Lord Supreme and forced one and all to accept him such. However, his own son, Prahlada respected him as his father and nothing more than that. Hence he had to face his father’s wrath. So, Lord had to appear as Narasimha Swami. It was not because he wanted to punish Hiranyakasipu but because he wanted to protect Prahlada, his ardent devotee. This is Lord’s uninvited incarnation, he came out of his concern and compassion for his righteous devotee. Hiranyakasipu wanted to see Lord and He showed up at that moment itself and in the very place where Hiranyakasipu wanted to witness him. Narasimha came and killed him as per the boon granted to him. Lord’s greatest attribute is his absolute intolerance towards those who trouble his devotees.”

After the puja, HH and devotees proceeded towards the Ishtisala for purnahuti. During the purnahuti, HH explained the 3 levels that every object has – adi bhouthika (the physical level), adi daivika (the inner level – the soul), the adhyathmika level (the indweller of the soul – antaryami level). That is how the Lord receives our worship through the fire, in the form of the oblations offered. Later, HH blessed the participants of the Nrusimha Ishti with clothes, a dollar coin of Lakshmi Narasimha Swami, and prasadam. The Akhanda Hare Rama Sankeerthana initiated on the first day by Swamiji has been going on wonderfully, 24 hours a day, seven days a week around the clock by the devotees participating here at this historic Sri Yagam. Participants were filled with enthusiasm, and danced, playing cymbals and drums while joyously chanting the divine, sweet name of the Lord.

In the afternoon the JETUSA board meeting was conducted by HH. Later they all addressed the public, and were felicitated by HH on the dais, and everyone returned to the evening’s purnahuti. The ruthwiks and scholars chanting Vedas and scriptures finished off the day’s parayana with a recital of the final portions of the day. With a brief preview of the next day’s events, Swamiji ended the day’s programs. Everyone enjoyed a tasty prasadam, and retired to their respective rooms looking forward to the next day’s programs.

Sri Yagam Day 3

The third day of the Sri Yagam got off to a magnificent start this morning. The ruthwiks all assembled in the Yaga Sala to perform puja at the four passageways to the center of the Yaga Sala. H.H. Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Chinna Srimannarayana Ramanuja Jeeyar Swamiji arrived on the scene to start off the fourth day historic event and give his darshan to all the devotees. Swamiji performed mangala:sasanam to the divine perumal, Kodandarama Swami. After mangalasasanam was completed, the ruthwiks offered the beginning of the various hymns from the Vedas, sastras, ithihasas, and Upanishads at the feet of perumal. HH gave thirtham to all the ruthwiks and devotees who were present at that time. Then, Swamiji left the Yaga Sala to go to the Pravachana Mandapam to guide devotees on how to perform Srinivasa puja. Swamiji enlightened the devotees on the appropriateness of performing Srinivasa puja during the Sri Yagam. Yagam is basically a ritual prescribed by Vedas. It means the worship of devathas. We perform the yaga to enjoy the real wealth with the grace of Sri:. There are many ways of worshipping Lord like through fire, with flowers, with our thoughts or with service. Any activity dedicated to Lord becomes yagam – Lord Krushna mentions in Githa. Whatever we do to keep up this body too becomes worship when we realize this body as a mobile temple since lord is the indweller of all beings. The foundation for all this is faith. Sasthras ordain that we should dedicate every work to the Lord.

