by Jayaram V
In Hinduism we come across a common
method of worship called puja. "Puja" is the most popular form of
worship practiced in almost every Hindu household even today, either on a daily
basis or during some important religious function or ceremony. A puja can be
either a simple ritual worship or a very complicated one, depending upon the
way it is performed.
Many interpretations can be given in
Hinduism to the word "puja" which consists of two letters, namely,
"pa" and "ja". According to one interpretation,
"pa" means "parayana" or continuous repetition of the names
of God and "ja" means "japa" or continuous mental
recitation of the names of God. According to this interpretation
"puja" is essentially a kind of Hindu worship in which both parayanam
and japam are practiced by the devotees.
In the puja ceremony, the Hindus
offer both flowers and water to the deity. Thus from this point of view,
"pu" means "pushpam" or flower and "ja" means
"jal". The letter "ja" can also mean simultaneously
"japam". So in this context, puja becomes that form of Hindu worship,
during which water and flowers are offered to God along with recitation of His
names.
Lastly, puja has a spiritual
dimension also. According to this interpretation, puja means that form of
worship through which we give birth to or awaken the indwelling spirit in us.
Here "pu' means "purusha", meaning the eternal self and
"ja" means "janma" , meaning to give birth to or to awaken.
According to the Hindu beliefs,
during the puja ceremony the deity, which is normally a static statue, becomes
alive. This happens both at the external level and at the internal level. The
statue is brought to life externally through the chanting of mantras or special
invocations, or specifically speaking, through the performance of 'prana
pratishta' or establishing of life breath. Similarly the indwelling spirit is
awakened through the devotee's sincerity, concentration, devotion, and divine
grace which is symbolically represented as 'prasad', or the blessing from
above.
The Hindus perform pujas in various
ways. But the most common form involves a certain sequence of events or
procedure. During the ceremony, the first step involves invocation of God
through invitation to a certain spot on earth, which is indicated with the
directions, specification of time and place name. This is generally
accomplished through the chanting of mantras or simple prayers. Once it is
believed that the deity has consented to come and has arrived as requested, he
is then offered a seat with utmost respect. Water is then offered to him just
like we tend to offer water to a guest who comes into our house after a long
journey. Once he is seated, as a mark of utmost reverence, love and self
surrender, His feet are washed with ceremonial water.
After that he is bathed with water
and sprinkled with various perfumes or scented pastes to the accompaniment of
various chants. After the bath ceremony, he is offered clothes, symbolically
represented by a peace of cotton thread in simple ceremonies or real clothes in
more pompous ones.
Once comfortable in the new attire
and seated in his high seat, he is offered the following: pushpam (flowers),
phalam (fruit), gandham (sandal paste), dhupam (incense), deepam (light),
naivedyam (food), jalam (water) and mantram (recitation of sacred verses). When
it is felt that He is comfortably and contentedly at home and is in right mood
and right disposition, he is further supplicated with various hymns and prayers
of praise and gratitude.
In more elaborate ceremonies of
Hinduism, He is also entertained with song and music and presented with a
number of offerings and gifts such as clothes, incense, flowers, perfumes,
light, ornaments, food items etc, some times really sometimes mentally, but
essentially and symbolically to express ones gratitude, devotion and the degree
of self-surrender.
The puja ceremony of the Hindus,
generally ends with the offering of aarati or sacred flame to the deity and
distribution of prasadam. Prasadam is a combination of two words, namely 'pra'
and 'sada'. It literally means the bestower of eternal life. The Hindus believe
that, when an offering is made to the deity, it is blessed by the deity and
becomes infused with His or Her prana energy. Hence the name 'prasadm".
As we can see from the above
description, in Hinduism the way a puja is conducted in the traditional fashion
is akin to the way a householder invites and entertains a guest of honor into
his house. In Hindu tradition, a guest is almost akin to God ('athidi devo
bhava'), and should be treated as such with utmost respect. As long as the
guest stays in the house, he should be given utmost respect. All his desires
and expectations should be fulfilled as far as possible, for who knows he might
be God himself who has come in disguise! The same concept is extended to the
deities when they are worshipped during the puja ceremony. They are invited and
worshipped with utmost respect, attention and devotion.
On the physical plane, the prayers
and the mantras chanted during the puja ceremony create an atmosphere of sacred
feelings or vibrations in the house and add sanctity and purity to the whole
environment.
In Hinduism, thus puja is
essentially a religious ritual, or a form of communion with the Divine. It has
many levels and layers. At the highest level, it is suggestive of symbolic
offering of our lives and activities to God at the end of which comes the
divine blessing in the form of prasada, which is sweet in nature and is infused
with God's energy.
Today most of the ritualism and
systematic approach to conducting the puja ceremony is giving way gradually to
more simplified and restricted forms of worship and offerings, reflecting the
pace at which life is progressing. Though its outer form has been gradually
changing, the spirit, the sincerity and seriousness of doing the pujas are
still intact in many Hindu households even today.
ALSO SEE :The Symbolic Significance of Puja
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