Pankaj: Sir, Charan Sparsh, What is mahamritunjaya jaap and what is the importance in vedas can you please guide me and what are the benefits of that mantra. As per your guidance I am doing havan twice a weak sat and Sunday for nearly one to two hours using your book while doing havan now without your permission I have started mahamritunjaya jaap, is it Ok or else guide me what else mantra should recite while doing havan to get salvation.
Swami Ram Swarup: My blessings to you.
Mahamrityunjaya mantra
Mahamrityunjaya name has been originated by we people, otherwise it is Yajurveda mantra 3/60. So we must say that we are reciting Yajurveda mantra but it has been a tendency to say it as mahamrityunjaya mantra. It can never be started with any other shloka or mantra etc., because Ved mantras emanate direct from God at the beginning of the earth. So Ved mantras have not been written by a Rishi-Muni, man, woman etc., as Almighty, Omnipresent, Formless God is unchangeable. So are the mantras. The Knowledge of Ved mantras is eternal, immortal and unchangeable.
In the said mantra, we pray to God that Oh God! I perform your Yajyen, may my life be long i.e., 100 years or upto 400 years as the Vedas say. However, no one can cross the age of 400 years please. So, everybody must recite and do Yajyen from the said mantras himself because in the mantra we are praying to God that Oh God! I am myself doing your worship by Yajyen and no one else on my behalf.
“TRIYAMBAKAM YAJAMAHE SUGANDHIM PUSHTIVARDHANAM URVARUKMIV BANDHANAANMRITYORMUKSHEEYA MAAMRITAAT.”
(Rigveda mantra 7/59/12)
“TRIYAMBAKAM YAJAMAHE” is the Rigveda Mantra number 7/59/12. Its meaning is (TRIYAMBAKAM) whose knowledge remains constant in past, present and future. Actually “AMBAKAM” means eyes, TRI means three i.e., He who has three eyes. Here three eyes means past, present and future, the three phrases of time i.e., whose knowledge remains unchangeable in past, present , future times and who is present and sees past, present and future.
(YAJAMAHE) do daily worship ((SUGANDHIM), who makes us the best and the purest (PUSHTIVARDHANAM) who increases the strength of our body and soul.
Meaning:- We must daily worship the God whose knowledge remains unchangeable in past, present and future and who is present and sees the past, present and future. He makes us the best and the purest and increases the strength of our body and soul.
Idea:- Yajyen and Ashtang Yoga Practice is the best worship of God. So, we must daily do Yajyen and Ashtang Yoga Practice.
(BANDHANAAT) connected to (LATAA) creeper (URVARUKMIV) like a ripened cucumber (MRITYOHO) from death (MUKSHEEYA) get liberated.
Meaning:- With the grace of God, may I get liberated from death like a ripened cucumber which gets released from the creeper.
Idea:- The cucumber automatically gets separated from the creeper when it gets fully ripened. It becomes tasty even. Similarly, by the worship of God i.e., while performing Yajyen and Practice of Ashtang Yoga Philosophy, I may also attain full disease free age i.e., hundred years or more and get free from the death automatically.
(MA MUKSHIMAHEE) may we never be separated from faith, belief (AMRITAM) from supreme, divine pleasure of final liberation.
Idea:- This human body is blessed by God to do daily Yajyen wherein knowledge of Vedas is also listened from Brahma i.e., learned acharya who is a philosopher of four Vedas and Ashtang Yoga . Our faith and belief must never diminish from following the said path of worship to get final liberation.
Main Idea:- In the above mantra , we pray to God. There are two types of prayers-
1. Prayer emanates direct from God in the shape of Ved mantras like above mantra which are eternal, true and the best.
2. Prayers which are man-made in the shape of so many shlokas etc., written by human-beings i.e., saints etc.
No doubt that the prayers which emanate from God are the best. So, the human being must know the deep philosophy of the Vedas and must worship God and must do prayer of God as mentioned in Vedas which will ever be beneficial for all mankind, we must only worship the God whose description has been given in the Vedas by God Himself. Who can know God as God knows Himself? So, description of God in Vedas is eternal, true and the best.
Secondly, prayer is not enough. God states in Vedas (Refer Rigveda mantra 1/10/5) that one must also do hard, pious deeds to fulfil one’s prayer otherwise prayer will not help the person. Based on the Philosophy of Vedas, nowadays the true phrase is famous-“God Helps Those Who Help Themselves”. So we must ourselves do hard, pious deeds according to our prayer. Worship for the God/Gods against the Vedas are always sorrowful.
