Koshur Logic & Our PRACTICES

It is a commom practice in most of the KP homes to have two small tiny pots earthen, copper or bronze in almost all Kashmiri Pandit Kitchens.
(We say most of the KP Homes, because after exodus of 1990, many families have stopped practising this age old morning routine.)
As per the routine, the head lady in the house would use to take bath every morning and head to kitchen to wash these two ‘Sanwari’ which were kept near the Gas stove or ‘Daan’. She would then, fill them with fresh water.
In the ancient times, when female of the house used to go to river banks for morning routine, she used to take these sanwaari’s with her & fill them with water (with rest of the pots). These days, usually, Sanwari are filled in the kitchen itself.

After filling Sanwaari with water, the lady would head to the main door of the house, she would sprinkle a little water on the upper portion of the door from these pots & then enter the house.
Both these pots are kept close to each other on a shelf  or in a very clean corner of the kitchen. A little of food & vegetables,cooked for the family, are first served to these pots every day and then it is served to the rest of the family.

(Pic credits – Subrat Saraf)

It is believed that these two pots represents the two unmarried girls, who, besides being revered as the “Ganga/Jamuna” & the “Saraswati”, are considered to be in charge of the wealth & prosperity in a family. The sprinkling of the water into the main door before the lady enters the house means a welcome to wealth and prosperity in the house.
In the olden days, wealth and prosperity was measured with food. Therefore, the lady, being in charge of kitchen, often revred as Annpurna, used to perform this routine to pray to the almighty for giving the family ample food to eat.
It is also said that ‘Sani Va:ir’ / ‘Sanwari’ is a corrupt form of the Sanskrit word ‘Samridi Vari’ which means pots bringing prosperity.

Reference – Kashmiri Hindu Sanskars, Elders in the family. 

“Aatchman” is taken to break and end the fast.
Small quantity of water is taken on the palm and drank (once) before consuming the food and after consuming the food in the fast.

Belief: It marks the start and the end of the meal taking time in the fast.

Logic: Fasting all day in the cold weather of Kashmir used to cause dry throat because no meals were taken inbetween the day to keep the food pipe hydrated. The Atchman was actually taken before the meals to clear the passage so that there should be no choking while the food passes through the passage. Also, since this was the only meal that was taken during the fast, therefore Atchman at the end of the food was taken to help in better digestion of food.

Offering water to the deceased ancestors’ souls is called Tarpan.
Kashmiri Pandits perform (should perform) Tarpan to their forefathers on the daily basis.
The main objective of this Vidhi is to tell our ancestors that we remember them and their soul should always offer his/her blessings upon us.
Offering water to the deceased ancestors’ souls should be done through the mid of the thumb and the first finger of the hand.
Usually KPs do Tilla Tarpan – which is offering black sesame seeds mixed with water.
It is said that doing Tarpan daily will not only satisfy the souls of the deceased ancestors but will also bless the person doing it with long life, radiance, wealth, health and success.

This is the Mantra narrated while giving water/milk/til –

ॐ तत् सत् ब्रह्म अद्य तावत् तिथौ अद्य
………. मासस्य (चैत्र से फाल्गुन तक) (Month’s name from Chaitra to Phalgun)
……….पक्षस्य (कृष्ण पक्ष/शुक्ल पक्ष) (Phase – Weaning phase or Waxing phase)
………. तिथि महापर्वनि (प्रतिपाद्य से पूर्णमासी तक या अमावस्या) (Day of the fortnight)
………. वासरान्वतायां।।(रविवार से लेकर सोमवार तक) (Day of the week)
……….गोत्रे (Gotra Name)
……….अस्मतपिता (Father name) / अस्मत्पितामाह (Grandfather’s / forefather’s name) / अस्मन्माता (Mother/Grandmother’s name),
वसुरूपत तृप्यतमिदं तिलोदकम गंगा जलं वा तस्मै स्वधा नमः तस्मै स्वधा नमः तस्मै स्वधा नमः ॥

Keeping shoes nose to nose causes quarrels in the house. Therefore, shoes always need to be arranged in a proper way.

