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Thursday, August 14, 2014
Basics of Pooja and its meaning?
Contributed by: Pundit Srinivas Khedam
Pooja is the process of worshipping God with pure mind and heart. Pooja is done everyday at home and in temples. Those who know the procedure of pooja will do it at home everyday in the morning, and some people do it in the evening too. The duration of a basic pooja is anywhere from 5 minutes to 3 hours. It all depends upon the type of pooja one performs. In the temples regular pooja is done in the morning and also in the evening. In addition to regular pooja many special poojas take place in the temples during the day and evening. Special poojas are performed on the days of festivals like Diwali, Ram Navami, Dassehra, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chathurthi, etc.
Mainly a pooja is of two types - A Simple Pooja and Detailed Pooja. The beauty is that God would be please by the quality of the pooja and not the time frame of the pooja. So, a devotee can receive the grace of God by performing either of these poojas according to his/her capacity.
A Simple Pooja
A simple pooja is a very basic one in which a devotee says some prayers glorifying God’s attributes and thanking Him for everything that he/she has been given in this life. These prayers are the in the form of chants and verses from the Holy Scriptures like the Vedas, Bhagavat Gita, Ramayana, Bhagavtham, etc. Depending on the length of the prayer, this pooja will take only 5 to 15 minutes. Every faithful Hindu performs this prayer everyday in the morning after the shower and before eating food. When performing this pooja usually a devotee stands or sits in front of God’s idol or picture.A Detailed Pooja
In a detailed pooja a devotee worships God in several steps, and all these steps demonstrate his/her love and devotion to God. The duration for this pooja is anywhere from 30 min to 3 hours. A detailed poojas contains 16 services (Sanskrit: Shodasha Upachara) offered to God with love and devotion. These steps are similar to how we honor and treat our beloved guests during their visit to our place.
Though there are poojas that have less and more than 16 steps the “shodasha upachara” pooja is a standard practice in temples and also on special occasions.
The following is the meaning and a brief explanation of the 16 steps
1. Dhyanam (prayer)
To engage our mind, body into god. When we want to worship god or a form of the god we need to feel that god around us, in us. While worshiping no other thoughts should pass our mind, and only thought that should come is about the god we are worshipping. Dhyanam is reciting a short prayer specific to god that one worships and engage our mind into lotus feet of that god. For example, ganesha dhyanam, Vishnu Dhyanam, Shiva Dhyanam, Narasimha Dhyanam, Krishna Dhyanam, Rama Dhyanam, etc.“Shanthakaaram Bhujaga Shayanam Padmanabhama Suresham,
Vishwakaram Gagana Sadrusham Meghavarnam Shubhangam
Lakshmikantham Kamala Nayanam Yogi Hrudyana Gamyam
Vande Vishnum Bhava Bhaya Haram Sarav Lokaika Natham” ( Vishnu Dhyanam)
2. Avahana invocation
Inviting the worshipped god to come into the place of worship or idol. Close your eyes and imagine that the god is standing right front of you. The imagination and worshipping god is very powerful. It brings clsoeness with the god. Pooja is yoga. yogah chhita vritti nirodha. Controlling your mind, wants, body is yoga. When we do pooja we really want to engage ourself into god right? There was a merchant -- 'baniya' who wanted to perform pooja without having to spend any money on buying pooja articles. So his guru told him to close his eyes and imagine that he is sitting on the banks of river ganges -- 'ganga'. There is beautiful idol of lord krishna infront of him. He is offering