Information on Parishechanam (offering oblations to the Lord, before consuming

food).
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-------------------------------------

Source:http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/feb2001/0207.html

namo narayana

Respected srivaishnavas,
My name is Madhusudhan Srikkanth and I am
doing my B.E degree in Nanyang Technological University
in Singapore.This is my first mail to this group .

I have a doubt regarding parishEshanam.Is parishEshanam

offering of food to the lord residing within us
(antaryAmi) before eating it?If it is so why is it that
we do parishEshanam only when we are eating rice
and not when we are eating other kinds of food like
chappatis and dosas.Please forgive adiyEn for
asking silly doubts.I had this doubt for a long time
but had the courage to ask it only today as I
know that this question is not fit to be asked
to stalwarts in this field.adiyEn

Dear Sri MadhusUdhan:

Your question about ParishEchanam is very important .

Consuming food is not for the quenching one's
appetite. This is more serious and that is why
it is elevated to the level of PrANAgnihOthram.

AchAryAs describe it as aNu yaagam since this annam

presentation is done to the JeevAthmA , who is
of the size of an atom (aNu) .This aNu yaagam is
done following samarpanam of PrasAdham to
the Vibhu SavarUpi ( the Supreme Lord) during
our AarAdhanam.The Jeevan becomes qualified
to enjoy the Bhogams and Mokshams as a result
of the consumption of the Food presented first
to the Lord.

After consecration of the site of eating

with appropriate manthrams(pranavam and
VyAhruthi), One sits facing east or west or
facing the Koil AzhwAr.

When the rice is placed on the Leaf and

the ghee is added , one should offer worship
with the manthram:

" asmAkam nithyamasvEthadh" and salute the annam.

One should not make balls out of the rice

or spread it around .The annam should be served
only once before parishEchanam.
annam is consecrated with the recital of
Pranavam and the sprinkling of the annam
with water (arghyam) from the ends of the fingers
with the utterance of VyAhruthis.Gayathri and
Moola manthram is used next to consecrate
the annam for the antharyAmi nivEdhanam .

Next is circling of the bhOjana paathram

with water , while reciting VyAhruthis.
This is followed by the Rishi , Chandas ,
DevathA vandhanams:

"PrAnAgnihOthra manthrasya , BrahmA Rishi:

anushtup chandha: VaisvAnAgnir dEvathA"

Touch the tumbler of water with left hand and

use the water (arghya theertham) to perform
ParishEchanam with the manthram ,
"Sathyam thvarthEna parishinchAmi".

Next receive the paadhya Theertham from AarAdhanam

on the right side of the served annam and consume
it as aachamaneeyam after reciting " amruthOpastharaNamasi".
This is called "Aapasa+ asanam "(aapOsanam).

Next , take three fingers full of annam from

the east , south , west , north and center
regions of the annam served one at a time .Place it in
the mouth one at a time and swallow it with the recitation
of the 5 manthrams "(Pranavam) PrANAya svAha" et al.

This annam served should be suddhAnnam and should

not have any adnmixture of salt , spice or sour
items. This is called SuddhAnna PrANAhUthi.
( That is why we do not consume Chappaatthi
et al , which have the admixture of salt and ghee ).
Swallow with out biting the individual portions
of annam.Some say "PrANAya idham na mama et al
for the 5 swallowing.Ghee should not be served
directly again during bhOjanam .

At the conclusion of BhOjanam , you arrive at

the UttharAbhOsanam stage.Mounam should be observed as
much as possible during bhOjanam.With the Paadhya Theertham
served, drink half in cupped palm with recitation of
"amruthApithA namasi and leave the rest thru finger tips
on to the north or south of the leaf .

After that, clean your hands with water and then

rinse your mouth a few times (16 times in dharma
Saasthrams).Achamanam follows.There are few other
manthrams recited and procedures followed after
that, which ends with:

angushtamAthr: PurushOangushtancha SamAsritha:

Eesa: sarvasya Jagadha: Prabhu PreeNAthi Visva Bhuk .
This may sound long , but with practise , you
will find this goes fast.

