Dharbham the Holy Grass

The Holy known as Dharbham or Dharbai - Kush Grass, Kusa -

by TRS Iyengar

This article is on one of the practices widely used by Indian Brahmins all

over using a Holy Grass named Dharbham or Dharbai. The botanical

name is Eragrostis cynosuroides and Hindi they call

as Kus or Kusha. Brahmins in general  use this Darbai grass in all functions,

auspicious or inauspicious, a performing person needs to wear a ring made

of this

Dharbham. But many have lost the reason of why it is to be used in the first

 place.

What I learnt from my father is proved to be accurately correct by a Medicine

 Practitioner. A medical practitioner named Dr. Sadhashiv Rao, once visited my

home. When the topic turned to many subjects, I needed to tell him about

the Holy Grass named Dharbham. When I told him about the usage and the

values, he could not just believe my words. So, he took out a bunch of the

Dharbham from me, went straight to the clinic to take an x-ray of his palm,

by covering  his hand with the Dharbham. To his utter surprise, he found

that the grass absorbed about 60% of the (x-ray) radiation!

When the so powerful X-ray radiation can be absorbed by the Holy Grass,

why can it not absorb the ill-radiations spread over the atmosphere?  While

chanting and reciting some Vedic phrases and

versus, one needs to wear a ring made of Dharbham on his right hand

 ring finger. This is most essential, while performing all the rituals, such as

 Agni Santhanam, Thiru-Aaradhanam, all sorts of

Havans known as Homam etc.

The count of leaves depends upon the function that is held viz.: for some

 functions related to death only Single leaf Dharbham is used; for Auspicious

and daily routine a ring made of two leaves is

used; for inauspicious but not death related functions, (i.e. Amavasya Tharpanam

,Pithru Pooja etc) a three leaf Dharbham ring is used. And for the Temple Prayer and

Pooja, a Four-leaf Dharbham

ring is used.

Also, when a fire ritual known as Agni Santhana is performed, these

Dharbham are spread all the four sides of the Agni Kundam. Also, during

 the Eclipse time, these Dharbham are used to cover all

food items to protect them from the harmful ultra violet radiation.

Whenever any function is held, firstly they perform a site-cleansing act

 known as "Suddi Punyahavachanam". While reciting the selective versus,

 they hold the Dharbham bunch in their hand and

placing the tip point of it over the vessel containing water. Thus the recited

vibration values are absorbed by water in the vessel through the Dharbham.

They found that the Holy Grass known as Dharbham has the highest value

in conducting the phonetic vibrations through its tip. Later, they sprinkle

 the Holy water at every nook and corner of the place,

where the function is held. A Dharbham without the tip is considered of

 no value, as the conductor-type value is lost in it.

If dharbam is cut & collected on the Avani Amavasya day (falls during

 15th August & 15th Sept) it can be retained for usage for one full year.

 Also, if cut on the Masi Amavasya day then also one can

use it for full year. There is a specific slokha for cutting dharbham (the holy grass)

that is to be recited while cutting it; I give below the same for readers to know.

If Dharbam is obtained from a

Brahmin who doesn't know this slokam or versus, the Dharbam

is useless,  states the Vedic scripts!

My father, Late Shri Ramabathrachariar of Mukkur, fondly called

 by everyone as Sriraman, has taught me the immense values of Dharbham

 and its usage. With Sanskrit phonetic sound and

vibration, using the Dharbham increases its value. The usage varies according

 to the functions. It is really a marvel, that in those days of Vedic Era, the Sages

 & Saints of Hindu land used to control

the Magnetic path disturbances, just by simply using this Dharbham! One

 more important thing about the Dharbam is, which is not commonly known

to many, that one case use the same Dharbam again and

again for  seven times, provided, it is washed and dried properly before reuse.

This is permitted only when/where no fresh Kusa Grass the Dharbai is

available for regular usage. However, the Dharbam used for

any inauspicious ceremonies viz. Death and karma rituals, should never

 be used again!