Belief: It is said that leaving shoes and slippers in haphazard manner causes quarrel between the family members. Specially nose to nose.

Logic: The idea of saying so was to inculcate a good habit in the family members from their childhood to leave their belongings in a proper way.

Not just Yoga or Ayurveda, Science also supports waking up on the right side of the body. When we are asleep a lot of latent
energy gets trapped inside our body; therefore, waking up on the right side will make sure that the energy flow is balance.
Waking up on the left side may flow all this latent energy towards your heart, hence causing it to pump blood faster.

Culturally, as per our belief, our Surya Nadi is on the right side of our body. While sleeping, the Surya Nadi conserves the
energy, hence waking up on the right side will activate this reservoir of energy and will make you feel fresh. This activates the
body’s metabolic and digestive process keeping you active all day.

Scientifically, there are two magnetic fields in one’s body – one that goes from head to toe & the other vice versa. One
magnetic field, which falls on our left side is basis of our existence; & the other which falls on our right side defines our
strengths. When we wake up on the right side, it activates the second magnetic field hence activating the energy flow. Also,
waking up on right side activates the right side of the brain which is responsible for us being creative.

Keeping ones books left open or abandoned is considered bad. It was said that the open books attracts evil spirits, demons and ghosts.

Belief: If the books are left open, the evil spirits might read it. & if the book is read by evil spirit, then the owner of the book or the person who left the book open will become forgetful and will never remember the contents of the book. This myth specially kicked in during the exam days. All the students were used to keeping their books properly after reading the lesson so that evil spirits do not read the book & they can remember the lesson well during the exam.

Logic: Actually the reason to say so was to create a habit from childhood to keep the books with care and not lying here and there in haphazard manner. Since books are considered as the source of knowledge and wisdom therefore they should always be respected.

As soon as you wake up, sit for a moment and then rub your hands vigorously & put your palms (heated because of friction) on your eyes. This will help to awaken all your senses before you start your day.

Belief: we should rub our hands and keep them on our eyes, the heat from our palms activates our eyes, and rubbing our
hands activates the nerve endings on the finger tips making you feel less drowsy.
Culturally, it is also believed that Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess Saraswati and Lord Brahma resides in our hands. Therefore, rubbing both hands together activates the positive shield which keeps negative influences away for whole day helping you in focus and concentrate in your day to day activity.

Scientifically, there are lots of small nerve endings in our fingertips, when we rub our hands together, it activates all our
nerves and our body feels awakened. This will make sure that you don’t feel drowsy or sleepy. Keeping the warm palms on
our eyes will activate the photo receptors (rod cells and cone cells) in our eyes making sure that eyes do not get strained with the sudden bright light

Before eating food Hyun Myeth was always kept outside the plate. 
Hyun myeth is a small oval shape made by grabbing a small portion of rice and pressing it in the palm. 

Belief: Hyuin Meith was kept for Dogs as it was said that the Dog helps in crossing the one of the rivers after life.

Logic: Kashmiri Pandits are used to eat food with hands & there are many diseases that can be borne from dirty hands. Scientific reason behind this was that atually the grabbing the small portion of hot rice in hand used to sanitize the hand and make it germ free. Thus, since the hands are cleaned and sanitized one could easily eat with their hands without getting exposed to germs. 

Making up your bed is a very important practice and should be inculcated in the kids as soon as they are able to do small tasks.
Our culture highly emphasises on this small routine task. Any elder in your house will say – “Godd gave bistar tulun patt gayee baye kah kaem karin“

Making the bed in the morning gives you a sense of accomplishment in performing the first day of the task with success. It has a
silent yet very deep psychological effect on human mind. It seems to be very small task, and if you do it right it will motivate you to achieve all the days goals that you have planned. Imagine you enter your bedroom after having a touch day, the clean made bed will lit your mood up.

Culturally, it was believed that if you do not make your bed properly in the morning, the demons will come and they will rest on this bed and it will make you sick. It connects with the scientific reasoning, where it is explained that if you sleep in an unclean bed you will tend to fall sick often.