Best wishes,
V.Sadagopan

*************
Source: http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/mar2000/0149.html

As already stated the parishEchanam is done is four parts over the annam served.

a. First with ordinary water prOkshanam to the food- with

manthram "Om
bhoor bhuvas suva:" also called the "vyaahridhi manthram"
and nivEdhanam
to the antharyaami bagavaan with gaayathri and moola manthram.

b. then first parishEchanam is done with argya theertham

given by other
person to the person eating and he does the first
parishEchanam with the
manthram "Om bhoor bhuvas suva:"

c. Then second parishEchanam with argya theertham given by

other person to
the person eating and he does the parishEchanam with the
manthram "Sathyam
thvarthEna parishinchaami.

d. Then the aapOsanam with the paadhya theertham and manthram

"amruthOpasthraNamasi"

Now the meanings:

Sathyam thvarthEna parishinchaami- the "vigraham" -
splitting for this
will be "sathyam + thu + ruthEna + parishinchaami" (the
letter ru here is
the ru in the series a aa e ee u uu ru and not kru or ru
the declensions
of letter r). (thu+ ruthEna = thvarthEna that is samskrit
grammar here).

- means "I sprinkle water around the sathyam and right"

(not right-urimai
but truth). The words sathyam and rutham has same meaning. please
recollect anrutham means lie or untruth.

In the night it is said "rutham thva sathyEna parishinchaami' again

meaning the same but position of words changed.

Annam is considered here as sathyam the truth and also right.

"aapOsanam"- to be split as aapasa:+ asanam - the meaning

is the "hunger
is quenched by water [aapa means water asanam is quenching]. So the
paadhya theertham used in the ijyaa is consumed with the manthram
"amruthOpastharaNamasi"- split as "amrutham + upastharaNam
asi"- meaning
 the "you be the spreading nectar". Who else can do such an
act except the
lord hence it is to be understood as addressed to the lord
and his paadhya
theertham is the nectar. It is also said the ganges water
came from his
foot. So the paadhya theertham is the nectar.

Just for cross reference the same word "aapOsanam" is also used in
sandhyaa vandhanam meaning encircling self with water in
the "aapOhistaa"
etc.

After food is finished again the uththaraapOsanam is done

with paadhya
theertham and manthram "amruthaapiDhaanamasi". This
manthram is split as
"amrutham + apiDhaanam + asi"-meaning "be the covering
nectar for the
food".

Trust this clarifies. For further elucidation if any I am at your service.

Dasan Vasudevan

************************
Source: http://kausthubham.blogspot.com/2007/12/parishechanam.html
Parishechanam

PARISHECHANAM

Prologue
(�Thai poranthaal vazhi porakkum� is a saying known to almost every household in
South. How true! Whew!! Last month has been particularly hectic. What with all
those Poonals, Gruhapravesams, Kalyanams, and Sapthaahams each followed by a
feast, we (read �I�) haven�t found the need to cook any more at home. On these
special occasions I make the most of the opportunity by latching on either to the
cook or the priest (Vaadhyaar) not necessarily in that order. So it was last week,
I got sandwiched between a keen youngster and this highly learned scholarly
Vaadhyaar during a sit-down-on-floor lunch.
�Why do we do this Parishechanam, sir?� asked this youngster struggling to fold
his legs, thanks to his tight stone-washed Jeans!
I pretended to concentrate on that initial �drop� of Paayasam not to allow that to
mix with Paruppu which gets served in a hurry on the plantain leaf.
�Parishechanam???....This sprinkling of water? Oh! It is to keep the insects and
ants away from your leaf.� volunteered another young one. That was followed by a
loud laughter.
����..amrutatwaayaa. May be we could get to know the significance from the erudite
scholar Vaadhyaar himself after lunch� I suggested in that practised tone of
issuing words of command in Parades during my soldiering periods.
All went quiet.)