While doing the daily chores like cooking food, if we cook for the Lord it becomes divine or else it gets polluted. People may doubt the existence of God but none denies the grace of Sri
Mahalakshmi. Mother’s grace is not limited to money alone. Every aspect of life is a result of her grace. All abilities in the world are various forms of Sri Maha Lakshmi. For example, health, wealth, beauty, good children, good life, education, etc. are some of her multitude of forms. Sri Yagam is to please Lakshmi Devi. Her divine abode is the lord’s chest. We pray to her to come to us with her divine abode. Lord Srinivasa is identified with the presence of Sri Mahalakshmi. Bhagavat Ramanuja consecrated Lakshmi Devi in the lord’s chest. So, Ramanujacharya became father to Alivelumanga and father-in-law to Lord Srinivasa. She is called ‘Vakshasthala Vyuha Lakshmi’ – sitting in a lotus with two hands (not four hands). She is the reason why he is called the real Sri… Nivasa. Srinivasa appeared on this Earth on a Monday when the star was Sravana. Today, it is Monday, and the star is Sravanam. All the participants performed the Srinivasa Puja splendidly with devotion due to the guidance of HH. Meanwhile, after HH left the Yaga Sala, the Nakshatra and Sri Yagam homams were promptly started. No ishti was conducted today. The air was filled with Vedic chants as ruthwiks from all the kundas offered oblations simultaneously. After the Srinivasa puja was concluded, HH arrived at the Yaga Sala for the noon purnahuti. Devotees and ruthwiks partook in prasadam afterwards.

Everyone assembled in the pravachana mandapam at 5:00 pm for VSNP led by HH. After the parayanam all the devotees took part in the chanting of the third mass prayer along with Swamiji. While the theme of yesterday’s mass prayer was praying to Lord in the form of Acharya, today’s mass prayer theme was about his weapons being tools that frighten the wicked but bring joy to the devotees. During the Kurukshetra War, the sound of Krishna’s conch, Panchajanya,terrified the Kauravas, but inspired and comforted the Pandavas. We pray to lord with the five weapons and many more ornaments, that don’t add glory to the lord, but shield him from our evil eye. The Sudarsana Chakra, which adorns the Lord’s right hand, keeps rotating, signifying that ever running TIME is under his control. The impact of the Chakra burns all uncontrollable movements of the mind to allow us to spend more time in his service. The Panchajanya, in the left hand of the Lord, pierces the hearts of enemies, while brining joy to devotees. It drives out the Ahankara present in us with its power. Lord’s maze ‘koumodaki’ symbolizes our intellect. Let our intelligence be put in the right direction by Koumodaki to be able to surrender at the Lord’s lotus feet. Saaranga the divine bow in the Lord’s hand had humbled the wicked forces many a time. Our senses which are like sharp arrows aim for the mundane pleasures ignoring the eternal bliss. Oh! Lord! Bless us so that our senses aim at the righteous values and respond to your commands.

Nandakam is Lord’s brilliant sword of wisdom. We bow to Nandakam to eradicate the darkness of ignorance in us and bless us with great wisdom to serve him wholly. Srivatsam on the lord’s chest symbolizes the alluring nature. We are drawn to the beauties of mundane nature unmindful of the dangers of drowning in samsara. We pray to Srivatsam to entangle us from the temporary attractions and hook us to the attributes of Lord. Bless us to realize that everything we see here is your form and be friendly with everything and serve them as your service. After the prayer there was a cultural program of veena recital. HH concluded the Sriyagam 3rd day program with purnahuthi and sattumurai. Then we attended the final program of the day. The Lord with his consorts has been taken out in a grand procession. We all enjoyed the purappadu utsavam. The divine couple were decked up with beautiful fragrant white chrysanthemums bordered with pink and yellow flowers. The resplendent ornaments glowed in different tints. They wore dazzling diamond crowns. Swamiji guided Perumal’s bewitching walk. At times, He walked like the king of the forests, exhibiting his valor. Sometimes he walked swiftly like a horse, and others he walked slowly and majestically, just like an elephant. He walked proudly, being the sovereign of
this vast universe. Every mode of his walk was enchanting so was the smile. His fascinating walk was accompanied by melodious and lively music, which the devotees danced to, the devotion and pure ecstasy clearly evident on their faces. HH led the whole procession, and even led a lively dance after completing one pradakshinam. The palanquin resembled a serpent slithering on the
ground and suddenly holding up its hood high into the sky. It moved very fast going back and forth. The procession went round the yagasala and came out. All the time the full moon in the clear sky followed the Lord. The cool breeze gave comfort to him and his devotees. The lord reached his retiring chambers. Swamiji fondly gave harathi to him and went inside to put him to sleep. The devotees left to the dining hall with their hearts filled with delight and a pleasant satisfaction. Thus the day's proceedings of the Sri Yagam came to a conclusion.

