HOW
TO PERFORM DAILY PUJA
Object of Puja Rituals
Puja ritual or worship of idols or
images of God has become in recent times a great and potent tenet of faith and
belief in out Hindu Religion or Sanatana Dharma.
Puja is not only performed in temples
but also in most of our homes. So too, we worship God in our Satsangh meetings
before we start our days' programme of kirtans and /or study of scriptures.
The object of the puja ritual is to
create and setup thoughts of spiritual forces in and around us. This is best
achieved by singing or chanting of some mantra, performing certain actions and
making offerings in three defined stages. Each mantra is a magazine of vast
spiritual forces.
Try to sit on a mat when you do
pooja. Don’t leave the room when you start it, be inside imaginary square or
rectangle, try to not attend phones,etc. until you have finished, have all
items ready at hand. Wear clean clothes, wash your hand and feet thoroughly
before you start.
First Stage
The first stage of worship consists
of purification by driving out the devils or bad tendencies and invoking devas
or good tendencies. This is done by ringing a bell and chanting "HariH
OM" and
“Aagamanaartham tu devaanaam
gamanaartham toorakshasaam Ghantaaravam karamyaadau devataavahan lamchanam"
All must join in the singing of this
mantra.
After this is over, the leader says
"Om bhur bhuvah svah". This is called "digbandhana" and
consists of chanting the sacred OM and the above three words called
"vyaahrites". By chanting this, we make a protective shell around us.
All the portals of the heart are closed against the ingress of the raakshasaas
or evil tendencies. At the end of the puja we break the shell by chanting the
three vyahrities first and OM last.
iti digbandhaH
thus the shell is formed.
Second
Stage
Now
commences the 2nd stage of puja ritual.
Our
attempts here would be to tune our minds to meditate upon God with a form by
chanting prayers and then contemplate upon the eternal purusha by chanting the
purusha suukta. The Lord of the universe is very magnificently described and
praised in this vedic hymn.
These
prayers are called the dhyaanam or "mantras of invocation".
Third Stage
Then
we come to the third stage of our puja ritual. The mandala brahmana upanishhad
explains the spiritual significance of the sixteen phased offerings to the God
invoked and installed in the idol or image or photo during the puujaa.
The
sixteen offerings are made in five steps.
First Step
the 1st 3 phases are called the dhyaana seat.
"tasya niShTha dhyaanaH". When we are merged in it without any other
thought or feeling it is called meditation or dhyaana. We chant
1.
dhyaayaami
God
or Goddess to reside in the idol or image or photo for the time being, so that
the spiritual force may flow through the medium of the idol etc. towards
you/all the people assembled.
2. aavaahayaami
3. aasanam samarpayaami
Second Step
Then follow the three phases of "water
ceremony". They are the offering of paadyam, arghyam and snaanam. Water is
offered for washing the feet, the hands and for oblation. These phases are
possible only in case of idols in houses. As our idol or image or photo would
be decorated before or at the commencement of the satsangh, the water is
sprinkled by means of the middle finger of the right hand first at the feet for
paadyam, then at the hands for arghyam and lastly at the chest and then from
head to feet for snaanam (bath or oblation).
4. paadyam samarpayaami
5. aachamaniiyam samarpayaami
6. arghyam samarpayaami
7. snaanam samarpayaami
Third Step
Then
we have the 3 phased offering of gandha or sandal paste, raw rice mixed with
kumkum called akshataa and flowers.
8. gandham samarpayaami
9. akshataan samarpayaami
10. puShpaaNi puujayaami
Fourth Step
After these, we have the waving of lights and offering
of naivedya viz. food, fruits, etc. dhuupa is burning of incense and waving it
before God or Goddess and diipa is the waving of a light. All waving of light
and incense is done in circular motion from the right side.
11. dhuupam
aaghyaapayaami
12. dipam
sa.ndarshayaami
Next the naivedyam is offered by pouring a few drops of
water in our right palm and by uttering the names of praaNa and brahma. After
naivedya, taambula or betel leaf is offered.
13. naivedyam
nivedayaami
At that time a little water is poured into the right
palm and offered as the naivedya, chanting thus:
|
OM
PraaNaaya svaaha |
|
apaanaaya
svaahaa |
|
vyaanaaya
svaahaa |
|
udaanaaya
svaahaa |
|
samaanaaya
svaahaa |
|
brahmane
svaahaa |
14. taambuulam
samarpayaami
then we have the 3rd waving of lights called niiraajana
or ma.ngala aaratii. All must stand in their respective places.
ma.ngala
niiraajana samarpayaami
A
light is waved for the 3rd time in the manner stated in the instructions,
chanting the following mantra
na
tatra suuryo bhaati na chandra taarakaM
nemaa vidyuto bhaanti kutoyamagniH
tameva bhaa,ntamanu bhaati sarvam
tasya bhaasaa sarvamidam vibhaati
The leader waves the light 3 times before the feet of
the lord, then 3 times before the head, then 3 times from feet to head - all in
circular motions from right side to left side. All chant the above mantra.
The lighted lamp or camphor is taken to all the persons
assembled as a reminder of the eternal light of spirit shedding its glory
within each one of them.
Fifth Step
the
next step consists of performing pradakshinaa and offering namaskaara.
|
15 |
pradakShiNaa
namaskaara samarpayaami |
|
16 |
puShpaa.njali
samarpayaami |
Fourth stage
This consists of performing the visarjana by sending
back the God or Goddess invoked for the ritual and breaking up the shell by
chanting of "bhuurbhuvasvarOM".
The
mantras:
yathaasthaanam
pratishhThaapayaami
digvimokshaH
bhuurbhuvaH
svarom.
End of Puja
At
the closing of puujaa ritual, shaanti mantras are chanted and the entire puujaa
ritual is dedicated to the supreme lord or eterna purusha called brahmana.
OM
purrnamadaH ...
OM
bhadraM karNebhiH ...
svasti
na indro ...
OM
sarve bhavantu sukhinaH ...
OM
asato maa sadgamaya ...
OM
tatsatbrahmaarpaNamastu
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Do the Puja
anyway you can, with devotion and love for Lord in your heart.
God out of
His mercy will overlook all the shortcomings of men if they pursue the path of
devotion with fervour. At the end of worship, daily or occasional, a prayer is
offered to God not to mind the defects while chanting the mantras or adopting
the procedures or for forgetting to do some duties out of ignorance. The
Almighty is compassionate enough to ignore such errors. Thus, mercy being His
chief trait, a devotee need not be concerned with minor defects if his
endeavour is absolutely sincere but the enjoined duties should not be
abandoned.
yasya
smRityaa cha naamnoktyaa tapaH puujaa kriyaadishu |
nyuunaM
sampuurNataaM yaati sadyo vandey tam.h achyutam.h ||
This
shloka will take care of any shortcomings in the puja procedure.
Do
pradakshina 3 times and offer namaskarams with forigvance.
