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Vidhya
Bharati
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Rituals
of Prayers and Pooja at Home
Prayers
to Ishta Devatha & Athikãra Pooja
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Lesson
5. Home
Pooja Methods
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by
Sri Raja Rathna Bhattar
Priest
Emeritus, Sri Meenakshi Temple, Pearland, Texas, USA
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All
religions teach that prayers rituals are very important to get devotion
to God. The religions or lands may vary but this belief of importance
of prayers is stressed in all faiths. Our ancestors have given us
the gift of the rules of community worship in a Temple for the welfare
of the people of the community as a whole and the prosperity of
the world. They have given us the rules of prayers at home as essential
for the welfare of the individuals and their family. The basic and
essential principle behind the prayer is the total surrender to
God who fills the universe by His glory and is present everywhere
and that without His command even an atom will not move.
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The
rules of prayer services in a Hindu Temple is given in the three
Agamas and Upa-agamas. There are 28 Siva Agamas and several upa-agamas.
Vaishnava Agamas are 5, including Pancharathram and Vaikanasam and
have 108 Paththadhis. We do not need to study these Agamas to perform
prayer [Pooja] at home. It is enough to accept the fact in a pure
heart and mind, as given to us by our ancestors that God is present
everywhere in every form and He will accept every kind of our prayers.
Our Puranas explain in many stories that God accepts and blesses
everyone who prays, not only humans but also animals and birds.
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As
an example, there is a story in Mahabharatha. Arjuna was performing
regularly pooja for Athma lingam, but his brother were not doing
the same. He felt very proud of his devotional worship to God. As
Sri Krishna wanted to control his ego, took him to Mount Kailash,
the abode of Shiva. The Arjuna saw large number of baskets of flowers
being carried by the Boothaganas. When Arjuna asked Sri Krishna
about it, He asked Arjuna to check himself with those carrying the
flowers. He stopped one of them asked about it. He got the reply
that one of the Pancha Pandavas named Bheema who has been offering
these flowers in a pure heart to the lord which they are carrying.
Arjuna asked Sri Krishna that if the pure heart flowers of Bheema
who does not ever sit down to worship is this much, how much will
it be for his own Athmalinga pooja which is performed every day.
Sri Krishna asked the Bhoothagana to show Arjuna his portion of
the flowers offered. They showed a small mound of flowers lying
in one corner. Arjuna asked Sri Krishna to explain this disparity.
Sri Krishna explained that, Bheema is thinking of God at all times
and whenever he sees a flower garden, he mentally offers all the
flowers to Siva as his offering and so it reaches Siva the very
next moment. Thus, Sri Krishna explains the Inner self pooja called
antharyagam.
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It
is not necessary to learn all the rules and sasthras of an eloborate
pooja before performing one. As an example, an illiterate hunter,
Sri Kannappa Nayanar saw the Divine after three days of prayer.
A young boy Nambiyandar Nambi, while his priest father had gone
out of town performed pooja in his place at the Temple and had the
Darsan of God on the same day. By understanding these puranas, we
should always allot few minutes of time to perform pooja without
any fear that God may punish us if we do the pooja improperly. However,
it is always good to learn proper methods to perform the pooja,
even a simple and short one, just like any science or art.
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Puranas
say that in Kali Yuga, Prabaththi path is the important way. In
Samskrit, prabaththi is explained as Pooja. We have puranas which
explain how an elephant prayer "Aathimoolam" -- with a flower was
saved and the hunter who was saved from a tiger on Sivarathri day
by reaching a Bilva tree. These tell us that pooja and prayer to
God is essential.
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Performing
pooja everyday at least for a few minutes leads one to develop inner
purity and peace. One can perform this pooja in a short way or in
an elaborate way. This is called "Anmaartha Pooja" in the Vedas.
One method is to get religious order [Samayadheeksha] from a learned
Guru to perform pooja for Sivalinga or Salagrama elaborately according
to Sasthras. Another simpler method is to perform pooja for a Moorthy
as a picture or to a Deepa as lamp. Both the above method are of
equal value.
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