So the idea of the above mantra is clear wherein it is mentioned “TRIYAMBAKAM YAJAMAHE” i.e., Oh! God, we do Yajyen (worship) ourselves. So we can never depute any other person to perform the Yajyen from the above Ved mantra because mantra states to perform the Yajyen ourselves. Mostly, due to lack of knowledge of Ved mantras, we engage some other person to perform Yajyen which according to Vedas, can never be beneficial.
Because “YAJAMAHE” is “ATMANEPAD DHATU”. Dhatu means root word. It means YAJAMAHE word is applicable to personal matter. So we will have to perform Yajyen, personally. In Vedas its name has not been mentioned as “Mahamritynjaye mantra”.
However, if somebody has stated its name as Mahamritynjaye jaap then it makes no difference if we are aware of the truth-
That it is Rigveda mantra 7/59/12 (quoted above) and also Yajurveda mantra 3/60. So the study of Vedas and above quoted mantras reveals –“TRIYAMBAKAM YAJAMAHE” i.e., we must perform Yajyen with Ved mantras ourselves and do hard pious deeds i.e., listening of Vedas , performing of Yajyen and practice of Ashtang Yoga Philosophy daily to fulfil the prayer mentioned in above mantras i.e., Oh! God may I be liberated from death and get divine pleasure of final liberation. The hard, pious deed must be carried out while discharging all our moral duties as mentioned in Yajurveda mantra 40/2.
So, Mahamrityunjaye Jaap in reality is Yajurveda mantra 3/60 in which we pray to God to keep us away from the death and give us salvation. When we offer aahuti of this mantra in hawan/yajyen then our pray is listened by God. However, mere prayer will do nothing until we act/do hard, pious Vedic deeds to get the result.
Kirti: How can I cleanse myself of Sanchit karmas?
Swami Ram Swarup: In this regard I paste one of my answers.
Yeh zaroori nahin hai ki hamari har ichcha poornna ho. Aaj koi gareeb ichcha kar Le ki mein Raja ban jayoon, to yeh sambhav hahin hoga. Jo kuch hona hota hai, weh sirf apney kiye hue karmon ka phal hota hai. Han, achchi kaamnayein Parmatma Yajyen karne se poorna karta hai, aisa satya vedon mein kaha hai. Isliye pratyek nar-mari ko nitya ved-mantron se hawan-Yajyen karna chahiye. Spirituality mein ichchahon ka naash karne ke liye vedon ko sunana, vidwanon se sampark, nitya hawan-yajyen jkrna, naam simran evam yogabhyas seekh kar yobhyas karna kaha hai. Jo bhi aise karega , uske karmon ke phal ka bhi naash jo jayega. Yani karma phal nahin bhogne padeingein aur buri ichchayein shaant ho jayeingi.
I also paste my article in this regard.
Three types of Deeds
There are three types of deeds (karmas) – sanchit, prarabhadh and kriyamann. Suppose one soul has to take birth (body). It means he has to face total number of deeds of his all previous lives and these deeds are called sanchit karmas but sanchit deeds are huge/unlimited and cannot be faced in one life. So the karmas which can be faced in one life are called prarabhadh (luck-destiny). So God has not made our luck at His own but Almighty God has taken the deeds which we have already done.
Yajurveda mantra 7/48 clarifies that human being is free to do any deed good or bad but God only awards the result. Now the balance deeds from sanchit deeds will be counted in the next life. Now the deeds which we do in our day today present life are called kriyamann.
If we do pious deeds according to Vedas, shastras and holy books and based on pious preaches of Rishi, Muni/learned saints then our all sanchit deeds are burnt and we can get salvation. Human beings are free in the matter of doing deeds good or bad. But result will be awarded by God. So we must worship and do pious deeds under guidance of a learned Guru. One should go always ahead for hard working, pious deeds, worship to make future bright himself. One should always work hard towards a right path.
Worship does not mean that we are free to discharge only our family duties, education, etc., but rather it is a sin. We have to get progress in both way at a time i.e., spiritualism and worldly progress i.e., science, education, duties towards family etc. God creates the universe according to His eternal law framed in Vedas which are always unchangeable and unchallengeable. So we have to follow the law of God always to get long happy life.