Scientifically, if the bed is not made in the morning and left like that, mites tend to grow on the sweat and dead skin that falls off on the bed when we are sleeping; hence gradually making the bedding unhygienic to sleep in. Making bed does not just mean folding the quilt or sheets, it also means exposing the bed to natural air and sun.

It was said that on the big occassions when the prayers were carried near the river bank, coins were thrown in the river as the good luck and sometimes as an alm. 

Belief: Throwing coins in the river brings good luck.

Logic: In the ancient times, most of the currency used was made of copper unlike the stainless steel coins of today.
Copper is a vital metal very useful to the human body. Throwing coins in the river was one of the ways that our fore-fathers ensured, we intake sufficient copper as part of the water. As rivers were the only source of drinking water, it was important that river time and again have the required metal. Making throwing coin a custom, our fore-fathers ensured that river contains suffice amount of copper for upcoming generations. 

Sit straight, close your eyes, smile and be thankful. Being grateful is always good for mental and physical health. In this era of
stressful life, it is important that we treasure, appreciate and cherish what we have. Both Science & our Culture believes that this positive thinking ensures a good mental health.

In Hindu culture, people greet each other by joining their palms – termed as “Namaskar.”

Belief: The general reason behind this tradition is that greeting by joining both the palms means respect.

Logic: However, scientifically speaking, joining both hands ensures joining the tips of all the fingers together; which are denoted to the pressure points of eyes, ears, and mind. Pressing them together is said to activate the pressure points which helps us remember that person for a long time. Also, because while doing Namaskar there is no physical contact with the person, no germs get transferred from ones hands to another. 

Sandhya Chong has been a very common practice among the Kashmiri Pandits. Many of us lit a mustard oil lamp (earthen/brass) in the evening offering prayers to the God. Lighting a lamp symbolizes the awakening of brightness from darkness. It is a symbol of truth & knowledge. It is believed that lightening a lamp breaks all the negative energies in the house, thus making the atmosphere happier and healthier.

Culturally, Our elders believed that lightening of Sandhya Chong is infinitely good and beneficial. You can start practicing lightening up of “Sandhya Chong” with the Gayatri Mantra. Not to forget, recitation of Gayatri Mantra has its own numerous benefits. There is no scientific evidence on what benefits lightening an oil lamp has – however there is a more of psychological evidence. When you lit a lamp, it has a wonderful visual effect apart from that looking at the light itself makes you happy as it gives out a sense of positivity, creating a peaceful aura. At that time, you be thankful, thankful to what you have to, all your loved ones and of course for your life. No matter how tough your day has been, just count on your blessings.

While lightening the lamp you can also recite –
“DEEPO JYOTI PARAM-BRAMHA, DEEPO JYOTIR JANARDANA, DEEPO HARTU ME PAAPAM , SANDHYA DEEPO NAMO-ASTUTE !
SHUBHAM KAROTI KALYANAM, AAROGYAM SUKHA SAMPADAM, MAM BUDHI PRAKASHAM, SARVA MITRA PRAKASHAYE, SARVA
SHUTRU VINASHAYE, DEEPO JYOTI NAMOSTUTE!”
“दीपो ज्योति परम्ब्रह्म, दीपो ज्योति जनाददनः, दीपो हितद-मे-पापं, संध्या दीपो ज्योति नमस्ततिे!
शतभंकरोितकल्याणं, आरोग्यंसतखः संपदं, मम बतद्धि प्रकाशं, सर्दतमत्र प्रकाशये, सर्दशत्रततर्नाशाये, दीपो ज्योति नमोस्ततिे!”

In Kashmiri Culture it is a common practise of ringing Bells called Ghanta, while performing puja or doing aarti. 

Belief: By ringing the bells we are invoking God in the temple or Thokur Kuth, so that he can hear our prayers.

