Dhanvantari S Eng
Dhanvantari S Eng
Dhanvantari S Eng
Introduction
Lord Dhanvantari is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who stands for good health and well-being. He is also the god of
Ayurveda. His homa can be done every day or every Sunday (or weekend) or on every Krishna Trayodasi tithi.
Preparation
Find some ghee (clarified butter). If not available, use sesame oil or some other oil. Find a copper/silver/steel
cup/tumbler/vessel to keep melted ghee. Find a copper/silver/steel spoon for offering ghee.
Find another tumbler and spoon for water. Keep a matchbox and camphor (if available) ready.
If possible, get some dry coconut (copra) halves at a nearby store and make small pieces (roughly 1 inch x 1 inch). If not,
collect some fallen dry twigs from nearby trees (or other firewood). If you have dried cowdung pieces, you can use those
too.
If you have black/brown/white sesame seeds and any unsalted plain nuts (e.g. cashews, almonds etc), you can use them
too.
Some Precautions
Do NOT consume meat or alcohol or drugs on the previous day. Sleep well and get up early on the day of homa. Take
bath and wear clean clothes that you feel comfortable in (no need for traditional clothes if they make you uncomfortable,
as being in a calm state of mind is more important than externalities).
If possible, it is ideal to do homa in an open space outdoors. When doing in a closed room, one should have enough
ventilation to avoid accumulation of smoke in the room, resulting in smoke inhalation. One should also take precautions
and avoid fire hazards like inflammable substances near the homa.
Sit down facing east and place the homa kunda in front of you. Think of Mother Earth with gratutude for bearing your
weight. Clean your palm, pour some water in your palm 3 times and drink it after saying the following:
Light a lamp and think of fire in it with gratitude. While saying any mantra you like (or just om), breath in and out calmly
while focusing the mind on your breath. You can either fo alternate nostril breathing or normal breathing. Stop when your
mind is calm.
Place some water in your right palm. If you are not comfortable with Sanskrit, say this:
For the establishment of Dharma on earth and for the well-being and peace of all people, I shall do a Dhanvantari Homa
within my abilities.
After saying it, drop the water in front of you, over the tips of fingers.
Place a couple of copra pieces (or twigs) in homa kunda and light them with a matchstick (use a camphor for ease if you
have), while saying the following and imagining that Holy Fire will cooperate in this ritual:
om bhürbhuvassuvarom
Offer drops of ghee in fire 8 times while saying this and imagining that fire is becoming holy and stronger:
om bhūrbhuvassuvaḥ svāhā
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering your consciousness to Prajapati, via
Holy Fire:
om prajäpataye svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering your faculty of inspired perception to
Indra, via Holy Fire:
om indräya svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering your faculty of logical and structured
thinking to Agni, via Holy Fire:
om agnaye svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering your faculty of feeling and intuition to
Soma, via Holy Fire:
om somäya svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering your awareness of physical, mental and
spiritual realms to Prajapati, via Holy Fire:
om bhürbhuvassuvaù svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering your ability to plan and avoid obstacles
to Ganesha, via Holy Fire:
om gaà gaëapataye namaù svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering your ability to persist and overcome
problems to Varuna, via Holy Fire:
om vaà varuëäya namaù svähä
Saying this, imagine that lord Dhanvantari has entered Holy Fire and accepting your offerings.
Say this and offer a flower or dried flower powder (or a drop of ghee in its absence):
om haṁ ākāśātmane namaḥ
Say this, light an incense stick and place it near the homa kunda (or offer a drop of ghee in its absence):
om yaṁ vāyvātmane namaḥ
Say this and show the lamp to the homa kunda (or offer a drop of ghee in its absence):
om raṁ agnyātmane namaḥ
Say this and offer a raisin or piece of a fruit or some unused cooked food in fire (or a drop of ghee in its absence):
om vaṁ jalātmane namaḥ
You can do this as many times as you can. You can do one mantra for sometime and the other for some more stime. You
can also use any other mantras you are attached to.
Don't rush. Imagine that lord is in fire, accepting your offerings and mantra. Imagine that his blessings are coming to you.
Try to develop that feeling and enjoy it.
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering your physical experiences to Agni, via
Holy Fire:
om bhüù agnaye svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering your mental experiences to Vayu, via
Holy Fire:
om bhuvaù väyave svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering your spiritual experiences to Surya, via
Holy Fire:
om suvaù süryäya svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering everything physical, mental and
spiritual that is being created inside you, to Prajapati, via Holy Fire:
om bhürbhuvassuvaù svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering everything physical, mental and
spiritual that is being sustained inside you, to Vishnu, via Holy Fire:
om viñëave svähä
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are surrendering everything physical, mental and
spiritual that is being destroyed inside you, to Rudra, via Holy Fire:
om rudräya svähä
Take 6 raisins or 6 pieces of a fruit (no more fruit should be left outside of those pieces) or 6 fruits. Offer them to those
ethereal associates of the deity, who cannot accept via Holy Fire and who like to consume food via sense of smell. You
can throw away that food later in woods or trash or feed it to animals or birds.
om pārṣadebhyo namaḥ
Say this and offer a big copra piece or a nut or a twig or a big drop of ghee in fire while imagining that you are
surrendering your sense of being to Lord Dhanvantari:
om dhaṁ dhanvantaraye namaḥ svāhā
Say this and offer a drop of ghee in fire while imagining that Holy Fire with seven tongues is pleased:
om agnaye saptavate svähä
Meditation
Now, meditate as long as you can, with the following mantra (or any other mantra you like).
om dhaṁ dhanvantaraye namaḥ
At the end, say this while imagining that peace descends on you and others:
om çäntiù çäntiù çäntiù