Pranava Mantram & Daiva Mantram

Pranava Mantram & Daiva Mantram

In Kathopanishad, Yama (the lord of Death) tells Nachiketa that ॐ (Aum) is verily Brahman, this word is the highest and he who knows this word obtains whatever he desires.

The syllable ॐ  arises from the Sanskrit root अव्  which means to Protect.  Protection of the universe is that inclusive part of Sustenance.  Hence etymology of Pranavam says: "प्राणन सर्वान परमात्मनि प्रणामयति इति प्रणवम् " - That which is always to be revered (bowed before), is Pranavam.   Also,  प्रकर्षेण नवमिति प्रणवम् - That which is eternally new is Pranavam.

The tantric concept of Life as a dot (Bindu) and as a Circle that expands from that dot (Bindu) to that Circle and thereafter returns to that Bindu is about the Creation (Bindu) & Preservation/Sustenance (the Circle).

The Circle can be further divided horizontally into two parts, the lower semi-circle being Preservation/Sustenance and the upper semi-circle being Beyond Existence.  The lower part of the Life is Soorya governed (Solar) and  the upper part is Chandra (Moon) governed (Lunar). We can see this division in the Jyotisha (Zodiac division) as well - the Raasis from Simha to Makara governed by Sun and from Kumbha to Karkataka governed by Moon.   The Solar is what you are and what you experience as material.  The Lunar is that beyond our normal existence.  The Solar is day and Lunar is night. The Solar is Sura and the Lunar is Asura.  Solar is Presevation/Sustenance and Lunar is Beyond Existence. Solar is Vishnu,  Lunar is Shiva.  Solar is Physical, Lunar is Abstract. Solar is Body, Lunar is Mind, Solar is Experiential while Lunar is Imaginable.

The Pranava Mantram is  ॐ  and the Daiva Mantram is अऌः .

ॐ is VaiShnava & अऌः is ShaiVa.  They are two parts of the same circle.  Vishnu is comprised of व & श  while Shiva is comprised of  श & व.   शव्  in Sanskrit also means dead.  Thus Shiva is also the Lord beyond Death and his abode is the Cremation ground (grave-yard).  वश्  in Sanskrit also means attraction (possession) - Vishnu is also Krishna - the attracting. When the Praana is kept attracted (attached/possessed) to the material body, there is the feeling of Existence. It is Vishnu that keeps it attached (until decided to liberate) and it is Shiva that takes care of it when it is liberated.  Vishnu has his consort as Lakshmi (prosperity).  Shiva lost Sati and thereafter is an ascetic who is consorted by the very nature of the existence Paarvati (Prakriti).

Shivam means  मङ्गलम् (Mangalam - Happiness & Well-being). Shiva is the one who consumed विषम् (poison) for the well-being (शिवम्) of all.

The following table details the same.

Pranava Mantram	Daiva Mantram
ॐ	अऌः
Lower Semi-circle   ँ	Upper Semi-circle   ऀ
Sandalwood Paste with Kumkum above	Bhasma (Ash) with Kumkum below
Solar	Lunar
Direct influence	Indirect (Reflective) influence
Simha to Makara	Kumbha to Karkataka
Light	Dark
Lord of the Day	Lord of the Night
Heat	Cold
Physical	Abstract
Existence	Beyond Existense
Experiential	Imaginable
Experienceable	Not Experienceable
Known	Unknown
Knowable	Beyond Knowledge
Attached / Attracted to Physical	Liberated from Physical  Attachments/Attractions
Consorted by Prosperity	Consorted by Prakriti (Nature)
Lakshmi	Parvati
Samsaara (Bondage)	Samskaara (Liberation)
Sura	Asura
Vishnu (Sustenance)	Shiva (Destroyed)
वश् (Attracted/Attached)	शव् (Liberated)
Vishnu (विष्णु - Prevailing)	Shiva (शिवम् / मंगलम्  - Happiness)
Active	Passive
Energized	Neutralized
(Controls the विषम्  Poison of Life)	Consumed विषम् (Destroyer of विषम् Poison)
with प्राण (with Praana / Life)	bereft of प्राण (without Praana / Life)
अ  + उ  +  अम्	अ + ऌ + अ:

As Pranavam is related to Vishnu, Vaishnavites usually adorn their forehead, a 'gopi' - an upward open crescent with Saffron Kumkum dot above it.  Shaivites on the other hand adorn their forehead with a long drawn Bhasma (hot ash - ideally from the cremation grounds) which forms a downward open crescent with Saffron Kumkum dot below it.  The Kumkum indicates the Female power - Shakti. The Sandalwood paste cools the heat of the Sun and the Bhasma heats the cold nature of the Moon (Chandra).  Thus they are used as compensating factors.

