Sri Rudram 41 day program – part 2

Sri Rudram is a powerful Vedic hymn dedicated to Lord Shiva, extolling him as omnipresent in every aspect of nature, beings, movable and immovables etc. Through chanting these divine verses, we request Lord Shiva to turn down his fierce exterior and show us his benevolent form. In the Chamakam, we place all the requests, both material and spiritual, before the compassionate Lord Shiva. Rudram Namakam and Chamakam remind one of Mohanji’s quotes in which Lord Shiva is described as embodying both the microcosm and the macrocosm.

With Mohanji‘s abundant blessings, the 51-day Sri Rudram online sessions conducted by the Himalayan School of Traditional Languages culminated successfully on the 25th of June 2021. This program entailed ten days of learning to chant the Rudram with the right pronunciations and intonations, followed by 41 days of daily practice and chanting in the online sessions.

Mohanji blessed the group for the efforts and insisted that these sessions should be done frequently and consistently. This was Mohanji’s loving message to us all.

“I congratulate all of you for completing the 41-day Rudram chanting effectively, and I congratulate all the people who organized it and conducted it. This is a very powerful thing. At this point in time, when immunity is extremely important, these chants will accent and empower the structure of our constitution. I wish all of you to continue this as best as you can and as long as you can. This will help you to stabilize, strengthen and align yourself. I wish you great success in life, and as always, we are one family; we are together. We will always walk together.

Lots of love – Mohanji

We had several participants from different time zones and in different time slots created to facilitate global chanting. We share some of the heartfelt insights from the participants during the wrap up on the last day of chanting.

Sathya Shivakumar, India

During my children’s summer vacations in May this year; I was contemplating enrolling my son on Sri Rudram classes. He had learnt under professional guidance for almost a year after his Upanayanam and was reciting flawlessly but lost touch as he wasn’t able to chant regularly over the last few years. I thought that summer would be the ideal time when he could dedicate some time to revise what he had already learnt.

A few weeks prior, I was asked to work alongside Revathy, and in my mind, I was visualizing Sri Rudram workshop where like-minded Acharyas and others can learn under professional guidance under the aegis of the Himalayan School of Traditional Languages (HSTL).

Imagine my surprise and delight when Revathy called and said to me, “Sathya, we have to organize Rudram chanting”. My mind raced, “Wow, Can Mohanji hear everything? This is impossible. It appears he does not want us to sit on a bright intention and procrastinate.”

I was really excited. I shared my thoughts on arranging someone well versed in Sri Rudram to conduct the sessions. Revathy voiced her concerns. She told us that Mohanji had mentioned that we have to start this with available resources and not postpone. Mohanji emphasized that, “Sri Rudram purifies the chanter and the environment!”

We had a few planning meetings, and it was decided that we would have three sessions to accommodate the various time zones. I was pleasantly surprised when I was asked to lead the chanting during one of the time slots.

I prepared my notes on the meaning of the stanzas of Rudram and also Mohanji’s quotes on Lord Shiva that beautifully describe Lord Shiva as the all-encompassing one. It was suggested that my son could put his Rudram training to use and teach those joining the 3:30 pm IST time slot. Wow! Here I was thinking of having him revise and recollect his training, and now he was being suggested as the trainer! From trainee to a trainer, what a leap! I took it up without hesitation because I felt Mohanji was empowering.

With the participants in the session being much senior to him by age, my son had to put in the effort and intensity to go from being a laid back student to the lead chanter of each session. It was the most unanticipated and yet most practical way of revising what one has learnt. When we teach others, it is indeed a different learning experience. 

What we already know gets reinforced, and some unlearning takes place at the same time. We also develop patience and humility. I saw all this happening with my son. Each Rudram session was powerful. I would say that it is the sheer grace of Mohanji and the immense cooperation of all the participants that the entire 51 days went off without incident.

We thank Mohanji for giving us this golden opportunity of putting things together and bringing people together. He is giving us a platform where we are being empowered. We have to work on that and progress more and more. He is giving us this space to become lead chanters. We have to put in sustained effort in the future too.

Chitra AS, India

I had aspired to learn Sri Rudram for a long time. I had seen my brothers learning and chanting. I had known a person explaining Rudram but found it very difficult to follow.

I wrote to the group in Palakkad but did not get any favourable response. I was really eager to learn and wanted to know if any online course was available during the pandemic times. I mentally submitted a prayer duringaarati to Mohanji and pretty soon I saw the HSTL flyeron Facebook.

Thanks to Mohanji for making this possible. I had a thought whether the style would be Yajur Veda or Sama Veda. Now I feel that more than the style, the pronunciation is very important. Initially, I was in the morning batch and the time was not convenient. Later I joined the afternoon slot. I thank Revathy, Sathya, Skanda and all the group members for arranging this session.

Anoop Das, USA

I had learnt the Sri Rudram about thirty five years ago. I have been thinking about resuming again and even bought a book. It has been with me for five years. A month back, I discussed this with my friends Sangeet and Sowmya. Within ten days, I received a WhatsApp message from them about this event. Even though I am not directly part of the Mohanji group, I came to know through them. I am fortunate to be a part of this group. Even with the cross country trip I am on, I was particular about doing the last few sessions. It is 5 am here. Thank you to Skanda and Bhavan for the teaching. It was great relearning and doing some unlearning as well.

I have never learnt the Chamakam part and this was an opportunity to learn that as well. Thanks to Skanda. I had learnt it from my Grandfather and a lot of nostalgic moments were coming back. Sathya’s brief of each anuvaka was really useful. We know some Sanskrit words and can guess the meaning, but the significance of each anuvaka added to the learning. It added to the learning experience. The meaning part and summary was a great learning for me. Even though it was online, it was really effective. It is good to see youngsters doing the chanting and teaching. That is a great blessing.

Sreeja Mohan

I saw the poster and thought an older person would teach us Rudram. Then I saw Skanda, a young teenager, chanting so fast and was pleasantly surprised. I called and told my friend “The boy who is teaching is about my son’s age! I thought it was going to be an old professor”. Taking turns and chanting the stanzas helped. Bhavan’s style, during the morning sessions, was totally different. Slowly, Anuvaka by anuvaka, I took it up and practised. I am really grateful that Lord Shiva and Mohanji blessed us and gave us this beautiful opportunity. 

Sangeeth and Sowmya, USA

I once attended an Ekadasha Rudram program where the Sri Rudram is chanted 11 times, along with other Vedic hymns. I was a part of it during the prayers, the reverberations in the room and the energy was beautiful and unique. I never had an opportunity like that again.

Maybe I wished also but did not share that with Sowmya. When this opportunity came up I was really happy. The group energy, commitment, and everyone’s effort was inspiring. There was personal development also.Thanks to Skanda, Revathy and Sathya. and thanks to Mohanji for giving us this wonderful experience where we learnt much more than the Mantra.

|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI ||

Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 29th July 2021

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