Logic: There is a science behind the process of ringing bells while doing puja. Bells are made in such a way (metal, usually brass and design), that when they produce a sound, it creates a unity in the Left and Right lobes of our brains.
The moment we start ringing the bell, it produces a sharp and enduring sound which lasts for minimum of 7 seconds in echo mode. The duration of echo is good enough to activate all the seven healing centres (chakras) in our body. This results in emptying our brain from all negative thoughts and helping us focus on the positive energies. 

Almost every temple in Kashmir has Peepal tree. Peepal tree was also offered prayers and respects. 

Belief: Peepal tree is the Nivas Sthal of Beetal Raj Bhairav. Kashmir was said to be presided over by 8 Bhairavas and one of them was Beetal Raj (Vithal Raj / Vetal Raj) Bhairav who lived in Peepal tree. Therefore, people offered prayers to the Peepal tree asking Beetal Raj to keep them safe and secure from all the evil spirits and ailments. 

Logic: As per science, Peepal tree is one of those handful of trees, which produce oxygen during the night as well. Hence, tagging Peepal tree with religious faith would have made sure that this tree cannot be cut for wood or any other personal use. 

Koshur culture believes in eating while sitting in Sukhasana. The Koshur tradition has always favored sitting on floor and then having the meals. 

Belief: By sitting on the floor and eating you can do justice with the food being served. This also marks as a respect for Mata Annpurna. 

Logic: Sukhasan is the position we normally use for Yoga asanas. Sitting in this position while eating helps in improving digestion as the circulatory system can focus solely upon digestion. In contrary when we are having a buffet lunch/dinner, the circulation is also deviated to legs dangling from a chair or supporting us while we are standing, preventing full digestion of the food. This also is one of the reasons that in Sukhasan a person can eat more than standing or sitting on chair. 

After offering morning prayers, Kashmiri Pandit men and women used to apply Chandan Tyok on their fore-head. 

Belief: Chandan, being cool in nature, was belived to keep the mind calm and keep the person away from agression and anger. This would also help him/her think straight and make positive decisions. 
There was also a strong belief on the Chandan Tyok being wet all day. In that case it was said the person is either having an ailment or is about to leave earth for heaven. Therefore any men/women seen with wet chandan tyok (after few hours of its application) was made to sit and rest at home. 

Logic: If we speak in the language of “Human Biology”, the spot between the two eyebrows is considered to be the major nerve point called Adhya Chakra as per Ayurveda. Chandan Tilak or Kum Kum tilak being cold in nature happen to prevent the loss of energy from this focul point helping a person to retain energy and control emotions and have a good level of concentration. 
Also while tilak is applied, the finger presses through this point on the forehead facilitating the blood supply to the whole face. 

In Kashmiri Pandit culture, not just girls but also boys did the ear piercing. In case of girls it was because of the social norms; however in case of boys it was done if boy has some issues like he is over-agressive, have speech issues etc. 

Belief: Piercing ears in girls is a social norms while as for boys it is done to keep their behavior in control. 

Logic: Our fore-fathers, who were physicians and philosophers believed that piercing the ears helps in the development of intellect, power of thinking and decision making.
Talkativeness fritters away life energy and hence ear piercing helps in speech-restraint. It helps to reduce impertinent behaviour and the ear-channels become free from disorders. 

In Kashmiri Pandits, it is a very common culture that the married female in the house will wear Gunus in right hand while as Male in the house will be having Narivan in his right hand (female wears narivan in left hand)

Belief: Narivan is worn after offering prayers to God on big occassions like Heyrath or Birthday etc. While as once the women is married is bound to wear one bangle or Gunus in her right hand as a mark of her being married. 

Logic:  Normally the wrist portion is in constant activation on any human  because of the pulse. The pulse on the human wrist is checked by doctors to identify various ailments. In the earlier days, VedRaaj used to diagnose the health issues only based on pulse rate. 
The Bangles or Gunus worn by women has constant friction with the pulse increasing the blood circulation. Similarly for men, Narivan used to create a constant accupressure on the pulse to make it beat consistently.
Further more the electricity passing out through outer skin is reverted to one’s own body because of the ring shape of the bangles/gunus, helping keeping a women more energetic throughout the day. 

