POOJA

All of us should worship and serve God. Silk clothes should preferably be worn during the puja. If you don’t have silk or woolen clothes, you should at least use washed clothes. It should be worn without tying a knot. Before starting the puja, one should look at Var, Tithi, Nakshatra, Yoga and Shaka in Panchanga, pronounce them and formulate a resolution(Sankalp). While starting the pooja, one should first purify the body by applying bhasma(ash) and then by applying Gandh(scent). For this, first take the bhasma(ash) on the palm of the left hand and add water to it and apply it on the head, chest and navel. After that apply in other places There should be 3 lines at each place while applying bhasma(ash). Finally, take water in the right palm and dip the tip of the ring finger in it, drink it after chanting ‘Shri Gurudev Dutt’ or any other name and thereafter wash your hands.

There should be no haste while doing puja. We have mantras for every action. You can learn it from a Brahmin. Everyone should take care that the puja should start before sunrise. During the puja, one by one each deity should be taken down and after the pooja, one by one each deity should be placed again in the same order. At that time, one should take care that the god does not fall from the hands. Sometimes, in haste, if some object falls on God’s body, one should immediately ask God’s forgiveness very meekly. While offering Gandh(scent) to God, Gandh(scent) tablets should preferably be used.In case of application of diluted Gandh(scent), the Gandh(scent) taken once on the finger, should be applied with the finger next to the little finger for the same god.

While worshiping, one should act like ‘Yatha Dehe Tatha Deve’ . All the things which are required by us, it’s your duty to offer it to god. When we follow this and take care of things such as Pooja-Archa, Naivedya etc.I say from personal experience that God gives us wholeheartedly. Cleanliness should be maintained while doing pooja.Devghar, Devpat, photos, accessories etc,Everything should be clean.Gandh(scent) spots should not remain anywhere. Pictures should be wiped daily with a wet cloth. They should not be worshiped with old Gandh(scent) stains.

Pooja is not only the worship of the idols at home or the idols in the temple, praising the gods, chanting hymns, bowing, offering Gandh(scent) , applying bhasma(ashes),drawing rangoli are also part of pooja rituals. Bowing to the Guru with devotion is also a ritual itself. He should do whatever he can. Gods are pleased with this worship. Those who are not able to perform physical worship should perform mental worship of their deities and gurus.

Seasonal flowers and leaves should be offered to the gods during worship. A flower which has fragrance is loved by the gods. Only men should do pooja where they have Shaligram. If you want to light a continuous lamp in the house for 24 hours, you should plan for two lamps. As Agni is the form of the Gods, care should be taken not to extinguish the lamp. The power of the idols that we have in our homes gets depleted after a few years. We should do Pran pratishtha once in 12 years. The worship of Kulaswami and Kuladevata,according to tradition, should be done first and then worship of Ishta Devata and Guru should be done.

||Aarti||

Aarti is the sincere praise and form of worship of God. Aarti should be recited in clear words. If you don’t know the aarti, while other people are chanting aarti, keep looking at the idol or photo of the god with concentration and try to recollect that form in your mind or else you can do Naamsmaran, but don’t just stand there. In some Aarti’s, when gods are described, that form should be remembered. E.g. Ganpati’s Aarti says ‘Darśana mātrē mana:Kāmanā puratīi’. Then the devotees should take darshan of Ganpati in the mental form of worship. Also, in the aarti of Shri Dattatreya, ‘Datta yē’ūniyā ubhā ṭhākalā. Sadbhāvē sāṣṭāṅgē praṇipāta kēlā.’ While uttering those words, bow to Sri Dattatreya. Follow the Śāstra(science/law) as much as you can. Try to worship based on Śāstra

|| Idol worship ||

Gods never mentioned idol worship, but the sages thoughtfully started idol worship for the welfare of the next generation and to impart good sanskar to them. Ordinary devotees cannot worship Nirguṇa and Nirākara, so the Saguṇā Sākāra method of worship was introduced.

The deities are awakened by the effect of the mantra. If God is worshiped daily in the house with chanting of mantra, the idols in the house will be awakened. Those idols take care of our welfare.

You should keep a Bharīva(solid) idol in the temple. Because Bharīva means perfected, that is the supreme form of that deity. There should be ‘Idols’ rather than pictures or miniatures of Gods in the Deoghar because it is from those idols that the presence of the Lord is ‘observable’. If Abhishek is to be performed in the puja, the idol should be there at that time.

The right conch should preferably be used in the puja, but if it is not available, the left conch is also used in the puja.

The photo is used only to see or remember that person. An idol is required for doing meditation or worship. Nowadays people say that their work has increased. They don’t get time to worship themselves, but they need to worship God as per customs and tradition, so they appoint priests and worship God through them. They pay a monthly salary to the priest and perform puja from him. The approach of priests is professional. They tend to do more work in less time. No rites are performed by the priests on that idol. Instead of bathing the idol properly, they somehow pour water on the body of the idol in a hurry. Instead of offering flowers to god with devotion, flowers are thrown on the body. After completing a puja, they are eager to go to the next house. How will consciousness be aroused in the idol due to the rites performed in this way? How will the people in the house get blessings?

