The Science of Tiru-Tambittu Deepa (Sacred Rice-Mound Lamp)

The Science of Tiru-Tambittu Deepa (Sacred Rice-Mound Lamp)
Category	द्रव्य-गुण-संयोग विभाग / Culinary, Nutritional and Pharmacological Sciences
Author	padmashrimohan
Publication	Bhāratīya Jñāna Saritā
Location	India
Date	Fri Sep 25 2015

[

This is a translation of a Kannada

article penned by Sri Sri Rangapriya Swami. It succinctly captures the

endearing and engaging conversation on the above topic he had with Mahaaguru in

Hedathale, sometime in the mid nineteen fifties. The Kannada article is not

only a refined and edited version of the notes made by him at that time, but

also includes additional descriptions by him that he could recall. In this

article an abbreviated format of “Sri V” is used to denote Swamiji based on his

earlier name Sri H.S. Varadadesikacharya. He begins by giving an introduction to the tradition of Tiru-Tambittu Deepa.]

English Rendering by Padmashree Mohan

Tiru-Tambittu Deepa

(‘Purattaasi Maavu Vilakku’

in Tamil) is a special vrata (a

religious practice) observed on Saturdays in the months of Shraavana or Bhaadrapada

(August-September as per the English calendar). 

Tiru-Tambittu Deepa

On

these days, young boys after completing their prescribed daily rituals of bath

and Sandhya-vandana, proceed from

one home to another home of sages and elders singing out aloud "Sri

Venkateshaaya Mangalam," or "Sri Nrsimhaaya Mangalam," or "Malai Kuninju Ninra Perumal to

seek bhiksha (alms) of rice. ' (The latter expression refers to Lord

Srinivasa who stands, gently bent forward with compassion, atop the Tirumala

hills to receive eagerly his tired devotees.) This alms-seeking is a spiritual

practice and very different from begging for food.  This bhiksha

is called upaadaana and it refers to

collecting offerings to God given devoutly by the masters of the

household. 

The

hallowed alms thus collected is made into an edible offering to be offered to the

Lord during worship and then to be given to Bhaagavatas

(the devotees of God.)  Normally it is

made into cooked rice, offered to God and then distributed among devotees. On

the above-mentioned Saturdays, there is another recommended method for the use

of this bhiksha. The rice is soaked

in water and the wet rice grains are pounded to a fine powder in a mortar.

Coconut and jaggery are also pounded to a paste and mixed with the moist rice

flour.  The mixture is then pounded again

to be made into dough.  (Alternatively,

the rice collected from alms may be ground into dry flour and then mixed with

coconut and jaggery to form dough. 

However, the first method is considered superior.)  The moist dough is then placed in a plate,

and shaped into two balls with deep hollows in the center.  Ghee is then poured into these hollows.  The plate is then placed before God.  Two cotton wicks are placed in the ghee

contained in the mound exclusively on the right side, and the lamp is lit as

part of worship.  This Rice-Mound Lamp (Tiru-Tambittu Deepa) is left

undisturbed till the light consumes all the clarified butter. When the light

gently dies out, they devoutly utter (in Tamil) "Perumaal Malai Eerinaan," which means the Lord has

ascended the top of the hill. After this, the wicks are discarded and the rice

dough (soaked with the percolated clarified butter) from both the mounds are

combined and kneaded together and then rolled into many smaller balls to be

distributed among all as Prasaada

(the offering to God to be partaken by the devotees) and the remaining is consumed

by the one observing the Vrata.  This particular Prasaada is called "Tambittu"

or more appropriately (in Tamil)

"Tiru-Vilakku

Maavu" - the wet rice-flour-based dough of the divine lamp. Even if

one has not ventured out to collect upaadaana

(alms) they may prepare the Tambittu out

of rice from their own homes and offer it to God and then distribute it among

all as Prasaadam.  Some make a vow to perform the Tambittu Vrata towards the fulfillment

of specific wishes. Others do so without being desirous of any particular

material end in mind.

{Similarly

on one Saturday in the month of Bhaadrapada

Sri V after having performed the Vrata proceeded

with

Tiru-Vilakku

Maavu Prasaadam

to offer it to Mahaaguru

(His Spiritual Master and Elder Relative) at about 3-30pm in the afternoon.