Self care practices had been a common routine in our lives from the very beginning. Even our ancestors had “me time” back then and it would be either in the form of sitting in a room and reading/writing or just having a pep talk with the neighbor or doing something that one likes to do. Playing badminton or cricket in the home ground had been a very
common activity among KPs back then. Although at that time one was never alone and the game was also tiring, but that was a source of happiness and the players used to feel rejuvenated and refreshed and ready for the next day.

Culturally, apart from playing games, Oil massage, washing feet in warm salted water, washing eyes with cold water, taking nap in the afternoon, eating three meals a day on time, all had been the ways to pamper oneself. Healthy life always begins with healthy body. We had been into the practice of drinking different forms of tea, Kehwa, sheerchai, lipton chai, dodh chai – all act as the immunity boosters. Eating and drinking things with season also was a contributing factor of healthy life. Rituals and self-nurturing practices like Puza
in thokur kuth or going to shankracharya temple early in the morning focused to make the external body strong. These days self-care has been limited to body massage and snoozing; however, we need to understand that self-care is much beyond just body and skin; it should heal us from within.

Scientifically, it is proven that a sound mind can only live in the sound body. It is always important for us to maintain a healthy relation with our body. A healthy body helps us stay sharp and motivated, hence important for our emotional and mental well-being.

Contributing factors – Below mentioned are some of the factors that we all can include in our self-care routine: –
a. Know your self and your needs and your thresh-hold. Know where you want to stop. Listen to your body. Start with simple basic routine like oiling your hair once a week,
spending time watching nature outside your window or just sitting down quietly while sipping the cup of tea.
b. Work life balance – in this mechanical era, we all work like machines. It is important to stop and sit and organize yourself once in a while. Overwork, loving what you are doing or workaholism all contribute as a factor where you neglect your personal well-being. Balance your workload, if there is lots of work, get organized, pull out a TO-DO list and decide priority. Take intermittent breaks. Take proper meals at proper times.
c. Keep the stress away – it is true that little dose of stress can push us to meet our deadlines, however too much of stress may have adverse effects. By taking care of your
self like eating healthy, sleeping well, maintaining hygiene, exercising, meditation etc will help reduce stress levels
d. Last but not the least, start living. Many times, when we look at our grandparents, we always see their happy faces. They had less but they were full of contentment and
happiness. They never complained about life being harsh and hard, although their struggles were more compared to us. They were not existing; rather they were living
each and every moment, be it good or bad, they were simply living it.

Kashmiri Pandit culture forbids us from sleeping in the North direction. Vastu and Directions were always considered while making the house.

Belief: It is believed that sleeping in the North direction will invite the God of Death, hence leaving a person either dead or always ailing from one disease or the other. 

Logic: Our fore-fathers had knowledge of human anatomy and they knew that the human body has its own magnetic field in which the blood flows. Considering the Earth also has its own magnetic field, when we sleep with head towards North, our body’s magnetic field become completely asymmetrical to the Earth’s Magnetic field which may cause lots of trouble as the heart needs to work more than usual to make sure that blood reaches all parts of the body. Apart from this, sleeping in the North direction may lead to cogregation of iron from the blood into brain, leading to headache, Alzheimer’s Disease, Cognitive Decline, Parkinson disease and brain degeneration.

Let your daily healing heal you. Never underestimate the wear and tear our lives go through and most importantly our bodies. If this is actually the machine-age then we are the primary machines running this era. Like every machine needs a maintenance, an oiling, an overhauling, a human body also needs some repair which starts with an everyday sound sleep.
Sleep is the most vital, yet most neglected routine of the human body. Sleep well, sleep tight and sleep ample, it is your first bid for a healthy body and second for the mind.
There is an old saying early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