Cut to Vetila-paakku session later

The next few minutes of explanation from Vaadhyaar held the audience spell bound.
The discussion went off something like this. Hopefully I got him right!
�There is actually philosophical significance to the parishechana and prANAhuti
mantras.
1) Parishechana: After we sit down for our meal, we say the mantra:
Satyam tvartena parishinchAmi (O Food! You are True. I encircle you with divine
righteousness.) and we circumambulate our food with a sprinkling of water. This
sprinkling of water is known as "parishechana". At night, this mantra is 'Rtam tvA
satyena parishinchAmi', transposing the 'Rtam' and 'satyam'. "Satya" means that
which is real or true. "Rta" is a notion of the Divine Law or moral principle. The
term "Rta" is often found in the Rig Veda, and it is from this that the idea of
"dharma" later evolved.
From this we can gather that the parishechana mantra is sort of a formulaic
"protection" for the food we are about to eat.
2) PrANAhuti -- the offering to the vital breaths: The next step is the part of
greater philosophical significance. Recall that in the Vedic tradition, every act
eventually becomes an act of worship, an act of recognition of the pervasiveness
of the Supreme Brahman and Its power. When we eat, we nourish our bodies. Food is
therefore essential
for bodily sustenance. Within our body is the "ana" or vital breath. The "ana" has
five activities or "prANa-s". The five prANa-s represent the various bodily
functions that are
critical for survival. They are considered a manifestation of the power of the
Supreme in the bodily plane.
[It is almost a universal cultural idiom to recognize breath as the vital force
behind life. In English, when someone dies they are said to have "breathed their
last". In Tamil, the word "ushir" or "uyir" can mean both breath and life. ]
The idea is that by first making an offering to the prANa-s, we pay homage to
their life-giving power by virtue of their performing the bodily activities that
are crucial to our survival. In this way, this ritual recognizes that not only is
food important to survival, but the very bodily functions that we take for granted
are essential, and we
owe all of this to the Supreme, who sits as the superintending power behind all
bodily activity, no matter how mundane.
The vital breaths or "prANa-s" are five in number. The latter four are derived
from the first. They are: prANa -- the principal breath
apAna -- responsible for excretory activity
vyAna -- responsible for circulatory activity
udAna -- respiratory activity
samAna -- responsible for digestive activity
This act of thanksgiving to God who through these bodily functions sustains life
is done by saying the following mantras, and eating a little bit of rice and ney
(ghee) without chewing it (because, after all, the food is an offering, not meant
for personal consumption):
om prANAya svAhA
om apAnAya svAhA
om vyAnAya svAhA
om udAnAya svAhA
om samAnAya svAhA
om BrahmaNe svAhA

om brahmaNi ma AtmA-amRtatvAya
The last line means, "May my self be united in Brahman (the Supreme), so that I
may attain immortality."
Eating, then, is a profound act of worship which sustains the body so that we may
further worship Brahman. Before and after eating the meal, water is sipped, once
again with a mantra. The rishis of yore found this aspect of the ritual so
important that they mention it in both of the largest Upanishads, the
Brhadaranyaka and the Chhandogya, in virtually identical terms: Realized people,
while eating, do as follows: before and after their meal, they "dress up" the
prANa with water. The prANa receives clothing in this manner, and does not remain
naked.
-- Chhandogya 5.2.2 & Brhadaranyaka 6.1.15
OTHER DETAILS
First you address the food "Namaste Anna. AsmAkam nityam astu Etat"
1. Om Bhurbhuvasuvaha: Sarva sAdhArana Prokshana Mantram for purifying the
food
2. Satyam tvA ruthEna ParishinchAmi: Here the food is addressed as satyam.
I encircle you with 'rutham'. These two words are often used in vEdAs. For eg.
Brhma Yagnyam etc., In the evening the address is reversed.
3. amruta upastaranam asi; Be a 'lining' to the amrutam (i.e. the food)
4. amruta abhidAnam asi: Be a 'lid or cover' to the amrutam. (At the end of the
meal)�

�I am not quite sure�, continues Vaadhyaar �why �clothing the prANa� with water is
so important, but both Sankaracharya and Ramanujacharya write that meditation on
prANa having water as its garments is very important. It does make some sense,
however, from other angles. Water is a purifier and drinking water before and
after (Acamanam) is a purifier and sustainer of the body. Furthermore, the yoga
shastras recommend that we eat food to fill only half our stomach; one half of the
rest, i.e., one quarter of the stomach we should fill by drinking water. The rest
should be air. This is supposed to be the ideal proportions for spiritual and
bodily health. The mantras recited when sipping water before and after imply this
as well:�
AmRtopastaraNam asi -- Oh water! You are the seat of immortality.

�In continuation now we will see Chandhogyopanishad.

Thath yadh Bhakthan prathamamaagachchEth thadhDhomeeyam!

Sa yaam prathamaam aahuthim juhuyaath praaNaaya svaahEthi!
PraaNasthrupyathi!
PraaNE thrupyathi chakshus thrupyathi!
Chakshushi thrupyathyaath aadhithyas thrupyathi!
AadhithyE thrupyathi dhyous thrupyathi!
Dhivi thrupyanthyaam yath kincha dhousva aadhithyaschaath adhithishtatha:
thath thrupyathi!
Thasya anuthrupthim thrupyathi prajaya pasuBhir annaadhyEna thEjasaa
brahmavarchasEnEthi!

Meaning: The person while eating makes the first offer of annam, and that first
offer of annam becomes the oblatory instrument. That satisfies the praaNa. So the
eating has to be done as a homam. When he does that at first praaNa gets
satisfied. In the satisfaction of praaNa the eyes gets satisfied. When eyes get
satisfied the Sun gets satisfied. When sun is satisfied the heavens are satisfied.
When heaven is satisfied all those in heaven gets satisfied. When all get
satisfied like this the people and the cows etc get the Tejas (halo??) and the
power of brahma.

May be in short the offer of food has to be as homam.

My wife with the folded vetila in her hand addressed me thus, �Enna? Veettukku
poka udhesam unda illayaa?� Now y (ears) of experience has taught me to recognize
the tone and tenor of my wife as an order from Marshall rather than as a
suggestion. I gathered my angavastram hastily and moved out not before thanking
the Vaadhyaar profusely. I came home wiser.
�We didn�t know there is so much to eating though!� admitted the two youngsters.

******
Source: http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/rituals/jun2002/0021.html

--- In sv-rituals@y..., "krishnasusarla" <krishna@a...> wrote:

> My grandparents often had a custom of sprinkling water around the
> plate before beginning a meal. Then they would take small helpings
> of the rice before beginning to eat in earnest.
>
> Can someone explain the significance of this custom, who is
> eligible/required to perform it, and how exactly it is to be
> performed? Also, is it to be performed before any meal, or just
some?

Krishna,

This ritual is known as parisecanam (encircling with

water) and the eating of the small helpings of rice is
known as prANAhuti, offerings to the vital breaths.
It is performed twice a day when rice is eaten. All
other meals are considered "extra" or secondary
(upabhojanam).

I wrote some musings about this ritual in March of 2000.

Here is an excerpt:

There is actually philosophical significance to

the parisecana and prANAhuti mantras.

1) Parisecana
-------------

As Sri Vijayaraghavan has explained, after we sit down

for our meal, we say the mantra:

satyam tvartena parishincAmi

(O Food! You are True. I encircle you with

divine righteousness.)

and we circumambulate our food with a sprinkling of water.

This sprinkling of water is known as "parisecana".

At night, this mantra is 'Rtam tvA satyena parishincAmi',

transposing the 'Rtam' and 'satyam'.

I am not sure of the exact philosophical details as to

why Vaidikas do this particular part, but I can surmise one
meaning from the mantra. "Satya" means that which is real
or true. "Rta" is a notion of the Divine Law or moral principle.
The term "Rta" is often found in the Rg Veda, and it is
from this that the idea of "dharma" later evolved.