We can also see that the representation of अऌः resembles the figure of Ganesha with the visarga turned anti-clockwise to form the eyes of the elephant god; the ऌ  forming the head and the trunk; and also including the अ placed anti-clockwise to form a straight line umbrella on top of the head.  The upper semi-circle with the bindu (dot) below it, depicts the large belly of the Ganesha.  Incidentally, there is also a close connection between Ganesha and the Moon (Chandra) as can be seen in the Vinayaka Chaturthi story. 

Considering that the ॐ and Ganesha are declared to be revered, venerated & invoked before any action/invocation that is intended to be undertaken, it implies therefore that Ganesha or Vigneshwara (the remover of obstacles) is none but अऌः.   Ganesha is also considered to be the Pranavam ॐ.  The elephant trunk and the belly is depicted in the script of ॐ.  In otherwords, it could be said that Ganesha is a confluence of the Vaishnavaite and Shaivite principles uniquely representing both ॐ and अऌः in one symbol.  (May also wish to know that on the same lines, Ganesha's brother Subrahmania is a confluence of Shiva and Brahma!)


While  ॐ  is Pranava mantra, अऌः is Daiva mantra. 

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Ref: Yoga-Vasishtam : https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/yoga-vasistha-volume-1/d/doc117974.html

Jyotishastra - Synastry (Horoscopes matching)

Jyotishastra - Synastry
(Horoscopes matching) 

Jyotishastra is considered to be the eyes of the Vedas. The eyes are used to see ahead so that we go in the right direction. We can see only where there is light or where light has fallen on. In other words, we can look only where there is some form of data present. Statistics and related predictive Technology works on such data. Prediction therefore may never be 100% right because of limitations in the data itself.

For example, most of us can say (predict) that the Mangala Express train from New Delhi station will leave for my destination to Payyanur at 09:15 today and would reach Payyanur at 04:08 day after tomorrow.  How? By looking at the time table.
Now if it started late by an hour today, some might predict that it would reach Payyanur at 05:08 only. Few others would take the historical data for last few days and then say that it would reach half hour late at  04:38 hrs. Yet another set of people might consider the weather forecast for today, tomorrow and day-after to say that it will reach 2 hrs late at 06:08.  Thus, we see that based on different data, different people predict differently. And actually, the train might reach at a different time altogether. So, that doesn't also mean that all those who attempted to predict are fools or ignorant 'believers'.

Now what about that person who wasn't concerned about that time the train was to reach? It doesn't matter for him, at what time the train reached or whether it would reach at all!!  Thus this means that, the prediction affects only to who are worried about the time of reaching a destination point. He who isn't worried about that, would be careless about the prediction as well.

Hence, can't we say that prediction is for the worried mind not for the sthitha-prajna (defined in the Bhagawad Gita).

Today we are again at many heights in science, mathematics and statistics. Predictive computing tools are deployed even at super market stores that collect and analyze data and place the right items at appropriate places in the super market/malls. Haven't you noticed that you would have (unknowingly) walked miles (not by desire, but by design though) inside a super market to collect the few items that you wanted to purchase and found that there are a few additional (necessary or not) items also in your hand as you walked out from that mall?

The fact is that the placement of items in the malls is 'engineered' such that you purchase more than you actually wanted, thru Predictive Technology. Even the day of the week matter and therefore you might have also heard  'Wednesday discounts' announced and the like.

Returning to matching of horoscopes for couples, i feel that, that technique was probably employed during a phase when marriages were fixed by parents and elders alone. And the only tool they could depend upon was some form of predictive science evolved and understood at that time. (We cannot therefore vouch for it in toto). Incidently, that predictive mechanism also reiterated that a sync of the minds supercedes the algorithm!!

Not to mention, that a sync of minds is also required to resolve even national disputes for peaceful co-existence. If the minds of the leaders cannot display any sync, then probably algorithms could be applied.

Don't you think so?