Most elders would have accepted the offering routinely as part of the practice

of the vrata without any

deliberations.  But Mahaaguru did not do

so. He usually used such occasions to educate and enlighten his disciples and

others regarding the inner and external scientific basis of traditions

instituted by jnaanis (enlightened

ones) and rishis thereby removing the

veil of ignorance in their minds.  In

this instance too, Sriranga Mahaaguru blessed Sri V with several educative

insights. For this he himself initiated the conversation first by asking

questions and using them as a means for further explanations}.

Initially,

Sri V entered the house of Sriranga Mahaaguru with the Tambittu offering in a plate. 

He placed the plate on a raised platform near a pillar and prostrated to

Mahaaguru.  He bent and did abhivadanam (an introductory Sanskrit

verse elucidating one’s lineage and line of vedic study), picked up the plate

again and held it before the Mahaaguru. 

Instead of simply taking the offering, he started asking some questions.

Sri

Guru: What is that?

Sri V: Tiru-Vilakku Maavu, Maama. (In Tamil, Maama is a respectful appellation for

elders). 

Sri

Guru:  Why should I take this?

Sri V:

I do not know.  But you must accept this

and bless me.

Sri

Guru: If you will tell me why I should accept this, I will take it from you.

Sri

V did not know the answer to the Mahaaguru’s question.  He only remembered someone saying that the tambittu prasadam had to be distributed

among all because it is the

prasaada of

jnaana. However he knew that it was an incomplete explanation.  He was desirous of knowing the correct

answer to the question from the Master exponent Mahaaguru. So he said what he

had heard and awaited further elucidation from the Master himself.

Sri V:

Besides being sweet, this is jnaana-prasaada.  Hence I have heard that it must be shared

with all.

Sri

Guru: How does this become jnaana-prasaada?  Jnaana is realized within oneself. Have

you not heard that Bhagavad Geetha expounds that jnaana is to be realized by one within oneself at an appropriate

stage and time of Yoga saadhana (the

practice of yoga)?

Sri V:

I have heard that.

Sri

Guru:  How can this external sweet

preparation become that jnaana

experienced within?  Moreover, is jnaana-prasaada something present

inside?  When the mind is calm - without

turbulence– that state is called manah-prasaada.

How can this externally constituted and material-based offering which you make

become such a prasaada?

Sri

V:  I do not know, Mama…In just the same

way that the offering to God of sugar, coconut, flowers and fruits in a temple

become prasaada, I suppose. 

Sri

Guru: The question that I asked earlier applies to these too.

Sri V:

I do not know the answer.  You only

should tell. 

Sri

Guru: (Goes into dhyaana for a little

while and with a tranquil mind, answers in the following words). Jnaana-prasaada is certainly an inner experience.  It is the transcendent consciousness which

confers internal bliss and is beyond the senses, mind and intellect. However,

the mind, the eyes and the hands of a jnaani

or a mahaatma who has experienced

that jnaana-prasaada are also charged

and energized by the rays of that transcendent light. Now if such an embodied

being of Supreme consciousness touches or sees any external object, then the

same Jnaana-Prasaada is transmitted

into it and that object also becomes Prasaada.

Partaking such a sanctified substance with love and devotion helps re-kindle

the same jnaana-prasaada inside that

person too.  That is why the intermediate

substance is also called Prasaada.  This is the origin, background and intent

behind this tradition.

(As

Sri V was listening to these soothing and refreshing words of the Mahaaguru he

is filled with an inexplicable sense of mental bliss, akin to the manah-prasaada mentioned above. But he

persists with asking more questions to get other insightful answers on a rare

topic such as this.)

Sri V:

Why should only this specialized and deliciously sweet mix of rice flour,

finely shredded coconut, pounded jaggery and ghee befit being called jnaana-prasaada?

Sri

Guru: That mix of rice flour, ghee from cow's milk, coconut and jaggery (Brown

Cane Sugar), when blended in right proportions to prepare this delectably sweet

tambittu and taken as prasaada greatly helps in putting the Dhaatus (seven vital inner elements) and

senses into a state of balance that is favorable to perform dhyaana (meditation). "mumukshoh maadhuryam."