>From this we can gather that the parisecana mantra is sort of a

formulaic "protection" for the food we are about to eat.
Practically, it does also serve to ward off insects, etc.,
and perhaps this is another reason why the ritual developed
in this particular form.
2) prANAhuti -- the offering to the vital breaths
-------------------------------------------------

The next step is the part of greater philosophical significance.

Recall that in the Vedic tradition, every act eventually becomes
an act of worship, an act of recognition of the pervasiveness of
the Supreme Brahman and Its power.

When we eat, we nourish our bodies. Food is therefore essential

for bodily sustenance. Within our body is the "ana" or
vital breath. The "ana" has five activities or "prANa-s".
The five prANa-s represent the various bodily functions that are
critical for survival. They are considered a manifestation
of the power of the Supreme in the bodily plane.

[ It is almost a universal cultural idiom to recognize breath

as the vital force behind life. In English, when someone dies
they are said to have "breathed their last". In Tamil,
the word "ushir" or "uyir" can mean both breath or life. ]

The idea is that by first making an offering to the prANa-s,

we pay homage to their life-giving power by virtue of their
performing the bodily activities that are crucial to our
survival. In this way, this ritual recognizes that not
only is food important to survival, but the very bodily
functions that we take for granted are essential, and we
owe all of this to the Supreme, who sits as the superintending
power behind all bodily activity, no matter how mundane.

The vital breaths or "prANa-s" are five in number. The latter

four are derived from the first. They are:

prANa -- the principal breath

apAna -- responsible for excretory activity
samAna -- responsible for digestive activity
vyAna -- responsible for circulatory activity
udAna -- respiratory activity

This act of thanksgiving to God who through these bodily

functions sustains life is done by saying the following
mantras, and eating a little bit of rice and ney (ghee)
without chewing it (because, after all, the food is an
offering, not meant for personal consumption):

om prANAya svAhA
om apAnAya svAhA
om vyAnAya svAhA
om udAnAya svAhA
om samAnAya svAhA

om brahmaNi ma AtmA-amRtatvAya

The last line means, "May my self be united

in Brahman (the Supreme), so that I may attain
immortality."

Eating, then, is a profound act of worship which

sustains the body so that we may further worship
Brahman. There is also an implication that the
swallowing of tasty food symbolizes the oblation
of the individual self to God, so that God may,
in a sense "eat" and "enjoy" us.

Before and after eating the meal, water is sipped,

once again with a mantra. The rishis of yore found
this aspect of the ritual so important that they
mention it in both of the largest Upanishads, the
Brhadaranyaka and the Chhandogya, in virtually
identical terms:

Realized people, while eating, do as follows: before and

after their meal, they "dress up" the prANa with water.
The prANa receives clothing in this manner, and
it does not remain naked.

-- Chhandogya 5.2.2 & Brhadaranyaka 6.1.15

I am not quite sure why "clothing the prANa" with

water is so important, but both Sankaracharya and
Ramanujacharya write that meditation on prANa having
water as its garments is very important. They seek
to distinguish the meditation on this idea from
the ritual, emphasizing that the meditation is
what is recommended and not mere ritual.

It does make some sense, however, from other angles.

Water is a purifier, and drinking water before and
after (Acamanam) is a purifier and sustainer of
the body. Furthermore, the yoga shastras recommend
that we eat food to fill only half our stomach;
one half of the rest, i.e., one quarter of the
stomach we should fill by drinking water. The rest
should be air. This is supposed to be the ideal
proportions for spiritual and bodily health.

The mantras recited when sipping water before and

after imply this as well:

amRtopastaraNam asi -- Oh water! You are the seat

of immortality.

Since water is drunk before and after the food,

perhaps this is a suggestion that to approach
immortality, one should drink water to fill the
stomach 1/4 way. But this is just a guess.