the nicely decorated throne to god, washing the god's feet, giving bath, and offering food. one day in his imagination he put more sugar into milk. Him being baniya -- merchant wanted to take out extra sugar from milk. Suddently someone stopped him and he was startled. He saw lord krishna himself standing infront of him. The lord gave him real darshan. This is the power of engaging mind into lord. The power of manas pooja. The ultimate goal is realizing the supreme. Without engaging mind its not possible. Hence close your eyes and imagine you are inviting god to the place of worship.3. Aaasana (offering seating)
Whenever we invite someone into our home we offer them seat first. The seat we offer to god is nice, decorated, golden throne. The god will accept even flower as a golden throne. Important thing is engaging mind into god and believing ourself that flower is a gloden throne. Close your eyes and imagine in your mind that the flower you are holding to offer is nothing but a golden seat you are offering to the god. Offer a flower and request god to consider that as golden throne.4. Paadya (washing of feet)
Wash the feet of God by pouring water at His feet5. Arghya (washing of hands)
Offer water to God’s hands to wash His hands6. Aachamana (offering of drinking water)
Offer water to God’s mouth to drink7. Snana (bathing with water or panchamruthas)
Sprinkle water on God as if giving Him bath. In a detailed pooja bath God with panchamrutham (Milk, Yoghurt, Ghee, Honey, Sugar, Coconut Water, Fruit Juice, Sandal Powder, Turmeric one at a time)8. Vastra (new clothes)
Offer new clothes or just offer Akshathas or flowers9. Yajnopavita (sacred thread)
Offer Yajnopaveetham(sacred thread/flower/akshathas)10. Gandha (sandal paste)
Place sandalwood paste on the forehead of God11. Archana (flowers)
Glorify God by reciting His 108 names, separate for every God, and offer one flower or a petal a time, like offering flowers/flower petals to Lord Venkatesha and Lakshmi Devi, Lord Shiva and Parvati Devi.12. Dhoopam (incense)
Show incense to God to fill His body with fragrance. Also, signifies one soul aspiring to reach God13. Deepam (Oil lamp)
Show oil lamp to god symbolizing bringing of light into one’s place and life14. Naivedyam (offering of specially prepared food).
Offer specially prepared food to God. This food must be prepared cleanly in separate utensils, other than in what we eat, and without tasting before hand.15. Tamboolam( offering Betel Leaves and Betel nuts)
Betel leaves and betel nuts are good for digestion and we want our beloved God to feel comfortable after eating the delicious food that we offered16. Aarati
Camphor lamp is shown to God as an act of taking away the evil eye from our beloved God who is really handsom The pooja ends with another service called “Manthar Pushapma” in which a devotee offers handful of flowers to God finally glorifying Him.
In the end, devotees say the following manthra
kayena vaacha, manasendriyairva
budhyatmana va prakriter swabhavat
karomi yad yad sakalam parasmai
narayanayeti samarpayami.
“Sarvam Sri Krishnarpanamasthu”
kayena vaacha, manasendriyairva
budhyatmana va prakriter swabhavat
karomi yad yad sakalam parasmai
narayanayeti samarpayami.
“Sarvam Sri Krishnarpanamasthu”
It means a devotee as asking God to forgive him/her for any mistakes he/she may have done during the pooja. Also, being humble by saying that he doesn’t want to keep the result of the pooja, but want to give it to God. This is an act of complete surrender to the Supreme Godhead.
Finally, what a devotee needs in a pooja is love for God, sincerity, dedication, and concentration. If these qualities are not there in a pooja it will be waste of time. A 5 minute pooja with one flower, some water and fruit is enough to please God, provided one’s mind is pure.