"saatvikaah madhura priyaah." 

Madhura-Rasa, which may be understood as sweetness, is particularly dear

and beneficial to those desirous of moksha (release from the cycle of birth and

death) and to saatvikas (the

virtuous). Many substances may produce an experience of sweetness.  But the sweetness of the Tambittu stimulates a special kind of Prasannataa (bliss) and does it quickly too.

Sri V:

In that case, would it not be enough simply to consume such a preparation?  Why should we go through the tantra (a religious performance) of

placing it before God, lighting a lamp in it and so on?

Sri

Guru: That is not a mere tantra, a

mere bodily motion.  The Deepa is lit with a divine motive to

reach God.  The light that is lit

represents the Light of the Paramaatman

Himself.

Sri V:

Why should we use only ghee to light that lamp? 

And what is the need to add so much ghee into it?  Is it because ghee can make everything that

much tastier to eat?

Sri

Guru: That cannot be explained with such levity.  In this instance, ghee is not added just to

enhance the taste experienced by the tongue. 

Ghee, no doubt, promotes health, longevity and vitality. Ghee made from

cow's milk not only nourishes the body, but also provides sustenance for the Atman (the soul). Further, it is

important to use a wick of appropriate size in the Tambittu vessel filled with ghee and then light the Lamp. Then, if

one gazes intently for a while at the soft and gentle flames of such a Deepa the very sight and aroma from this

divine flame will induce the Dhaatus

and mind into a state of tranquility. Subsequently rasa (mood) induced by consuming this prasaada leads one to the Paramaatma-Rasa.

Sri V:

Why are two circular hollow cavities made in those two mounds?

Sri

Guru: Those two mounds represent the two halves of the brain.  The right side of the brain is Purusha (the male principle), and the

left side of the brain is Prakrti

(the female principle).  The lamp is lit

only on the right side which symbolizes Purusha.

Sri V:

What is the reason behind shaping the mounds to represent the brain and then to

light the lamp?

Sri

Guru: When a person with proper samskaara

(subtle impressions and predilections accumulated in mind due to past

experiences) gazes on the gentle and steady flame contained in a receptacle

resembling the shape of the brain, then the mind can reconnect to the original Paramaatma-jyoti (the light of Paramaatman) glowing in the brain.  With the aid of this lamp, if a person is

able to obtain that spiritual experience, there is no doubt that one’s deepest

longing gets fulfilled.  Because the lamp

represents Paramaatman, its darshana (sight) will leave favorable samskaaras in the minds of other people

too. 

Sri V:

My grandmother says that the use of moist rice powder is superior to dry rice

flour in the preparation of this Tambittu.

How is this? Is not the end product the same whatever the method?  Why go through the more laborious and

tiresome process of pounding the soaked rice?

Sri

Guru: Physical strain is not the consideration here. When the tambittu is made, with the right

proportion of wet rice, shredded coconut and jaggery bits, and pounded and

blended together it acquires a special hue. It is important that right amount of

jaggery is added. Then, the resulting color which emerges will resemble the

color of the human brain. Tambittu

made from dry rice flour does not yield such a color. Hence the darshana of the tambittu made of pounded ingredients has a greater impact.

Sri V:

Why is this Vrata only observed on

Saturdays of the months of Shraavana

or Bhaadrapada?        

Sri

Guru: This vrata is dedicated to Lord

Vishnu. Just like the month of Kaartika

and the Mondays of that month are special for the worship of Lord Shiva,

Saturdays in general, and particularly those in the months of Shraavana and Bhaadrapada are favorable for the worship of Lord Vishnu.  Hence these days, and these months are

propitious for worship of Lord Vishnu. 

[Sri Mahaaguru’s illuminating exposition, transcendental presence,

and radiant eyes   filled Sri V with

unspeakable contentment and bliss. He looked at the Mahaguru steadily filled

with a deep sense of gratitude. Gladdened by the intent and mood in Sri V’s

looks Mahaaguru uttered: "Now give me the Tiru-Vilakku Maavu you have brought.  It is now imbued with a special Rasa." Sriranga Mahaaguru accepted

the tambittu, and Sri V prostrated to

him again and returned home.]