Sri Yagam Day 2

Today morning the Ashram at 222 Dey Road, Cranbury, NJ was filled with the vibrant, rich tones of Vedic chanting. The entire scene of the Ya:ga Sa:la was enchanting, with the yellow clad swamis (ruthwiks) sitting around the homa kundas, offering the oblations simultaneously as per the chanting of the hymns by the yajnacharya Sri Madhusudanacharya, and the ya:gam sponsors sitting around the perimeter of their respective altars chanting the given manthras. Swamiji arrived at the ya:gasa:la holding his tridandam, resplendent with the dwadasa pundras, glowing with a blessing smile. The devotees had a marvelous darsan of Swamiji. After the mangala:sasanam to the Kodandarama perumal, the rithwiks offered the beginning hymns of veda and slokas of sasthras, itihasas and Upanishads at His feet. Sriyagam and Nakshatra homas, and Vainatheya Ishti were started as per the schedule. After that Swamiji spoke on the importance of today ie.Gurupurnima.

Many devotees who arrived from far and wide listened to HH with rapt attention. “Lord in the deity form is all powerful and all knowledgeable Supreme personality. We do every activity for His sake. That is what our mentors and masters taught us. We try to be more sincere while doing our activities. If our words are supported by our heart and our actions follow this, Lord will surely take care of us. Today, Lord starts his ‘yoga nidra’ lying in the milk ocean. His sleep is not the normal sleep. God spends these four months in yoganidra, with a constant thought process to save us, to save our souls from this egoistic ‘samsara’. His innumerable incarnations have become futile with our nature of evading his evident help. Acharyas offer mangalasasanams to Him. During these four months, people who believe that God is in their hearts, try to take care of the Lord by serving Him, following Him, and understanding our spiritual knowledge with the grace of God and Acharyas. When it’s not easy to stay in one place for four months our rishis exempted us from this and recommended us to stay for at least two months - any two month period. If not two months, they even relaxed the stay in Chaturmasyam for one month taking one week as one month. It’s a very auspicious day today, not just because of the beginning of Chaturmasyam, today is also the birth star (thirunakshathram) of great acharyas such as Aalavandar- Ramanujaswami’s acharya and another acharya Pundarikaksha. People worship their guru on this day, and dedicate themselves to their gurus, seeking their guidance.

Tirtha goshti followed to the large number of devotees. The yajamanis who participated in the Nakshatra homa took the sankalpam and participated in the worship. Today in the Ishti sala, Vainatheya Ishti was conducted. Swamiji, talking about this particular Ishti, said, “A naga is a snake with multiple heads while a sarpa is a snake with a single head. People having kuja dosham won’t have kids. A kuja (planet) is a sort of na:ga. The snakes are scared of Garuda and run away on sensing his presence. When Ra:ma and Lakshmana fell unconscious under the influence of na:gaasthra, Garuda was remembered. On listening to Garuda’s sound, the snakes slithered away. In this Ishti, Garuda manthra is chanted and people who perform this Ishti will be relieved of kuja dosha and be blessed with righteous children,” concluded Sri Swamiji.

