brahma muhurta

Brahma-Muhurta - The 48 mins from 1 hr 36 min to 48 min before Sunrise

Post Author: Swami Gaurangapada Date: 2006-05-05 05:30:47Title: Brahma-Muhurta - The 48 mins from 1 hr 36 min to 48 min before SunriseUser: Damodara Svarupa dasa Date: 2005-02-24 17:05:06

Brahma-Muhurta - The 48 mins from 1 hr 36 min to 48 min before Sunrise -- By Swami Gaurangapada

1 Muhurta = 48 minutes. 1 day = 24 hrs = 30 Muhurtas.Brahma-Muhurta is the 2nd last Muhurta before sunrise. (1 hr 36 minbefore)

The Time of Rising from Bed:

"The time early in the morning, one and a half hours before sunrise,is called brahma-muhurta. During this brahma-muhurta, spiritualactivities are recommended. Spiritual activities performed early inthe morning have a greater effect than in any other part of the day."

Ref. VedaBase => SPL 48: At Home in India: (In Vrindavana)

*****"The exact time for the mangala-arati would vary according tothe clock, he (Prabhupada) said, but it must always be one-and-a-halfhours before sunrise."*****

The last line of Shri Gurvastakam appears in the Stavamrta-lahari ofShri Visvanath Chakravarti Thakura as follows:

shrimad-guror astakam etad uccair brahme muhurte pathati prayatnatyastena vrndavana natha saksat sevaiva labhya januso 'nta eva (9)

"That person who very attentively recites this astakam to Shri Gurudevaduring *** brahma muhurta *** is sure to achieve direct service tothe lotus feet of Lord Shri Krishna, the very life and soul ofVrindavana, at the end of his life."

Shrila Prabhupada writes in Cc. Madhya 24.331, purport:

"In the early morning hours (known as brahma-muhurta) ##### oneshould get up ##### and immediately chant the Hare Krishna mantra, orat least `Krishna, Krishna, Krishna.' In this way, one should rememberKrishna."

Krishna book, "Lord Krishna's Daily Activities":

Lord Krishna would immediately get up from bed exactly on theappearance of brahma-muhurta.. After rising from bed, Lord Krishnawould wash His mouth, hands, and feet and would immediately sit downand meditate on Himself.

Hari-bhakti-vilasa 1.6:

diksa nityam brahma-kale subhotthanam pavitrata

. . . (Second Vilasa, 10. initiation, 11. rising every day at brahma-muhurta, 12. cleanliness, . . .Text 19

Garga-samhita 4.8.19:

eka-varam- jalam- pitva dhauta-vastro 'ti-nirmalahbrahme muhurta utthaya caikadasyam- harim- natah

During ekadashi one should be pure-hearted and very clean, wear cleangarments, drink water only once, rise during brahma-muhurta, and bowdown to Lord Krishna


brahme muhurta utthaya dhyatva devim-kalindajamarunodaya-velayam nadyam- snanam- samacaret

During brahma-muhurta one should rise from bed and meditate ongoddess Yamuna' and at sunrise one should bathe in the Yamuna.


brahme muhurte cotthaya gopyah sarva grhe grhedehaly-anganam alipya dipams tatra nirupya ca

In each home the gopis rose at brahma-muhurta, anointed the doorwaysand courtyards, arranged the lamps, . . .


brahme muhurte cotthaya rama-krsneti ca bruvannatva gurum bhuvam caiva tato bhumyam padam nyaset

One should rise at brahma-muhurta, chant the holy names of Lord Krishnaand Lord Balarama, and bow down before one's guru. Only then shouldone place his feet on the ground.

Commentary by Swami Gaurangapada:

Shrila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura, Gurvastakam Verse 9 Mahatmyastates that Gurvastaka should be sung in the brahma-muhurta to

achieve the lotus feet of Lord Krishna at the end of one's life.

Shrila Prabhupada states that Mangal-arati should always be in thebrahma-muhurta which begins 1 hr 36 min before sunrise and lasts for48 minutes. He also states that ideally the time for mangal aratiwhich should be during brahma-muhurta should vary according to thesunrise time because the brahma-muhurta time always depends on thetime of sunrise. The time of sunrise determines the times of all themuhurtas in the day.

All the scriptures quoted above state that one should rise from bedduring brahma-muhurta.

Shrila Prabhupada states that brahma-muhurta is the best muhurta forspiritual practices and also it is the best muhurta of the dayaccording to the astrological charts.

In temples built for preaching, it may be a practical problem todaily vary the time of mangal arati therefore Prabhupada fixed it at4.30 am or 5 am in some places. But then there is also a problem thatthe mangal-arati may not always be conducted in the brahma-muhurtathroughout the year especially in the summer seasons when the sunrises very late. Therefore Prabhupada also said that actually thetimings of the mangal-arati should vary as per the sunrise clock.

