Vaikhanasa Agama ( Kumbha Dhyana Vidhanam)

In this post let us see the process of meditation on Vishnu to install His power in the sacred pot or Kumbha. The process is very generic in nature and constitutes of meditating upon the Lord with great concentration. There might be different variations of the same procedure but I will talk about the one mentioned by Sage Atri in his work Samurtarchanadhikarana.
The priest after purifying himself should wear 12 urdhwa pundras as mentioned by Kasyapa and should wear clean white clothes, apply sandalwood etc. He should sit facing the east or north and keep clean water from rivers ready for "Kumbha Pooja". The sacred pot should be made out of gold/silver/copper/mud. It should be of size of equal to 32 "prastha" and in the shape of "ripe bimba" fruit. It should be cleaned properly and then threads should be wound around the Kumbha, while appropriate mantras are recited. The pot should be filled with water from sacred rivers while reciting mantras and should be purified using kusa grass and gems, akshatas, flowers, fragrances should be put in the water. The pot should be decorated using a new cloth with sandalwood etc and kusa grass . The following seven ingredients are the most important ones and they signify the following:
1.Water - Meda
2.Gems - Asthi
3.Threads - Sira or veins
4.Coconut on top - Head
5.Red mud - Sonitam
6.Cloth - Skin
7.Fragrant dust - Flesh.

The above seven dhatus are very important and even if one is missing the Lord's presence is impossible. The kumbha should be placed on a heap of paddy in front of the Lord. Acharya should then recite the pranava in his heart and should also recite the atma and purusha suktas. He should meditate on the region of Varuna in the form of half moon in the water in Kumbha. After this he acharya should start reciting "Sahasra Sirsam" and start the process of meditation on the Lord as learnt from his acharya. He should become peaceful in mind and should sit in swastika asana. He should concentrate his vision on the top of the nose and should pranayama as much as he can do. Pranayama is of three types known as rechaka, puraka and kumbhaka. These are synonymous with exhalation,inhalation and holding of the breath. Pranayama should be done by the acarya so that he can bring his senses under control. Wherever the mind goes it should be brought back under control with effort.
Once the mind is controlled thus, the Supreme Lord who resides in the form a flame in the heart should be meditated upon. The Sruti speaks of Him as the eternal and the supreme soul. In meditation He is perceived as a thunderbolt in the sky. He is an embodiment of all jnana and doesnt have decay. He is of the form of Pranava and causes prosperity. Though He doesnt have a body, He fills the whole universe with His power. The supreme Lord who stays in all creatures can only be perceived with the light of Jnana. He is smaller than an atom but still bigger than the Universe. He is both Sat and Asat and cannot be perceived by senses. But still He can be understood through the path of devotion. The Lord is the source of all Vedas. Lord Vishnu is the target of all yagnas. Lord Hari is the truth enunciated in all dharmas. He is beginingless, master of all and support for all. The whole universe is created by Him and is filled with Him. Thus after controlling all the senses, the Lord Vishnu should be meditated with happiness.
The Lord should then be meditated as one in golden colour, with red eyes, with Yagnopaveetha and decorated with different ornaments and a shining crown. His chest shines with splendour of gem Kaustubha and a white patch of hair on His chest( known as Srivatsa) should be perceived. In His upper four hands He wears Sankha and Chakra. In His lower two hands He displays Abhaya/Varada and Kati mudras. The guru should thus carefully install the power of the Lord in the sacred pot through the above meditation.
"The Lord who resides in Nara(water) is known as Narayana. The Lord who fills the whole Viswa(universe) should be known as Vishnu. The Lord who enters all jivas/vastus is known as Vasudeva. " The Lord should be meditated upon thus with concentration. In His micro form He enters all jivas and in His macro form He resides with mother Lakshmi in Vaikuntha.
This is the way of Advaita Puja as told by the great sage Vikhanasa. The argument that the Lord's power need not be installed as He is all pervading. We need to make fire from firewood though fire is internally there in the firewood. The Lord can only be installed with devotion and concentrated meditation. The Lord can be meditated in the heart or in the image or in the water or in the disc of Sun and can be worshipped. It is important to invite Him with mantras and dhyana. The divine mother also should be similarly invited into the Kumbha and should be worshipped. The kumbha can then be taken into the main sanctum and the power can be transferred to the image of the Lord. Thus ends the process of Kumbha dhyanam.

