1. - Dhyanam: [Meditation] -- to pray that the deity who resides in our heart is invited to come into the picture that we are going to do the Pooja.
2. - Avaahanam: -- to pray that the Divine powers should remain in that site until we complete our Pooja.
3. - Archana: - to recite the great names of the Deity several times and offer flowers or akshada as we perform the Pooja.
4. - Doopam: - To pray through the perfumed incense smoke and light.
5. - Deepam: - To use a Ghee lamp light and pray to God in the form of the Flame.
6. - Nivedhanam: [Prasadam] - to offer food items like fruits,or sweet or milk.
7. - Uttharaneerañjanam: - Deepa offerings with lighted Camphor.
8. - Prarthana: - to sing or say the praise of thr Lord anf pray.
9. - Then we pray thanking the Lord and receive Him back into our heart.
10.- Sharanagati – The worshipper bows to the deity.
Divinity Accepts Service Done Both on Physical and Mind Level
Diety Worship - A Muslim Perspective Clarified
A devotee named Balaji was travelling in a train on the
day of Gita Jayanti and it incidentally happened to be
the day of bakri-id. So many muslims were also traveling
in the train on that day. He got down at khandeshwar
station to catch the next train. Five to 6 muslim
youngsters also got down from the same bogie and followed
him. They had a spokesperson who seemed to be quite well
read amongst them. He stopped the devotee and then
the following conversation happened.
Muslim: Oh! You seem to be a well educated person. Have you
dedicated your whole life for this preaching mission?
Balaji: Yes.
Muslim: Oh! That's very nice. You are doing such a nice thing.
I am also very interested in knowing about your religion and
I have done quite a lot of study about your religion also.
Can I ask you a few questions?
Balaji: Sure.
The spokesperson's tone, which sounded very pleasant till now,
suddenly became sarcastic.
Muslim: So you people believe in idol worship?
Balaji: No, we believe in deity worship.
Muslim: What is the difference?
Balaji: The difference is like this. You see post boxes in
almost every street of Mumbai. When you post a letter
addressed to a person staying in Delhi or Chennai in the
post box it will eventually reach him even if there is a
slight mistake in the address. But if you yourself paint
a box in black and red, hang it outside your door and
post a letter in it, it will never reach the destination
even if it is addressed to the person next door. Why?
Because the postbox has been authenticated by the
government, letters posted in that box are regularly
cleared by postal department professionals and delivered
to their destinations. Similarly the deities are invested
with the complete potencies of the Lord Himself and hence
can be worshipped.
Muslim: Oh! Then, does it mean that if I am at a place
where there is no access to the deities I cannot worship
the Lord?
Balaji: No, You can worship Him through His holy names.
Holy Quran says that there are 100 names of Lord Allah.
The same way our scriptures also mention so many names
of the Lord which are invested with all the potencies.
So, we can always worship the Lord through His holy names.
Muslim: Oh! If the Lord can be worshipped simply through
His holy names then what is the need for deity worship?
Balaji: Ok. Now I will give you my cell phone and you have
unlimited free minutes for the rest of your life to speak
with your mother. Does it negate the need for having any more
personal interactions with your mother for the rest of your
life? Will you be satisfied by just speaking with her over
phone or would you want to personally have some interactions
with her and do some service to her when she is in need?
Muslim: I would definitely like to have personal interactions.
Balaji: Yes, the same way Deity worship gives us this nice
opportunity do personal service to the Lord. Moreover,
the many names of the Lord are actually named after their
form. For example, the Lord is called Keshava, meaning,
the one with beautiful hair. He is also called Padma
Lochana, meaning, the one with eyes as beautiful as
lotus petals. If just these names, which are named after
the forms of the Lord, are so much attractive,how much
more the forms themselves would attract the hearts of the
devotees?Hence the deities are there in order to
attract the devotees.
Muslim: But I have read in your vedic scriptures that those
who do Asambhuti worship go to the darkest regions of hell?
(Referring probably to the Isopanishad verse)
Balaji: Yes, it is Ishopanishad verse 12, "andham tamah
pravishanti ye asambhutim upasate".
His face had a completely shocked ex-pression when he heard me
actually quote the verse. May be he never expected any hindu
to know and what to speak of actually quoting the verse?
Balaji: Here the word asambhuti doesn't refer to deity worship,
but it refers to demigod worship. Anyways, you seem to be well
read in our scriptures. What do our scriptures mention about
the right process of acquiring vedic knowledge?
Muslim: I don't know.