Life and God
God is often conceived as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith.[1] The concept of God as described by theologians commonly includes the attributes of omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere),omnibenevolence (perfect goodness), divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator (but not the sustainer) of the universe. Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one God or in the oneness of God. In pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is purported not to exist, while deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism. God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[1] Many notable medieval philosophers and modern philosophershave developed arguments for and against the existence of God.[2]
There are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about God's identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten,[3] premised on being the one "true" Supreme Being and Creator of the Universe.[4] In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, "He Who Is," "I Am that I Am", and thetetragrammaton YHWH are used as names of God, while Yahweh, and Jehovah are sometimes used in Christianity as vocalizations of YHWH. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, the latter of which is believed by some scholars to descend from the Egyptian Aten.] In Islam, the name Allah, "Al-El," or "Al-Elah" ("the God") is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a monistic deity.[11] Other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Bahá'í Faith,[12] Waheguru in Sikhism,[13] and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism.[14]
The many different conceptions of God, and competing claims as to God's characteristics, aims, and actions, have led to the development of ideas of Omnitheism, Pandeism,[15][16] or a Perennial philosophy, wherein it is supposed that there is one underlying theological truth, of which all religions express a partial understanding, and as to which "the devout in the various great world religions are in fact worshipping that one God, but through different, overlapping concepts or mental images of him."[17]
Guru Purnima
(IAST: GGuru Purnima uru Pūrṇimā, sanskrit: गुरु पूर्णिमा) is an Indian festival dedicated to spiritual and academic teacHindus and Buddhists, to thank their teachers. It is marked by ritualistic respect to the guru, Guru Puja. The Guru Principle is said to be a thousand times more active on the day of Gurupournima than on any other day.[2] The word guru is derived from two words, gu and ru. The Sanskrit root gu means darkness or ignorance, and ru denotes the remover of that darkness. Therefore a guru is one who removes the darkness of our ignorance. Gurus are believed by many to be the most necessary part of life. On this day, disciples offer puja (worship) or pay respect to their guru (spiritual guide). It falls on the day of full moon, Purnima, in the month of Ashadh (June–July) of the Shaka Samvat, Indian national calendar and Hindu calendar.[3]
hers. This festival traditionally celebrated by
In addition to having religious importance, this festival has great importance for Indian academics and scholars. Indian academics celebrate this day by thanking their teachers as well as remembering past teachers and scholars.
Traditionally the festival is celebrated by Buddhists in honor of the lord Buddha who gave His first sermon on this day at Sarnath,Uttar Pradesh, India. In the yogic tradition, the day is celebrated as the occasion when Shiva became the first guru, as he began the transmission of yoga to the Saptarishis.[4] Many Hindus celebrate the day in honor of the great sage Vyasa, who is seen as one of the greatest gurus in ancient Hindu traditions and a symbol of the Guru-shishya tradition. Vyasa was not only believed to have been born on this day, but also to have started writing the Brahma Sutras on ashadha sudha padyami, which ends on this day. Their recitations are a dedication to him, and are organised on this day, which is also known as Vyasa Purnima.[5][6][7] The festival is common to all spiritual traditions in Hinduism, where it is an expression of gratitude toward the teacher by his/her disciple.[8] Hindu ascetics and wandering monks (sanyasis), observe this day by offering puja to their guru, during the Chaturmas, a four-month period during the rainy season, when they choose seclusion and stay at one chosen place; some also give discourses to the local public.[9] Students ofIndian classical music, which also follows the Guru shishya parampara, celebrate this holy festival around the world.
Guru (Devanagari गुरु) is a Sanskrit term for "teacher" or "master",
Guru (Devanagari गुरु) is a Sanskrit term for "teacher" or "master", particularly in Indian religions. The Hindu guru-shishya tradition is the oral tradition or religious doctrine or experiential wisdom transmitted from teacher to student. In the United States, the word guru is a newer term, most often used to describe a teacher from the Hindu tradition. In the West some derogatory interpretations of the word have been noted, reflecting certain gurus who have allegedly exploited their followers' naiveté, due to the use of the term in certain new religioThe importance of finding a guru who can impart transcendental knowledge (vidyā) is emphasised in Hinduism. One of the main Hindu texts, the Bhagavad Gita, is a dialogue between God in the form of Krishna and his friend Arjuna, a Kshatriyaprince who accepts Krishna as his guru on the battlefield, prior to a large battle. Not only does this dialogue outline many of the ideals of Hinduism, but their relationship is considered an ideal one of Guru-Shishya. In the Gita, Krishna speaks to Arjuna of the importance of finding a guru:us movements.[1
Sunday, August 10, 2014
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