Vaikhanasa agama( Different beras)

The info provided in this post can be found at many places on the net. Still let me just write about it for the sake of continuity. There are five kinds of murtis used in the worship of Lord in a Vishnu temple.
1) Dhruva bera - The immovable image or the main image.
2)Kautuka bera - The image used for all archana related activities. Considered on par with dhruva image in power. Made up of precious metals. (The same image is known as Bhoga srinivasa in tirumala temple)
3) Utsava bera - The procession deity. (In tirumala the same image is known as Malayappa swami)
4)Snapana Bera - The bathing deity. (In tirumala the same image is known as ugra srinivasa murti)
5)Bali bera - Used for all offering havis etc to the Lord. ( Also known as koluvu srinivasa murti in tirumala temple). The order from dhruva to bali beras is an important one and has significance in temple rituals. Though it is desirable to have all the five beras at least dhruva and kautuka beras are compulsory.
narayana smaranam.

Vaikhanasa Agama ( Ankurarpanam or Beejavapanam)

Ankurarpanam or beejavapanam is one of the most important rituals of the Vaikhanasa Agama. One can see ankurarpanam being done in almost all the festivals that are part of the worship of the Lord. Ankuararpanam essentially means "sowing the seed". The essence of this ritual is to make a sankalpa to celebrate a utsavam( festival) and get the grace of the Lord. Sastras prescribe doing ankurarpana 9 days before the festival. If this is not possible at least 7,5,3 days before the main festival ankurarpana should be done. In Tirumala and other temples we see this being done 9 days before the brahmotsavam or in other words 1 day before the 1st day of brahmotsavam. The agamas say that any festival that is celebrated without amkurarpana in a temple is of a demonic nature and hence is not desirable( "Ankurarpana hinam yatkarma ca asuramiritam" from Samurtarchanadhikarana ) . (Remember one of the previous posts in which a prayaschitta was mentioned for celebrating festivals without ankurarpana).
Another important thing to note is that ankurarpana should never be done in the day time. This dictum has its basis in astrological principles. As chandra is the "sasya karaka" the controller of plants, sowing a seed in the day time is not considered wise. In fact chandra is considered strong in the night. Also an auspicious lagna or muhurta should be used for this purpose as any activity that is started in an auspicious time "will" be a success. Many people find it confusing that one has to see an auspicious time for celebrating a festival for the Lord. The reason is that the Supreme Lord, who is sat-chit-ananda swarupa does not benefit from a festival. It is only for our own good that we worship Lord and hence the festival is essentially an activity meant for our spiritual progress. Agamas also mention that the sprouts that emanate from the seeds provide useful hints about how perfectly the festival was celebrated. For example, if the sprouts are black in colour they denote loss of wealth, red colour shows possibility of enmity with others, sprouts growing down shows diseases and no sprouts indicate death. These results are to be predicted for the Yajamani. Similarly, white and well developed ankuras, straight or yellow ankuras show prosperity for the Yajamani. It is not surprising that the signs about the sprouts have an astrological significance.( May be it is not an accident). An yellow or white sprout shows jupiterean or venusian effects which are beneficial. A black sprout might show a saturnian effect which can lead to poverty. Similarly a red sprout is clearly indicating martian effect which might lead to wars, fights etc which is the very nature of Mars.
One needs to make vessels known as "palikas" either using gold or silver or copper or using mud for performing ankurarpanam. These vessels should be either 16/12/8 in number. The details of exact size, shape for palikas should be taken from any standard vaikhanasa agama text. Samurtarchana adhikarana by Atri has these details in chapter 26. Earlier in the afternoon the seeds should be soaked in a new vessel in water. In the northern side of the temple cow dung should be used to decorate the place. Also rice powder should be used to decorate the place. After that the brahma peetam should be formed as prescribed in the texts using rice etc and different deities like Brahma, Garuda, Sesha, Sudarsana, Vakratunda, Soma, Santa, Indra, Isana and Jaya etc should be invited and worshipped through fire. It is advisible to worship all the deities mentioned above otherwise at least brahma, sesha etc should be worshipped as mentioned in scriptures. The palikas should be filled with mud while worshipping the Goddess earth and the seeds and water should be poured while worshipping Moon. The managala vadya should accompany the sowing of seeds. The palikas should be decorated by wrapping a new cloth around them and punyaham should be done. The seeds should be sown by the acharya or the yajamani in the same order. "Somam raja" mantra and Vishnu sukta should be used for sowing the seeds and varuna mantra should be used to sprinkle water. The seeds should not be sown by prohibited people as mentioned in the sastras(See Atri samhita) . Water and deepa should be offered everyday and the seeds should be protected very carefully. This is very important.(This also signifies keeping the mind alert and always be attentive and concentrated until the completion of the festival without any obstacles)
Thats all we have about ankurarpanam and let us do the ritual with utmost devotion whenever necessary and receive the grace of the Lord.
narayana smaranam.