Prayer
is a vehicle of communicating
with a deity for some purpose.
It is said that a man with prayers
is able to achieve many things
in life in a short time compared
to what one without prayers would
achieve during his whole life
time. Man generally prays to God
or some other superlative power
to obtain worldly possessions
such as wealth, good health and
freedom from diseases, success
in endeavours, happiness, etc.
There are other great souls
who consider the above as transient
and not worthy of aspiring for
compared to attainment of everlasting
bliss which is eternal and infinite
through spiritual enlightenment.
They strive towards this by renouncing
all desires and making atmavichara
as to the nature of the indefinable
Absolute, nature of the evanescent
world and the oneness of jivatma
with paramatma. Though
the premise, reasons, form , language
and content of the prayers differ
in the case of various religions
and faiths, the ultimate aim is
to supplicate to the Lord or a
super power who is acknowledged
as all-knowing and all-powerful
for the redressal of the grievances
or forgiveness of ones sins.
Chanting of hymns, worship in
temples, churches or mosques,
meditation are all various forms
of prayers. In Hinduism, the Vedas are the repository of a very large number of
prayers and rituals in the form
of mantras for propitiating
the various deities to achieve
specific aims and objectives.
This article considers a few of
these vedic hymns used
in prayer for specific goals.
An
ardent prayer invoking the generous
blessings of the all-powerful
God , the saviour of mankind (
here Indra ) occurs in all the
four Vedas. This hymn with
a rhythmic pleasing sound entreats
Him to save humanity from sorrows
by His grace.
wt̜ < +ͥt̜ < ٷ
ܜ < *
͘ F ٝt
< Ѳt Q̥
t̍: **
(Samaveda, 333)
The
following hymn from the Rigveda
is in the form of prayers to the
deities for sound health and a
long life. "Let us hear only
auspicious things by our ears;
see only good things by our eyes;
let us all enjoy the full life
ordained by God with healthy bodies"
says the mantra.
̇ Fs͗: s̘ٙ
z:
̇ ̨K̙͗`w:
Ѳy̜WtٮO
̲t̍͗:
̨ zͷt
z̙: **
(Rigveda 1-89,8)
An identical
prayer enabling one for living
the full human life of 100 years
is contained in the Rigveda, Taittiriya
Aranyaka, and Atharvaveda. It
is not the mere existence that
is stressed but living in the
fittest way hearing and speaking
all good things . Living joyfully
with the near and dear, and at
the same time honourably is also
desired. Also, it is prayed that
we should not be conquered by
evil tendencies. All these long
years we desire to live as mentioned
above seeing the Sun sacredly
rising from the east. The hundred
autumns mentioned by the mantra
is only symbolic and means the
very possible limit of existence.
Let
us see the mantra:
t[Kzͷt ٜtZ\F[̜t *
̨
̜zt `ե ̜zt
̍z̘ ̜zt z̘
̜zt
̥̘
̜ztO s̥̘ ̜zt
̘
̜zt̘`t̲̘ ̜zt
`EZ ܙ **
(Taittiriya
Aranyaka 4-42-5)
The 31st
anuvaka
of the famous Surya
Namaskara Mantra dealing with
Vaishravana Sacrifice among
other things, states We offer
salutations to Vaishravana
that is Kubera who is the
king of all kings and the conqueror
of others by his might. I desire
the fulfillment of the desires
of Vaishravana who himself is
the Lord of all desires. May he
fulfil all my desires. This mantra
though a prayer to Kubera,
is generally employed during
the neerajana as well as
pushpanjali of all poojas.
`̜͌`̙
̻ͷ *̘
̙ ̥s̙ Fʷ*
F̘̍ F̘F̘̙
̻ * F̘̜ ̥s
zzt *
F̙ ̥s̙
* ̷̜`̙ ̘: *
(Taittiriya Aranyaka 1-31,6)
An important part of vedic religion is the path of knowledge through prayer
for the power of mind which leads
to the realistion of Brahman
or the Ultimate Truth. The most
significant example of a prayer
for mental power is the Gayatri
mantra being chanted repeatedly
by generations of Hindus. The
hymn says that
May we contemplate
on the superior effulgence
of the Almighty Lord
(represented by Omkara)
who stimulates our intellect.
The mantra is known as
Gayatri as it protects those chanting
it and the deity is known as Savitri
as the meditation is done in the
resplendent sun.
ttͥt٥ʜs O z̲ ͷ*
̙͌ : Zzt **
(Yajurveda (Va) 3/35,
36/3; 22/9,30/2)
Mankind
is prone to commit several sins
during his life whether wittingly
or unwittingly and repent later
for these. God in His bountiful
mercy will be pleased to forgive
these sins when sincere prayers
are offered . One such prayer
occurs in the Rigveda which seeks
pardon from all these sins.
DFѲOͲ =t w̭ *
̌ ܜ ͜
**
(Rigveda 8-45,34)
The following
mantra again from the Rigveda
offers prayers to Lord Agni to
lead us in the righteous path
and to protect us from being led
in the wrong path by our sins
. This hymn also states that Agni
knows all the sacred duties and
that we humbly submit all our
salutations
to Him.
+O ̙ ُy
̙ +̍
̫͍ͥ z ٍ̙͍
ͥ̈̍ *
ٙ⌙̲aٷs̘
͙̯ t ̘=H
ͥ̌ **
(Rigveda 1-189,1 )
A similar
prayer is found in the Shuklayajurveda ( also in Mahanarayanopanishad, 59 )wherein
one feels honestly sorry
not only for the sins committed
against the gods, against
humanity, against ancestors,
but also against oneself and indeed
all sorts of sins and appeals
for Gods mercy stating that He
is the atonement for all these
sins committed knowingly or unknowingly.
The high moral principle of repenting
for ones sins is reflected in
this hymn
zFt̲̲%̙`̘̍Ͳ
̍٭Ft̲̲%̙`̘̍Ͳ
͏tFt̲̲%̙`̘̍Ͳ
+t-
Ft̲̲%̙`̘̍Ͳ
D̲ D̲%̙`̘̍Ͳ
[̷ D ͥ̈ɩF̜
[ͥ̈ɲt̲ ̥ʲ̲%̙`̘̍Ͳ
(Shuklayajurveda
8,13 )