Today in the pravachana mandapam, Pedda Jeeyar Swamiji was worshipped, as today is the birthday of Veda Vya:sa Bhagavan, who divided the mass of Vedas into four, authored 18 pura:na:s and the Bramha Su:tras as well, and propogated them through his disciples. Swamiji mentioned the necessity of devotion towards God and guru as well. The grace of Guru opens up all the hidden secrets of nature. His compassion is like the enjoyable, pleasant light of a full moon. HH’s advice to all of us was this - do not be a stubborn Duryodhana – he never did a right thing
even though he knew it was right, and he never stopped doing wrong things, though he knew they were wrong. Then how can we be saved? There are compassionate gurus and a:cha:rya:s who explain the realities of the world, reveal the secrets of the Sa:stra:s, and explain about the grace of God. A:cha:rya never ignores us; He tries to put us in the right path and lead us on towards the goal of liberation. After Swamiji’s message, the ruthwiks worshipped the Pa:duka:s of Pedda Jeeyar Swami, with ‘nava kalasa snapanam’, and did Ashto:thara Sathanama Pu:ja. Swamiji fondly remembered his A:cha:rya’s amazing activities and endeavors all through His life, and shared His experiences with the devotees. Pu:rnahuti was performed in the Ishti Sa:la and the main Ya:ga Sa:la under HH’s guidance.

Devotees enjoyed a tasty prasa:dam that was served. After several scorching and tiresome days, the rain god Varuna showed his happiness with pouring rain, and
a pleasant breeze. The culminations of the day’s events began in the evening with Vishnu Sahasrana:ma pa:ra:yana, followed by Swamiji’s pravachanam. Swamiji explained the three realities, nature, souls, and God, and explained how we are hooked to nature, how Lord comes in various avata:ra:s to deliver us, and how we evade him. It is wrong to blame God for our misfortunes and troubles. We are responsible for our plight. Surrender to a Guru, and he will pull us out from the clutches of samsa:ra. Dr. Samudra:la Ranga Ra:ma:nuja:cha:rya Swami elaborated on karma and its origin, quoting from Bhagavad Ra:ma:nuja:charya’s works.

In the mass prayer for world peace, the Lord in the form of A:cha:rya is praised for his perseverance and compassion. Everyone in the pravachana mandapam pleaded the Lord to strengthen our faith, help them preserve and adore the greatness of the Manthra, and spread His greatness all around the world. Today being Guru Pu:rnima, all the devotees reverently performed Pa:da Pu:ja to the lotus feet of our A:cha:rya, Swamiji. Though the schedule was hectic, HH patiently distributed sri:pada tirtham to the vast number of devotees present and blessed them. The day’s events were concluded with Pu:rna:huti and conclusion of today’s parayanas. Devotees had the yaga prasadam and attended the tadiyaradhana. Swamiji blessed all the devotees that the grace of
a:cha:ryas will forever be showered on us.

Sri Yagam Day 1

July 24th, being the first day of the Sri Yagam, Swamiji’s Perumal was brought to the yagasala. All the rithwiks got ready in their yellow deeksha clothes. The sevakalam was completed and HH gave permission to the rithwiks to do the agni madhanam – churning the wood to produce fire in a natural and vedic manner using a special wood as ordained in the Agama Sasthra. Wood from the peepal tree that grows on the top of a Sami tree is taken. Sami wood becomes the base and the peepal wood is used to make the top pole. When it is churned with force, the agni that lies latent in the wood emerges as smoke which in turn ignites the wood. Today in less than two minutes the fire god showed up to the amazement of the devotees who invited him, applauding Jai Srimannarayana. Swamiji said the purity of the hearts of devotees and their devotion pleased the Lord.

Garuda dhwajaarohanam (hoisting the picture of Garuda Alwar after worshipping him) was performed by Swamiji later on. HH explained the importance of rice balls that were offered to Garuda and said that women who have no children consume the prasadam for kids. Then HH inaugurated the Akhanda Hare Rama Nama Sankeerthanam and blessed the batch of devotees. It will continue 24/7 for the ten days of the Sri Yagam. By then the holy fire was installed in the main kunda and then was transferred to the other 32 kundas. In the Ishtisala, HH gave permission to Sriman Srinivasacharyaswami to commence the Sudarsaneshti and spoke on the importance of worshipping Sudarsana Bhagavan. Sudarsana represents our mind. He cleanses and energizes our mind and shows us the right path. Swamiji initiated all the devotees with the Sudarsana Moola Manthra. Rithwiks offered oblations while the devotees chanted the manthram in between the
slokas.