Balaji: See (Opening the Bhagavad gita and showing Bg 4.34)
this is the process. First one should surrender to a spiritual
master, serve him nicely and then humbly question. Then the
spiritual knowledge flows. Did you receive your knowledge
by this process?
Muslim: No.
Balaji: Then, how did you learn?
Muslim: I read from the Oxford university press edition
of your Vedas.
Balaji: See, that is the problem. Neither the person who
wrote the book nor you who read his book understood the
Vedas in the way it is recommended.One cannot understand
the vedic scriptures by a mere knowledge of Sanskrit,
the same way a person with just a knowledge of English
cannot understand a chemistry or physics book, though it
may be written in the English language. But I see that
you have a genuine interest in understanding our scriptures
(with a pinch of sarcasm). Now, you want to take this
Bhagavad gita?
Muslim (With a completely confused look): No, No. I will
call you later. He hurriedly walked away with his
cheerleaders.
day of Gita Jayanti and it incidentally happened to be
the day of bakri-id. So many muslims were also traveling
in the train on that day. He got down at khandeshwar
station to catch the next train. Five to 6 muslim
youngsters also got down from the same bogie and followed
him. They had a spokesperson who seemed to be quite well
read amongst them. He stopped the devotee and then
the following conversation happened.
Muslim: Oh! You seem to be a well educated person. Have you
dedicated your whole life for this preaching mission?
Balaji: Yes.
Muslim: Oh! That's very nice. You are doing such a nice thing.
I am also very interested in knowing about your religion and
I have done quite a lot of study about your religion also.
Can I ask you a few questions?
Balaji: Sure.
The spokesperson's tone, which sounded very pleasant till now,
suddenly became sarcastic.
Muslim: So you people believe in idol worship?
Balaji: No, we believe in deity worship.
Muslim: What is the difference?
Balaji: The difference is like this. You see post boxes in
almost every street of Mumbai. When you post a letter
addressed to a person staying in Delhi or Chennai in the
post box it will eventually reach him even if there is a
slight mistake in the address. But if you yourself paint
a box in black and red, hang it outside your door and
post a letter in it, it will never reach the destination
even if it is addressed to the person next door. Why?
Because the postbox has been authenticated by the
government, letters posted in that box are regularly
cleared by postal department professionals and delivered
to their destinations. Similarly the deities are invested
with the complete potencies of the Lord Himself and hence
can be worshipped.
Muslim: Oh! Then, does it mean that if I am at a place
where there is no access to the deities I cannot worship
the Lord?
Balaji: No, You can worship Him through His holy names.
Holy Quran says that there are 100 names of Lord Allah.
The same way our scriptures also mention so many names
of the Lord which are invested with all the potencies.
So, we can always worship the Lord through His holy names.
Muslim: Oh! If the Lord can be worshipped simply through
His holy names then what is the need for deity worship?
Balaji: Ok. Now I will give you my cell phone and you have
unlimited free minutes for the rest of your life to speak
with your mother. Does it negate the need for having any more
personal interactions with your mother for the rest of your
life? Will you be satisfied by just speaking with her over
phone or would you want to personally have some interactions
with her and do some service to her when she is in need?
Muslim: I would definitely like to have personal interactions.
Balaji: Yes, the same way Deity worship gives us this nice
opportunity do personal service to the Lord. Moreover,
the many names of the Lord are actually named after their
form. For example, the Lord is called Keshava, meaning,
the one with beautiful hair. He is also called Padma
Lochana, meaning, the one with eyes as beautiful as
lotus petals. If just these names, which are named after
the forms of the Lord, are so much attractive,how much
more the forms themselves would attract the hearts of the
devotees?Hence the deities are there in order to
attract the devotees.
Muslim: But I have read in your vedic scriptures that those
who do Asambhuti worship go to the darkest regions of hell?
(Referring probably to the Isopanishad verse)
Balaji: Yes, it is Ishopanishad verse 12, "andham tamah
pravishanti ye asambhutim upasate".
His face had a completely shocked ex-pression when he heard me
actually quote the verse. May be he never expected any hindu
to know and what to speak of actually quoting the verse?
Balaji: Here the word asambhuti doesn't refer to deity worship,
but it refers to demigod worship. Anyways, you seem to be well
read in our scriptures. What do our scriptures mention about
the right process of acquiring vedic knowledge?
Muslim: I don't know.
Balaji: See (Opening the Bhagavad gita and showing Bg 4.34)
this is the process. First one should surrender to a spiritual
master, serve him nicely and then humbly question. Then the
spiritual knowledge flows. Did you receive your knowledge
by this process?
Muslim: No.
Balaji: Then, how did you learn?