And also that one may have to get up much before the brahma-muhurtato attend a mangal arati which is fixed at 4.30 am but is much beforethe brahma-muhurta. For example sunrise is there in Mumbai in thesummer at 7.00 am. So the brahma-muhurta starts at around 5.30 am orso. Whereas the mangal-arati may be conducted at 4.30 am. So one mayhave to take bath around two muhurtas before mangal-arati or evenearlier. We all know the story that because Nanda Maharaj went totake bath too early before brahma-muhurta, he was captured by

Varuna's men. Ofcourse that was a pastime. This is just a smalldetail just to bring to our attn.

Devotees who are doing mangal-arati at home can actually conduct andsing the mangal-arati daily during brahma-muhurta to get the maximumadvantage of the Gurvastakam prayers and their morning sadhana. Theycan easily vary the mangal-arati timings as per the sunrise timingswhich is the ideal and best way to do it as suggested by Prabhupadawho said that mangal-arati should always be 1 1/2 hour (1 hour 36minutes to be exact) before sunrise. They can get up at brahma-muhurta (alarm can be kept to ring just at the beginning of brahma-muhurta) from bed as instructed in all the revealed scriptures(above) and quickly finish their morning duties in maximum of 15 to20 minutes which leaves them half an hour (total 48 min) to sing andconduct the mangal-arati and begin japa. This will the idealperformance of the morning sadhana by the grihasthas. Any devotee cancalculate the brahma-muhurta and mangal-arati timings at his place bygetting the sunrise times of their place from the internet. They cantry out this website for getting the timings for sunrise in theirresp places for the whole year: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

If temples also want to try to strictly follow what the scripturesand Prabhupada instructed in Vrindavan then there are two options:

(1) Either the temples have two to three or four different mangalarati timings during the year for different seasons in such a waythat the mangal-arati is always or mostly conducted in the brahma-muhurta. This is done is many Vallabhacharya temples, some Gaudiyamath and other temples.

(2) Or to follow a day by day timetable so that everyday Gurvastakamwill be chanted in the brahma-muhurta. Most temples may consider thisgreatly impractical. But there is a way out. Each temple can publish

a small booklet for the whole year about the timings of mangal-aratidaily and any regular visitor can have it so everyone attendingmangal-arati including the temple residents will know what will bethe time of mangal-arati and morning darshan from the booklet. Mangal-arati timings for the whole month can also be posted outside thetempel in advance. So everyone can attend accordingly. This is justan idea to show that it is possible if one wants to strictlyimplement the scriptural and Shrila Prabhupada's instructions givenabove. I hope this discussion helps someone.

Pratah-Gayatri can be chanted in the Samudram Muhurta(48 min)beforesunrise. Madhyan-Gayatri can be chanted in the appropriate Muhurta(48 min) at noon. Gauranga-Arti and Sandhya Gayatri can be in theappropriate Muhurta in the evening around or after sunset.

MUHURTHAS1 06:00 - 06:48 RUDRA BAD2 06:48 - 07:36 AHI BAD3 07:36 - 08:24 MITRA GOOD4 08:24 - 09:12 PITRU BAD5 09:12 - 10:00 VASU GOOD6 10:00 - 10:48 VARA GOOD7 10:48 - 11:36 VISVADEVA GOOD8 11:36 - 12:24 VIDHI GOOD (EXCEPT MONDAY + FRIDAY)9 12:24 - 13:12 SATAMUKHI GOOD10 13:12 - 14:00 PURUHUTA BAD11 14:00 - 14:48 VAHINI BAD12 14:48 - 15:36 NAKTANCARA BAD13 15:36 - 16:24 VARUNA GOOD14 16:24 - 17:12 ARYAMA GOOD (EXCEPT SUNDAY)15 17:12 - 18:00 BHAGA BAD16 18:00 - 18:48 GIRISHA BAD17 18:48 - 19:36 AJAPAD BAD

18 19:36 - 20:24 AHIRBUDHNYA GOOD19 20:24 - 21:12 PUSA GOOD20 21:12 - 22:00 ASWINI GOOD21 22:00 - 22:48 YAMA BAD22 22:48 - 23:36 AGNI BAD23 23:36 - 24:24 VIDHATR GOOD24 24:24 - 01:12 CANDA GOOD25 01:12 - 02:00 ADITI GOOD26 02:00 - 02:48 JIVA GOOD27 02:48 - 03:36 VISNU GOOD28 03:36 - 04:24 YUMIGADYUTI GOOD29 04:24 - 05:12 BRAHMA VERY GOOD30 05:12 - 06:00 SAMUDRAM GOOD

AGAIN ALL MUHURTHAS ARE TAKEN AT 06:00am. SUNRISE, ADJUST ACCORDINGLY

Daaso'smi, Swami Gaurangapada.

brahma muhurta

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