In the pravachanamandapa, during the mass Sri Krishna Puja, HH spoke on how to earn wealth correctly. “Whatever we do, we must do it in a perfect, righteous, and recommended way. Even earning wealth, whatever kind of wealth it might be – money, knowledge, family and spirituality – must be done in a proper manner. This helps us enjoy the peace. Here, in order to obtain the blessings of the Lord, we must perform the rituals of the yagam according to the guidelines provided in the Vedic and Agamic scriptures. Agni Madhanam was performed for this reason. The Agni that was slowly built up by the ruthwiks was distributed around the Ya:ga Sa:la, with the initial small fire spreading around to all 33 kundas and magnifying. On the ninth and final day of the Sri Yagam, all the fires in the 33 kundas once again return to the main kundam that they came from. The power, the energy, is then transferred from the kundam to the mandalam, and then to the kumbham. Whether it is Rama, or Venkateswara Swami, Lakshmi, or Sri receives our prayers for the Lord. For example, a simple and natural thing like fire, starts out in a small area, with all the power in one location. The power spreads for the nine days to all 33 kundas, with the power spreading and magnifying, and eventually, all the power is brought back to one place. This is what we are doing in our Yagam. We surrender ourselves in this way. A:radhana will be done to the fire every morning, afternoon, and evening. A:radhana means pleasing. How do you please your mother or your father? We have to do some activity that pleases them. We have to do what they expect us to do.

Our parents won’t be satisfied when we do something that only pleases us particularly. This is how we please our Mother and Father. We please them in the way the Vedic and Agamic scriptures advise us. Here in this Yagam, we worship the Lord in five different forms – fire, water, earth, air and space. The fire is worshiped in the altar, the water is worshipped in the Kumbham near the Lord. The earth is worshipped through our perumal that we can all see here, the moorthis – that are made of metal, which comes directly from the earth. Space, we worship in the Murthi Chakrabhuja mandalam. Manthra is the fifth way. The air that the rutwiks breathe in and out while reciting the Manthras is the last form of worship. Agni madhanam, or fire churning, is metaphoric to churning our own hearts. The more you churn the fire, the stronger it becomes. Fire is knowledge. Even though this fire, the knowledge, starts out minutely it will grow with the addition of proper things in a recommended manner. And in the end, we contract our love, faith, and our knowledge into ourselves to reach God. We must churn our thought process during these nine days. The more we churn them, the more elated, the more spiritual we become. We get closer to God. Krishna says that he is the Indweller. He advises us to dedicate ourselves to Him, with the promise that He will take care of us. “ Later HH came to the yagasala for purnahuthi. In the Ishtisala purnahuti was done in the presence of Acharya. He did prokshana on the devotees and personally presented the yajamanis with clothes. In the Sri Yagam, oblations were offered while the four Vedas and Astakshari Manthra were chanted at all the kundas. It was an amazing sight watching the offering of dravyams of purnahuthi at the same time in
all the 33 kundas.

Devotees had prasadam and had some rest. In the evening, they assembled in the discourse hall for the Vishnusahasranama parayana and to listen to the enlightening words of HH. Four senior priests were honored and they shared their experiences with the audience while the evening homam continued in the yagasala. Today being the first day of Sri Yagam, the First Mass Prayer was done by all the participants collectively under HH’s guidance. A cultural program was presented by the kids. Then Purappattu ( procession) for Mother Mahalakshmi was enjoyed by one and all. In the presence of Mother Mahalakshmi, the splendor of the final purnahuti was witnessed by all the blessed devotees. The purnahuti prasadam was distributed to everyone as the day’s program came to a close.

