Author: Harsh Mendiratta

Immediately after the Achman and Anga Sparsh mantras in the Vedic Agnihotra procedure (Hawan) are a set of eight mantras, called Ishwar Stuti Prarthana Upasana Mantras. This month, we will focus on the first two mantras. The first mantra is Om Vishwani Dev, which can also be termed as a vice-cleansing mantra – a mantra with very powerful meaning and […]

Hawan this month will be celebrated as the Parents Day It is very likely that majority of us remember a time when we thought our parents were the superhero, invincible, and the best human beings on earth. We wouldn’t hesitate to brag about them in front of our friends. But, it was a long time ago – probably a whole […]

Rituals are the actions that convey specific meaning without explicitly stating them. While they are not uttered, the meaning must be clear in the minds of the doers; otherwise, the ritual would become meaningless. Think about the ritual of namaste, which a person carries out by pressing both palms against each other, thumbs closes to heart, and head slightly bowed. […]

Dear Kids, This month’s assignment is to review the lessons learnt so far this year. Here is what we have covered: Asato Ma Sad Gamaya (April, 2019) https://hawan.net/?p=843 Mrityunjaya Mantra मृत्युंजय मंत्र (March, 2019) https://hawan.net/?p=837 Gayatri Mantra – गायत्री मन्त्र (February, 2019) https://hawan.net/?p=820 God – ईश्वर (January, 2019) https://hawan.net/?p=822 If you have missed any of the assignments this year, please […]

Our rishi-munis were masters of concision. Whether it is the Vedas, Upanishads, Darshan, or any scripture, it is amazing how they packed vast information and limitless wisdom in the fewest of the words. A reflective reader of the scriptures would attest to the fact that often life-long lessons and philosophies are packed even in a single Vedic sutra. Unfortunately though, […]

The topic for this month’s kids assignment is Mrityunjaya Mantra मृत्युंजय मंत्र, which literally means victory over death. (Jaya means victory; Mrityu means death). It comes in the Rigveda (RV 7.59.12).   On this earth, is there any living being who doesn’t want to evade death? Probably no one. Not just healthy, happy, and prosperous, but sick, miserable and poor […]

One of the most potent prayers of all-time is captured in the Vedas in the form of the Gayatri Mantra. Unlike several other mantras that fulfill specific material needs, the Gayatri Mantra bestows its worshipers with sharp intellect and righteous wisdom, enabling them to fulfill any and every worthy goal on their own. The Gayatri Mantra is also termed as […]

There may be variance in opinions on when Vedas were written but there is a near complete agreement that Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts, if not the only oldest text. Some even term it as the fountainhead of all known and future philosophies. The word Ved means knowledge. Majority of the Indian scriptures find their roots in Vedas. […]

Namaste Kids, For the last two years, the theme of your assignments has been to identify and remove vices from life. Every year, as part of the December assignment, we review our year long learning. This year, however, we will revise our learnings from the last two years. The purpose is twofold: one, without the revision (पुनरावृति), the learned topic […]

As stated at the last hawan, the article for this month is lessons from the life of Lord Krishna. There is so much to learn from Krishna’s that I wouldn’t dare list his qualities for the fear for missing them even if try to capture a long list.   Following the pattern we have employed for analyzing our scriptures and […]