Muslim: I read from the Oxford university press edition
of your Vedas.
Balaji: See, that is the problem. Neither the person who
wrote the book nor you who read his book understood the
Vedas in the way it is recommended.One cannot understand
the vedic scriptures by a mere knowledge of Sanskrit,
the same way a person with just a knowledge of English
cannot understand a chemistry or physics book, though it
may be written in the English language. But I see that
you have a genuine interest in understanding our scriptures
(with a pinch of sarcasm). Now, you want to take this
Bhagavad gita?
Muslim (With a completely confused look): No, No. I will
call you later. He hurriedly walked away with his
cheerleaders.
Deity n God
Deities, called murtis in Sanskrit, are an important part of Vedic temples and the Vedic tradition, but what is the significance of Deities and Deity worship? One thing to understand is that all the images of the Deities in the Vedic pantheon, as found in the temples, are made according to explicit details and instructions found in the Vedic texts called Shilpa Shastras. From these instructions we find the means to portray the proper stance, hand gestures, and other factors in the image of the Deity. In this way, Deities are not formed according to whim but in compliance to the scriptural regulations. Then they are installed in the temple in an elaborate ceremony known as Prana-pratishta, wherein the divine personalities are called to appear in the form of the Deity. Some people, however, do not believe that God has a form. But many verses in the Puranas and, particularly, the Brahma-samhita establish that the Supreme Being does have a specific form. These texts also describe His variegated features, which include His spiritual shape, characteristics, beauty, strength, intelligence, activities, etc. Therefore, it is considered that the authorized Deities of the Supreme that are shaped according to these descriptions provide a view of the personal form of God.
Some people may question that if the Deity is made from material elements, such as stone, marble, metal, wood, or paint, how can it be the spiritual form of God? The answer is given that since God is the source of all material and spiritual energies, material elements are also a form of God. Therefore, God can manifest as the Deity in the temple, though made of stone or other elements, since He can transform what is spiritual into material energy, and material energy back into spiritual energy. Thus, the Deity can easily be accepted as the Supreme since He can appear in any element as He chooses, whether it be stone, marble, wood, gold, silver, or paint on canvas. In this way, even though we may be unqualified to see God, who is beyond the perceptibility of our material senses, the living beings in this material creation are allowed to see and approach the Supreme through His archa-vigraha form as the worshipable Deity in the temple. This is considered His causeless mercy on the materially conditioned living beings that He would allow Himself to appear to humanity as a Deity to accept our worship and service.
In this manner, the Supreme Being gives Himself to His devotees so they can become absorbed in serving, remembering and meditating on Him. Thus, the Supreme comes to dwell in the temple to accept our worship and attract the eyes to concentrate and meditate on the Deity, and the temple becomes the spiritual abode on earth. In time, the body, mind and senses of the devotee become spiritualized by serving the Deity, and the Supreme becomes fully manifest to him or her. Worshiping the Deity of the Supreme and using one’s senses in the process of bhakti-yoga, devotional service to the Supreme, provides a means for one’s true essential spiritual nature to unfold. The devotee becomes spiritually realized and the Deity reveals His spiritual nature to the sincere souls according to their evolutionary spiritual development. This can continue to the level in which the Supreme Being in the form of the Deity engages in a personal relationship and performs reciprocal, loving pastimes with the devotee, as has previously taken place with other advanced individuals.
At this stage, darshan is not simply a matter of viewing the Deity in the temple, but to one who is spiritually realized it is a matter of experiencing the Deity and entering into a personal, reciprocal exchange with the Supreme Personality in the form of the Deity. At that stage, you may view the Deity, but the Deity also gazes at you, and then there is a spiritual exchange wherein the Deity begins to reveal His personality to you. This is what separates those who are experienced from those who are not, or those who can delve into this spiritual exchange and those who may still be trying to figure it out. For those who have experienced such an exchange with the Supreme or His Deity, at this stage the worship of the Supreme Being in the Deity moves up to a whole different level, with no limits as to the spiritual love that can be shared between the devotee and the Deity.
Chapter 12. Devotional Service
TEXT 1
arjuna uvaca
evam satata-yukta ye
bhaktas tvam paryupasate
ye capy aksaram avyaktam
tesam ke yoga-vittamah
SYNONYMS
arjunah uvaca--Arjuna said; evam--thus; satata--always; yuktah--engaged; ye--those; bhaktah--devotees; tvam--unto You; paryupasate--properly worship; ye--those; ca--also; api--again; aksaram--beyond the senses; avyaktam--unmanifested; tesam--of them; ke--who; yoga-vit-tamah--the most perfect.