Tomorrow the Vainatheya Ishti will be conducted in the Ishti sala. Tomorrow, July 25th, is also Guru Purnima and the second mass prayer will be chanted at exactly 6:00 P.M.

Sri Yagam begins

A grand event of mass prayer for world peace conducted by the Jet USA has commenced in a grand manner at the divine feet of Lord Srimannarayana through Mother Srimahalakshmi, under the aegis of HH Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Jeeyar Swamy at the Jeeyar Asram at 222, Dey road, Cranbury, New Jersey. The asram brimmed with hectic activity for the past several weeks. The venue for the Sri Yagam was ready by the 22nd due to the hard work put in by hundreds of volunteers. HH graciously inspired them all with his guidance. HH and parivaram arrived at the venue by the 14th of July. By this time, hundreds of rithwiks - many from the various holy places of India trained in the Jeeyar Vedapathasalas and others from the various temples in US were already present. The vast asram reminds everyone of a traditional hermitage away from the city bustle; peace and quiet pervaded throughout the asram encircled by trees. Large areas at the premises are cleared to host a vast Yagasala for the Sriyagam, and an ishtisala for the daily ishtis. Two large halls for tadiya:ra:dhana (dining) are erected, one exclusively for the ruthwiks and the other for the devotees. A big kitchen is also ready to cook the prasadam for the multitude of devotees. The ground is leveled and carpets are spread for the comfort of the visiting devotees. A special place is arranged for the ‘akhanda Harinama sankeerthana’.

On the 23rd, the preliminary preparations for the ensuing yagam are completed with full pomp and glory in the presence of hundreds of devotees who came from the various corners of the world. After the sevaakaalam to the Lord, HH blessed the great number of devotees with theertham (holy water). Then all the rithwiks and devotees proceeded to yagasala, where the required procedures were performed to sanctify it for the Sriyagam. After the Vikshwaksena puja and the Vasthu puja comprising of the Vasthu Homam, Vasthu Bali and Paryagnikaranam (a sanctifying process with fire) were conducted by the Yajnaacharyas Sriman Srinivasacharya Swamy and Sriman Madhusudanacharya along with the other rithwiks under the supervision of HH. He explained the importance of Vasthu puja. Dr. Sriman Samudrala Ranga Ramanujacharya Swamy was honored as the Yajna brahma for the yagam. The weather also cooperated with a cool breeze. It lasted for 2 hrs with the explanation of the events by HH all the while. The devotees enjoyed every bit of the function observing the systematic process performed in the most authentic way as prescribed by the Vedas. Everyone enjoyed the sumptuous prasadam afterwards. In the evening, at 5:30 pm, mass recitation of Sri Vishnusahasranamam was done led by Sri Swamiji.

After a while, ‘mruthsangrahana’ – collecting soil from an anthill – was done so that the soil collected would be placed in earthen plates, in which ‘navadhaanyams’ (nine types of grains), are put chanting vedic hymns. This is called ‘Ankuraropanam’. The plant growth by the end of 9 days suggests the prosperity of the undertaken program. Then kankana dharana was done to all the rithwiks. They were given deeksha vasthrams to participate in ‘havanam’ and chanting of scriptures, itihasas, puranas and divya prabandham etc., Many sponsors took part in the event. HH spoke on the preparations and blessed the devotees and the 108 rithwiks who would offer oblations and chant scriptures at the 33 kundas for nine days. Devotees dispersed to their places in the arranged vans after having prasadam.

Sri: Yagam message

Special thanks to R Mudumbai gaaru for making this available:

Transcript of HH's message on Sri:ya:gam.

A:pada::m apahartha:ram, da:tha:ram sarva sampada:m|
lo:ka:bhi ra:mam, sri: ra:mam, bhu:yo: bhu:yo: nama:myaham||

Jai Srimannarayana to you all!