Culturally, balanced sleep had always been an important aspect of life. In our grandparents time, there was no siren or light or alarm clock that used to wake them up; yet all of us have heard the stories of they going to Shankaracharya or Hari Parbat at 4/5am in the morning and that too walking. That means their mind was racing for the day’s routine task and their body was fit enough to take the challenge to walk miles. This means they always had a balanced sleep. As soon as the dinner was finished all were supposed to wrap up
as soon as they can and go to the beds. It is believed that the time to go to bed had been before or closer to 10pm back then. The body clock was set as per the sunset and sunrise time. A sound sleep of 5 to 8 hours is better than a disturbed sleep of 10 hours.
Scientifically, sound sleep helps flush out the harmful protein called plaque (beta amyloid) which is responsible for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Sleep deprivation leads to weight gain, depression & anxiety, diabetes (risk), unbalanced fluctuation is appetite hormones, strokes and even heart diseases. While as on the other hand a good sound sleep helps in enhanced physical performance, improved skin health, builds a strong immune system, helps build healthy social & emotional interactions, increases the concentration, and even enhances memory. Because our brain remains very much active during the sleep as well, a sound sleep ensures that all the
toxins are removed from the brain that are build up when you are awake.

Contributing factors – It is important to analyze and find all the contributing factors that help or do not help you to sleep well. Listing all these habits will encourage & help you to find good sleeping routine and habit. Some of these habits are listed below –
a. Cardio related exercises 2-3 hours before bedtime may lead to sleep deprivation. Exercise raises the body temperature and heart rate which makes it difficult for it to snooze. In contrary of a cardio, you can try a leisure walk or just a stroll in fresh air and have a bath with cold or luke warm water just before going to bed.
b. Avoid caffeine or alcohol. Alternatively, you can drink a glass or warm water or warm milk. This will not just help to keep the gut clean but also will help you snooze better.
c. Keep your stress and worries aside. Before you go to bed make it a point that you clean your brain, do not think about anything stressful or worrying – yes you can think of good times and happy moments.
d. Turn off all the electronics at least 1-2 hours before your bedtime. The light immitted from the electronic devices like phones, laptops and even reading lamps hampers our sleep. These lights are the signal to the brain to keep you awake and alert. It has been a proven research that the blue-light immiting from electronic devices
suppresses the levels of melatonin which causes hampers the sleep-wake cycle.
e. Practice meditation or pranayama before you go to bed. Both meditation and pranayama, involves rhythmic breathing, allowing the brain / mind to calm and go into the resting mode.

When the Moon enters in the horoscope of Aquarius and Pisces, then that time period is known as Panchak. During the time of Panchak, it is prohibited to do any auspicious work. It is believed that the work initiated during this time will never reach a fruitful end, and the troubles of the native will increase 5 times. This Panchak occurs every month for 5 days as per Hindu Calendar.
There are 5 inauspicious panchak nakshatras- Dhanishtha (fire accidents), Revati (financial crunches), Purva Bhadrapada(health issues), Uttara Bhadrapada (wealth issues like payments and fines), Shatabhisha (discords in the life).
There are few things that are avoided in Panchak or Dratt’paunchukh –
1. Travelling specially in South direction
2. Collecting wood, grass, oil etc – anything that can catch fire
3. Building or Renovation of the roof of the house
4. Buying or getting a new bed
5. It is also said that no cremation should be done during Panchak. If you do so there can be five more deaths in the family. In unfortunate cases, if at all a death happens then five dolls should be made of the flour (atta) and should be kept on the dead body and cremated with it. The dosha of death is removed this way.

The science behind the Panchak Kaal is, all about the motion of the Moon. Motion of the moon and its placement effects the fluids of the human body and can aggravate & effect certain conditions including epilepsy and menstrual cycle. It is also proven that Moon’s magnetic effect can also bring the heightened emotions to surface causing mood swings. As per science (still under study), Moon controls our fertility and reproduction, influences violent crime, suicide and even traffic accidents, affects seizures, blood loss, sleep quality and even our political leanings. Therefore, Panchak kaal or Dratt’paunchukh had been defined by our ancestors to keep ourselves away from certain things that may cause harm in someway or the other.