We are all ordinary devotees. We do not understand what we should do to overcome our fate. The easiest solution is to surrender to these idols, worship them, praise them and please them. What do we do when we do pranpratishtha in idols? He puts his life into it. Therefore consciousness arises in that idol. Once consciousness is created, it is like lighting a bulb in a house.

|| Idol in Deoghara ||

There are many idols in our temple. Those idols should be Bharīva(solid). We should perform Abhiṣēka(consecration). Also milk should be used for Abhiṣēka(consecration) ,once a month. Idols which are made of metal are affected by the external environment and deteriorate. To get rid of these spots, lemon should be applied and the spots should be cleaned and Abhiṣēka(consecration) should be done on that day.There should be no hollow idols in deoghara and Abhiṣēka(consecration) should not be performed on such idols. Some houses only have face-masks, Abhiṣēka(consecration) should not be performed on them. There should be no idols of ancestors in the Deoghar. Some houses have more than one idol of the same God collected for some reason. Where there are more than one idol, only one idol should be kept in the Deoghar. Other idols should be kept aside. Or if the children or brothers of the house where there are many idols have separated, they should be given to them. Only the elder child should give the idol of Upāsya deity and Kuladaivata after him. If there are right-sided and left-sided trunk Ganesha idols in the house, then the left-sided trunk idol should be kept in the puja and the other should be kept aside. Also there should not be a black-coloured idol of Lord Ganesha. No idol should accompany his vehicle. Only the idol of Khandoba should be kept with the vehicle.

The idols in our house are touched by many people. As their power wanes after a few years, they should be ritually revived once in 12 years. There is no need to do Pran Pratistha where there is Swayambhu idol or where there is Shaligram. If a new idol is to be installed, Pran Pratistha should be done in Solstice. If someone has died in the house, after the thirteenth day, Pran Pratistha of the idol should be done again. It is called Udak Shant. Abhishekam should be done with Vedic mantra at least once a month on the idols in the house.

A religious atmosphere exists in a house where idols of God are revered and worship is done daily. There is always a pleasant atmosphere.There is happiness and contentment in the house. What kind and amount of consciousness has been created in the idol of God can be seen while seeing the idol. Righteous persons start to feel like that. The rays emanating from the idol are felt.

|| Naivedya ||

When you feel hungry, first make an oblation to the gods and then eat.

|| Panchayatana Puja ||

The common man in society worships different gods, for his different purposes; But when his feelings and devotion reach a zenith, his worship is fruitful. For this reason, it is seen that the incarnated men have created ‘Panchayatan’ for the common people to perform daily worship uninterruptedly.

Shankaracharya established idols and started idol worship during his time. Especially the Panchayatana. By performing pooja like Panchayatana, the human soul can attain brilliance, power, wisdom, opulence, knowledge, renunciation and dispassion.

Panchayat means Vishnu, Shankar, Ganesha, Devi and Sun worshiping deities should be placed in the centre and the rest of the deities should be placed in the four corners around them. Pan̄ca means five and Aayatan means house. These are the 5 locations of Lord’s special power. Unique, omniscient, omnipotent, merciful and just, all the five powers reside in the place of Lord. Each of those powers is represented by each God in the Panchayatana.

Surya, Devi, Shri Ganesh, Shri Vishnu and Shiva are the main five deities in the creation of the universe. That’s why this panchayatan has become a basis for all mankind, society. Here light is worshiped in the form of Sun and Shakti is worshiped in the form of Goddess. Intelligence is worshiped by worshiping Lord Ganesha. Opulence is worshiped through the worship of Vishnu and knowledge, dispassion and renunciation are worshiped through the worship of Shiva.

When a devotee worships God, performs Aarti and Karpur Aarti, he is in a way kindling the flame of his soul in his own body. Pancharati is also related to Panchapranas.

Man continues to perform daily ritual, Gradually devotion to God’s power develops in his mind and it is only through this enlightened devotion that he begins to realize power. When a devotee starts realizing the divine power in his own body, he automatically becomes stable, calm and happy.

According to the Panchayatana, it is necessary to worship regularly according to the rule of ‘Yatha Dehe Tatha Deve’. Because all the things mentioned in it are implicitly contained in the human body of each of us and with such regular worship we start to understand them.

If God is not worshiped at home, man becomes self-centered, unruly, so regular worship is important. Since I also have divine power manifested in this body, keeping my photo in the house or in worship, it also controls your arbitrariness.

Pooja in the house should be performed by men, but in some places, as men do not have time, only the women of the house are seen doing the pooja. If a woman is pregnant at such a time, then she is permitted according to Shastra to perform pooja only till the fifth month. In some households the host does not perform the puja himself, but asks Brahmins, monks to perform the puja on his behalf. Sometimes they fail to see Panchang. So while worshiping, they guess Nakshatra, Tithi, Var. Many times this information is wrong so the host does not get the virtue of worship.

Although we are like God to you, the worship of Gods is to be done for the imparting manners on the next generation, so it is your duty to worship them.