difference between stotras and kavach of deities

Dear Shri, Dheeraj:

I am in agreement with Shri. Narasimha Rao's views posted in the forum. That
is why I did not post anything further to it.

Kavachas give you protection. Sthothras are basically essence of the vedic
concepts presented in such a way that can be used by everyone without any ritual
taboos. The rigid mantric procedures and guidelines do not apply to sthothraas.

Kavachas should be chanted with some sort of ritual purity. Actually kavachas
are mandatory before chanting certain moola mantra japams. When intense
saadhanas are done, the nervous system may undergo severe strain due to the
forceful awakening of the kundalini energy through the nervous system till
brain. This can sometimes cause people to lose their mental balance. Chanting
of kavachas before the chant of moola mantra protects and insures against such
possibility. Of course, it is not all mantras that are dangerous like that.
The example of a mantra that can prove dangerous without the corresponding
kavacha is "Mohini kavacha" without which the Mohini mantra (On Lord
Mahavishnu's Mohini avatar) can be dangerous.

There are other kavachas like Saraswathy kavacham from the Kanva Saakha
samihita which are for improvement of medha (enlightenment). It is said that
anyone who chants Saraswathy kavacham for 3 lakh times will win over the three
worlds! One who chants Gayathri kavacham and gets siddhi of it will gain the
strength of 1000 elephants. Generally, one who regularly chants kavacham of
deities is protected and will experience miraculous escape during
life-threatening circumstances.

Both sthothrams and kavachams have a common purpose - that of securing the
Grace of Deities to the aspirant.

You can chant them at your convenience. But, while chanting kavachams you
should be more careful with the pronunciations. There might be printing errors
in the works which you should get corrected by experts in your area. I will
tell you one real life incident....There was a great Ganapaadigal (one who is
expert in chanting the vedas in a form called Gana - a special permutation of
chanting the japams by repeating the syllables in a specific sequence) who used
to do regular chanting of Durga Sapta Sathi. All his wives were dying one after
the other....He approached the then Sringeri Sankaraachaarya for remedy(this
incident happened about 300 years back, and has been related to me by my elders
who inturn had been informed of this by their own elders), who was a great Shri
Vidyaa Upaasakaa. The Aachaarya closed His eyes in meditation for sometime and
then suddenly asked the Ganapaadigal to chant the Devi Kavacham.....The
Ganapaadigal started chanting....There is a
point in the Devi Kavacham "Bhaaryaam rakshatu Bhairavi" which means "Let
Goddess in Her form Bhairavi protect my wife"....but the Great Sanskrit Scholar
and Vedic expert, has been chanting it as "Bhaaryaam Bhakshatu Bhairavi" as the
palm leaf copy from which he had been chanting had this error! "Bhakshatu"
literally means "eating" which in mantrik parlance could mean destruction of the
wife instead of protection! The aacharyaa corrected the mistake and asked him
to chant it correctly henceforth and there would be no more deaths of wives for
him. The Ganapaadigal married later and had a good and long marital life for
many years. I am saying this to insist that kavacha mantras are very powerful
and in many cases, they are using the moola mantra beejams in appropriate places
and are capable of giving results as you chant them! So, you should be careful
about them.

But sthothras are not bound by such rigid rules. It is like a child's calling
a close relative....though the child may call without clarity, the elders will
know whom the child is calling....like that even if there is a slight mistake in
chanting simple slokhas and sthothras, the side effects will not be severe,
because it is almost like a child addressing its elders in the family. That is
why sages have given sthothras out of their kindness for the use of everyone.

Though I said I might be quitting the Vedic Astrology groups, as this message
contains some information that might be useful for everyone, I am posting a copy
of it to the group. My stance regarding further participation in the group
remains unchanged from my earlier stated view of the evening.

PS: Dear Shri. Khosla.... Please do not address me as clairvoyant or anything

like that; I do not think I am perfect in that! You can address me as Panditji
because I have learnt my subject thoroughly and earned the title; the same
cannot be said about calling me clairvoyant. I do not think I know the past,
present, and future perfectly; only then can you call me a clairvoyant!

Blessed be.
Pandit R.DAKSHINAMOORTHI