TRANSLATION
Arjuna inquired: Which is considered to be more perfect, those who are properly engaged in Your devotional service, or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?
Chapter 12. Devotional Service
TEXT 2
sri-bhagavan uvaca
mayy avesya mano ye mam
nitya-yukta upasate
sraddhaya parayopetas
te me yuktatama matah
SYNONYMS
sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; mayi--unto Me; avesya--fixing; manah--mind; ye--one who; mam--unto Me; nitya--always; yuktah--engaged; upasate--worships; sraddhaya--with faith; paraya--transcendental; upetah--engages; te--they; me--Me; yukta-tamah--most perfect; matah--I consider.
TRANSLATION
The Blessed Lord said: He whose mind is fixed on My personal form, always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith, is considered by Me to be most perfect.
Some people may question that if the Deity is made from material elements, such as stone, marble, metal, wood, or paint, how can it be the spiritual form of God? The answer is given that since God is the source of all material and spiritual energies, material elements are also a form of God. Therefore, God can manifest as the Deity in the temple, though made of stone or other elements, since He can transform what is spiritual into material energy, and material energy back into spiritual energy. Thus, the Deity can easily be accepted as the Supreme since He can appear in any element as He chooses, whether it be stone, marble, wood, gold, silver, or paint on canvas. In this way, even though we may be unqualified to see God, who is beyond the perceptibility of our material senses, the living beings in this material creation are allowed to see and approach the Supreme through His archa-vigraha form as the worshipable Deity in the temple. This is considered His causeless mercy on the materially conditioned living beings that He would allow Himself to appear to humanity as a Deity to accept our worship and service.
In this manner, the Supreme Being gives Himself to His devotees so they can become absorbed in serving, remembering and meditating on Him. Thus, the Supreme comes to dwell in the temple to accept our worship and attract the eyes to concentrate and meditate on the Deity, and the temple becomes the spiritual abode on earth. In time, the body, mind and senses of the devotee become spiritualized by serving the Deity, and the Supreme becomes fully manifest to him or her. Worshiping the Deity of the Supreme and using one’s senses in the process of bhakti-yoga, devotional service to the Supreme, provides a means for one’s true essential spiritual nature to unfold. The devotee becomes spiritually realized and the Deity reveals His spiritual nature to the sincere souls according to their evolutionary spiritual development. This can continue to the level in which the Supreme Being in the form of the Deity engages in a personal relationship and performs reciprocal, loving pastimes with the devotee, as has previously taken place with other advanced individuals.
At this stage, darshan is not simply a matter of viewing the Deity in the temple, but to one who is spiritually realized it is a matter of experiencing the Deity and entering into a personal, reciprocal exchange with the Supreme Personality in the form of the Deity. At that stage, you may view the Deity, but the Deity also gazes at you, and then there is a spiritual exchange wherein the Deity begins to reveal His personality to you. This is what separates those who are experienced from those who are not, or those who can delve into this spiritual exchange and those who may still be trying to figure it out. For those who have experienced such an exchange with the Supreme or His Deity, at this stage the worship of the Supreme Being in the Deity moves up to a whole different level, with no limits as to the spiritual love that can be shared between the devotee and the Deity.
Chapter 12. Devotional Service
TEXT 1
arjuna uvaca
evam satata-yukta ye
bhaktas tvam paryupasate
ye capy aksaram avyaktam
tesam ke yoga-vittamah
SYNONYMS
arjunah uvaca--Arjuna said; evam--thus; satata--always; yuktah--engaged; ye--those; bhaktah--devotees; tvam--unto You; paryupasate--properly worship; ye--those; ca--also; api--again; aksaram--beyond the senses; avyaktam--unmanifested; tesam--of them; ke--who; yoga-vit-tamah--the most perfect.
TRANSLATION
Arjuna inquired: Which is considered to be more perfect, those who are properly engaged in Your devotional service, or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?
Chapter 12. Devotional Service
TEXT 2
sri-bhagavan uvaca
mayy avesya mano ye mam
nitya-yukta upasate
sraddhaya parayopetas
te me yuktatama matah
SYNONYMS
sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; mayi--unto Me; avesya--fixing; manah--mind; ye--one who; mam--unto Me; nitya--always; yuktah--engaged; upasate--worships; sraddhaya--with faith; paraya--transcendental; upetah--engages; te--they; me--Me; yukta-tamah--most perfect; matah--I consider.
TRANSLATION
The Blessed Lord said: He whose mind is fixed on My personal form, always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith, is considered by Me to be most perfect.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)