We welcome you all to participate in a unique program which we are going to have during July of this 2010.

According to Lunar Calendar, this year is called as Vikruti. Each year was given a name by our ancient sages. A name also given to this year is called Vikruti. This word ofcourse is from Sanskrit. The meaning of this word is "a change". We want a change. Of course, the change is for good. What good we want? We want a good heart, we want good wealth, we want good health, we want a good family set up and at the same time, we want a congenial atmosphere for the life to sustain on this planet earth. We want all these changes for good. So the name of this year what we call as Vikruti, we pray that Lord will help us in acquiring them.

In addition to what we regularly do, we are conducting a wonderful yagam for this year. Yagam is a way of worshiping the lord of this universe. According to our ancient vedic scriptures, we need to worship God in different forms for different requirements to be fulfilled.

Like, if you want just health, you have to worship the lord in the form of Sun. And if you want just wealth, you need to worship the lord through the fire. But if you want just knowledge, you have to worship Lord Shiva. But if you want a release from all bondages, you need to worship the Lord in the form of Vishnu.

This is what it is said:

Arogyam bhaskara:d ichche:th
Sriyam ichche:th utha:sana:th
Iswara:th jna:na manvichcheth
Mo:ksham ichcheth jana:rdana:th

This is what it is said.

What we really need and what we really want is ofcourse a fine line between both. We may be in need of very few things, but, we want so many things to be acquired and enjoyed. So each of our desires may not be fulfilled all the times, but whatever our needs are, should be fulfilled at any cost.

We want not just money, but we want a peaceful heart, we want a peaceful environment we want a peaceful life in general. So, anything that is peaceful, anything that is prosperous, anything that is good, and anything that is really healthy is to be blessed to the human kind through the Goddess Mahalakshmi which is called Sri:. Maha:lakshmi is the divine spouse of Lord Maha:Vishnu and she is the controller of the all the wealths and all the good.

Because we want everything good, we need to worship Sri Maha:lakshmi and we have to offer our prayers and also put all our needs before her and she will definitely take care of us.

Here is a funny mentioning about Sri Maha:lakshmi by one of the great oldest poets. He prays in a nice sloka like this.

"Lakshmi! kshamasva vachaneeyam idam duruktham"

He was requesting the divine mother saying, "Oh! My divine and beloved
mother! I am going to say something which may be painful to you! You may not like to hear such words from me. Then mother says, "Ok! That is alright. Children speak so many things and parents would always appreciate them. They like to hear such things. Come on! Go ahead." And then the poet said,

'andhi: bhavanthi purusha:ha tvadupaasane:naha'

"Oh! My beloved mother! Whoever worships you, becomes so blind." Then mother said, "What are you saying? I don't want to make them blind."

"It's ok mother. But, whenever people worship, and whenever people medidate upon you and when they become a subject for your grace and they become wealthy, the moment they become wealthy, they forget the rest of the world."

'andhi: bhavanthi purusha:ha'

Then mother was a bit unhappy and she asked him, "Hey! Where did you see such things? Can you tell me!" Then he was explaining, "mom, I don't want to show the smaller examples here and there. But I want to show a great example of Lord Sri: Maha Vishnu who is supposed to protect the whole universe, and who is supposed to take care of the entire life - is simply sleeping on the serpent bed. It is just because he is medidating upon you; He is always with
you and he is under your shade."

And he says,

"nochet, kadham, kamala pathram, visa:la ne:thraha na:rayanaha swapithi pannaga bho:gathalpe: "

"Mom, our lord is not seeing me. You know! If God sees me, I think I would have flourished, I would have been something else in this universe. But, why am I crying like this? Why am I suffering like this from so many problems? Why these many financial recessions? Why this crisis for me? It is because you know, His grace is not there on me. Then, why is his grace not there on me? Isn't he supposed to be the ONE having wide and compassionate vision and eyes. Still He isl not looking at me. What is the reason? Why is He sleeping on His sepent bed? Yes. The very simple reason is - He is meditating upon you! And you showered all your grace on Him and it worked on Him as
anesthesia. And that's how he is simply sleeping.

