Significance of Dawn or Brahma Vela

SIGNIFICANCE OF DAWN OR BRAHMA VELA
Almost religious cultures of the world attach great importance to the brahmavela of the dawn. The period from twenty four minutes before sunrise to twenty four minutes after the sun has risen is known as brahmavela of brahmamuhurta. It is this duration that is called the time of self-awakening, Because at this very time, the holy voice of the Tirthankars rains down. Just as hordes of lotus in a lake bloom at this time, our lotus-heart too comes to bloom on waking up at this moment, which brings freedom from illness to our lives, and whatever pious resolutions are made at this moment, respectably, generate self-confidence and firm capacity to work. What kind of thought and ideas ought to be entertaind after rising early ? Regarding this, Pt. Ashadhar ji has stated in his work Sagardharmamritam that. ब्रह्मो मुहर्ते उत्थाय पंच नमस्कार कृते सति। को हं ! को मम ! निज धर्म: इति विचिन्तयेत्।। Brahme muhoorte utthaya pancha namaskara krite sati, Koham ! ko mum ! kim nij dharmah iti vichintyet, Which means, giving up the sleep in the brahmamuhurat, one should chant the panch namaskar (Namokar) mantra at least nine times. If you have time enough, perform a full 108 times chant. Namokar mantra alone is the all pervading, timeless mantra that can be performed silently in all circumstances. It is even said : अपवित्र: पवित्रो वा सुस्थितो दुस्तितो पि वा। ध्यायेत्पंच नमस्कारं सर्व पापै प्रमुच्यते।। Apavitrah pavitro va susthito dusthitoapi va. Thus you can perform the dyyana-japa of panch namaskar without bothering about cleanlines of your body, clothes etc. There is no guilt or sin in it. After this, you should move on to introspect as to who I am-a human being ? A Jain ? A soul? Who is mine in this world ? All in this world are selfish creatures. After achieving one's objective, nobody bothers. Thus nobody is my sltruistic, selfless well-wisher and companion except religion. What my religion is ? What is my duty ? I am a simple religious-minded householder. Therefore, my religion primarily consists of the six essential acts of god's worship, guru's veneration, self-study, self-restraint, asceticism and charity. Again, call up to your mind, thoughts of well being of the world, such as, let this world be auspicious for all the creatures of the world; let all creatures of the world find peace and happiness; let there be no contrary feelings for any soul; let there be no misfortunes for the king, subjects and the nation; let there be peace everywhere. Let everybody be free from sorrows and poverty. We should entertain such positive, benign thought everyday. In order to have those thoughts refined, we should memories `Meri Bhavna' of He who conquered desires and passions....... (Jisne regadwesh kamadik jeete...........) and keep murmuring it. Again, opening your eyes, joining both the lotus palms, recalling the names of the twenty four Tirthankars on the twenty four pours of your fingers excepting the thumbs, gaze at your palms. Many a gentleman might not be able to recollect the twenty four Tirthankars' names. Even if the names are there in the memory, their symbols or signs might be missing, therefore, for the sake of memory, in order to memorize and rhythmically recite all the names of twenty four Tirthankars along with their signs, say ; ऋषभनाथ के बैल बोलो, अजितनाथ के हाथी। संभवनाथ के घोड़ा बोलो, अभिनन्दन के बन्दर। सुमतिनाथ के चकवा बोलो, पद्मप्रभ के लाल कमल। सुपाश्र्वनाथ के सांथिया बोलो, चंद्रप्रभ के चन्द्रमा। पुष्पदन्त के मगर बोलो, शीतलनाथ के कल्पवृक्ष। श्रेयांसनाथ के गैंडा बोलो, वासुपूज्य के भैसां। विमलनाथ के शूकर बोलो, अनन्तनाथ के सेही। धर्मनाथ के वङ्कादण्ड बोलो, शान्तिनाथ के हिरण। वुंथुनाथ के बकरा बोलो, अरहनाथ के मछली। मल्लिनाथ के कलशा बोला, मुनिसुव्रत के कछुआ। नमिनाथ के नीलकमल हैं, नेमिनाथ के शंख। पाश्र्वनाथ के सर्प बड़ा है, महावीर के सिंह। Rishabnath ke bail, Ajitnath ke hathi. Sambhavanath ke ghoda bolo, Abhinandan ke bandar. Sumitnath ke chakwa bolo, Padmaprabha ke lal kamal. Suparshvanth ke santhhia bolo, Chandraparaha ke chandrama. Pushpadanta ke magar bolo, Shitalnath ke kalpabriksha. Shreyansanath ke gainda bolo, Vasupujya ke bhainsa. Vimalnath ke shookar bolo, Anantanah ke sehi. Dharmnath ke vijradanda bolo, Shantinath ke hiran. Kunthunath ke bakra bolo, Arahanath ke macchli. Mallinath ke kalasha bolo, Munisuvrata ke kachhua. Naminath ke neelakamala hain Neminath ke shankha. Paraswanath ke sarpa bada hai, Mahvir ke simha. Say Rishabhnath's bull, Ajitnath's elephant. Say Sambhavanath's horse, Abhinandan's monkey. Say Sumitnath's chakwa (Sheldrake), Padmaprabha's red lotus. Say Suparshvanath's santhia, Chandrapraha's moon. Say Pushpadanta's crocodile, Shitalnath's kalpabriksha. Say Shryasnaeth's rhinroceros, Vasupujiya's be buffalo. Say Vimalnath's pig, Anantnath's porcupin. Say Dharamnath's vijradanda (Thunderbolt), Shantinath's deer. Say Kunthunath's he goat; Arahnatha's fish. Say Mallinath's pitcher, Munishvrata's Tortoise. Say Naminath's blue lotus, Naminath's conch. Parshwanth's snake is big, Mahavir's a lion. Significance of gazing at one's palms has alos been mentioned in many other scriptures, for instance. कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मी, कर मध्ये सरस्वती। कर मूले तु गोबिन्द: प्रभाते कर दर्शनम्।। Karagre vasate Lakshmi, kar madhye Saraswati. Kar moole tu Govindah, prabhate kar dharshanam. Which means, the front part of the hand is the abode of Lakshmi, the middle part, of Saraswati, and the base is the home of Hari ! prabho !! Ishwar !!! Therefore every morning, hands should be looked at. Gaze at your hands, chanting the above sloka or verse. This is a psychological as well as meaningful process. It produces a sense of self-reliance and self sufficiently in one's heart. If one does not follow this practice, one is bound to look to others, towards, their faces, for everything in life. Thus, man performs all his deeds, good or bad, with his hands. That is why, hands alone are the key to all the four illustrious tasks of Dharma (religion), Artha (finance), Kama (sex) and Moksha (salvation). The orihinal sloka states that three kinds of sustenances are required for success in life-Lskdhmi or weath, Sarswati or learning, and Govind or god or religion. In the worldly conditions, lack of any of these renders the life incomplete. All these goal-oriented supports reside in our hands which are the symbol of action. In other words, we achieve our target by performing good or evil deeds with our hands. Therefore, gazing at one's hands, one should absorb the spirit underlying the sloka in one's heart. We should aspireto become an ideal person in life. Tell yourself-`Without leaving on anyone, I would achieve freedom from poverty through wealth earned by laboring my hands, do away with mental dullness, ignorance through learning and attain moksha or salvation through devotion to god.