DEIVA PRASNAM

6.What is the purpose of resorting to deva prasanna ?Discuss how you will conduct Ashtamangala prasnam

Deiva prassnam is conducted when there are difficulties in the day to day functioning of the temple and when corrupt practices are noticed in the administration of the temple. When the place and temple `vigraham get contaminated.

There are several variations of `deiva prasnam , the most important is Ashtamangala deiva prasnam.

Eight auspicious items are kept for the Astamangala deiva prasnam.

They are - Kumkumam, Mirror, Gold, flowers, Akshatha, fruits, betel leaves, and white cloth,

It is done primarily to know the `Divine opinion, regarding the functioning of the temple.  If a `bimbam is obtained , to know to which God  it belongs -

1.If in lagnam Suryan is there or Sury is seeing the lagnam or Lagnam is placed in simham then the idol belongs ti Lord Shiva.

2. If the lagnam is in katakam or if Moon is in kendram or moon aspects the lagnam which is katakam the bimbam will belong to Lord Durga.

3.If the lagnam is in Mesham or virchikam or aspected by Mars then it can be Lord Subrmaniyan

4.Same way if it is Sani then it may be Sastha and if it is Budhan it may be Lord Vishnu.

5. If it is Guru it can be assumed all the Gods are affected.

6. If the Lagnam is Rishabam or Thulam , Annapoorneshwari and Goddess Lakshmi may be affected.

In Deiva prasnam the twelve bhavas refer to  God, Wealth,.Servants. The idol,  Enemies,  Ornaments,  Naivedyam, The temple officials,festivals,income & expenses.

1. In 3rd house or 8th house if malefic planets are there then it indicates the Naivedyam done is without purity. If Sani is there in those houses then proper naivedhyam is not made.
2.  2. If in those places Rahu, ketu or Gulikan is there then a dead animal or insect has been mixed in the Naivedyam.. If in 9th malefic is there , something bad can happen to the person who is administrating the temple., if malefic is there in 7th than ornaments of the God would have been stolen.
3. If malefic in 10th than the festivals have not taken place properly. If in 4th malefic is there and if it happens to be water rasi than cattle may die by falling into the water.
   
   
   Pariharma -
   For all doshas Bhagavath seva, Ganapathi homam, Bhagya sukta japam and milk abhisehkam are done.

Procedure for doing Astamangala prasnam

Sit facing east. Sit on a neat place. Place a plank of wood to the north . Take 108 cowries and place them on the plank.

Sprinkle them with holy waters and cover them with sandal paste, flowers, etc Then worship Siva in them .

Then do the navagraha puja invoking the Sun in the east, Mars in the south-east, Jupiter in the south, Mercury in the south-west, Venus in the west, Saturn in the north-west, Moon in the north and Rahu in the north-east, and repeat the Mantra 108 times.

Repeat Panchakshari and other mantras derived from Guru and invoke the Guru and the nine planets.

SANKALPA

May it occur to me through your grace to find out the real truth, good and bad, regarding the person born in such and such a nakshatra and bearing such and such a name, and happenings about him in the past, present and the future in respect of money, children and house affairs.

ASHTAMANGALAM

Then call the girl or boy not conversant with astrology who has just bathed and is well-dressed. He or she should worship the lamp, Ganesha and the planets with flowers. The astrologer should then place the gold piece along with flowers, etc., in the right hand. He or she should then go round the Chakra and then stand near it facing the east, in the meanwhile the questioner should be meditating on God. Then the astrologer reflecting on the problem of the querist should touch the cowries repeating the mantras thrice and at the end ask the boy or girl to place the gold piece in any one of the signs.

DETERMINING THE ARUDHA RASI

Then the astrologer should divide the cowries which he has before him into three groups, placing one on the left hand side, another in front of him and the last one on his right hand side. The omens also should be taken into consideration. Note this time also. The nature of the breath too is to be noted. Then one may be asked to go out and measure the Sun's shadow. That Rasi where the gold piece is deposited by the boy or girl is known as the Arudha Rasi. The astrologer should carefully observe the lay of the gold piece amidst the flowers in the Chakra and point out some effects from its position.

Stanzas 54 and 55, — After finishing the worship, the astrologer should give the predictions.

He should solemnly take the cowries kept in three places one after another. Count each separately and expunge all multiples of 8 and keep the remainder. This forms the third digit, second digit and the unit (respectively) of a number he is making.

NOTES

The remainder in the left hand is ' hundred', in front ten and on the right hand side one unit. Thus a number containing three digits is obtained. This number is technically termed the Ashtamangala Number. Some more details on the results that can be gleaned from the lay of the gold' coin are dealt with in stanzas 32 to 36 of Chapter VIII.

THINGS TO BE NOTED

Stanzas 56 and 57. — Note carefully the Arudha, the lay of the gold piece, the shadow of the Sun measured in feet, ashtamangala number, deepa lakshana and other lakshanas perceived at the time. The nature and number of the betel leaves, year, month, date, week-day, the name of the questioner, his house name, his nakshatra and sankalpa (object of the Prasna) must also be noted.

CONCLUSION

Stanzas 38 and 59. — Draw a chakra and scatter coloured rice over it. Perform the puj'a with devotion. Worship the cowries for ashta-mangala. See that a piece of gold is asked to be deposited in one of the squares of the chakra and find out the ashtamangala number. For puja purposes, white flowers (especially tumbe) alone should be used.

NOTES

In these stanzas, the author recapitulates what he has. already treated of in this chapter.

1.