"na:ra:yanaha swapithi pannaga bho:gathalpe:" - he said.

And ofcourse, it is to make a fun of things that are observed. It is with mom and dad - the Universal Mother and Father. Anything can be done! They don't take it seriously. At the same time, they try to understand and they bless us.

We want the blessings of Maha Lakshmi. We want the blessings of her divine spouse, Narayana. Ultimately, we want Lakshmi Narayana's grace on us. We want Sri: and Narayana's compassion on us, so that we can enjoy good health, good wealth, good family, good society and ultimately, the recession we are now going through should be removed, should be eradicated and we should live in a wonderful world. That is what we want!

Of course, a few things can be done by us by doing many plans and
strategies. But many things should be done by the grace of God. The grace of God should be obtained in two ways. One is by way of medidating upon them. The second way is by praying through the Sacred fire, which we call as ya:ga. Yagam is 'Yaja De:va Pu:ja'. We do deva puja in several ways. But, offering oblations through the fire, specific mantras which plead or which are in the form of pleading and which ultimately will please the lord have to be chanted. And the process of Yagam is done according to the vedic systems.

Sri Yagam is a wonderful process which has been observed by none else than the King of Devathas, Indra. When he lost his wealth and when he was passing through so many hardships, he worshiped mother through Sri Yagam through different mantras and thus he regained his kingdom and became Indra.

Now the world is going through a very very painful process of economic
recession.. Across the world. We want to come out of it. Our JET USA along with all sister concerns is planning to make a mass chanting for two things.

1) For the peace of the world and
2) For the people to florush with good wealth and health.

It is a mass prayer of course! 108 good vedic Ruthwicks are going to chant different mantras and they add their prayers for world peace and wealth along with thousands of devotees. Devotees in US particularly are chanting Sri Mantra since October and they are aspiring that Lord's grace should be on all of us. Their desire is that everybody - TOGETHER- should flourish.

Sangachchathvam, Samvadathvam, Samvohana:msija:natham -

Vedas are recommending us to be like this. We have to think together, we have to walk together and we have to flourish together. So, this unision is very much required now a days. For which a wonderful program is being conducted by JET USA organization in NJ.

We invite everybody to participate in that and enjoy the warmth of the
divine couple Lakshmi & Narayana - thir grace and good wealth. The Yagam is for 9 days and there are 33 altars (Yagna kundas) in which the Mantras selected from the Vedas talking about the different constellations and stars are to be chanted. Because everyone on this planet earth is born in some particular star and a constellation. If that star and constellation is energized through those mantras, the fate of that person will be altogether changed for good.

There are 27 kundas alloted for 27 stars like Aswini, Bharani etc and there are 5 kundas dedicated for chanting all the mantras of the Vedas and then there will be one acharya kunda in which all the santhi mantras are to be chanted and the required stuff is offered into the fire for the world peace. Everyday, all the devotees together will be chanting different sthothras and mantras for world peace. It is a unique program of its kind. It will be started on July 23rd and will end on August 1st 2010, in Dey Road of Cranberry, Jeeyar Ashram. So many devotees are participating and all the Ruthwicks are going to perform this Sri yagam with all sincerity and with all devotion because it is for the world peace and all the activities done there are just for the benefit of Devotees.

So let us all join and let us enjoy the divine grace of the couple, the universal ma:tha and pitha, the Universal Parents - Sri: and
LakshmiNarayana. We invite you all and the Volunteers of JET USA and VT will give you all the needed information and they are always ready to serve you in participating in Sri Yagam. Let us all get the blessings of Sri Mahalakshmi and Narayana always!

Jai Srimannarayana! 

Sri: Yagam Ya:gasa:la construction

Sri Swamiji's message on Sri: Yagam