devI mAnasa pUja - pAdyam

[Guest guest]

Washing the feet (pAdyam)

 

(paadyam is washing the feet, this whole text I intend to write a

direct conversation with ambaa. Even if we do not have that privilige

in so-called reality, at least we can imagine that).

 

O ambaa, how privileged I am to hold your feet. Brahma, vishhNu and

rudra are waiting in line to see it. Brahma runs behind the path you

have walked and collects the dust from thy feet and creates the 14

worlds. Knowing that it is your dust, vishhNu is holding it up and

protecting it with this thousand heads, and rudra being upset for not

having such privilege, at the time of praLaya, makes dust out of it and

smears it all over his body and enjoys the dust of your feet. Is not

this dust gives all boons?, it is like a bright sun of jnAna to those

who are in avidya, to the dull witted it bestows intelligence, to the

poor all the wealth. This dust of your feet, we call it thirumaN (holy

sand), the red sand of madhurai has become the kumkumam for all of us,

as your feet touched it. Before I wash your feet let me collect the

little dust on it. amma, I am indeed blessed.

 

Please place your feet on this well adorned golden plate. Make my mind

like this plate. Let me wash it pure water mixed with nice fragrances.

May this pure water I imagine be the amR^ita that arises out of union

of shiva and shakti in sahasrAra. O dear mother, as I wash your feet

with this water, please wash my mind with jnAna. It has become impure

and dirty. Its rotten dirt attracts the flies kama and krodha. Please

make my mind pure, so that it becomes fit to be slippers for you. See

you do need a nice slippers, the crowns of brahmAdi deva-s studded with

precious stones rub on them when they do namaskarams and it hurts your

feet. Out of compassion you are unmindful of that. Nobody else is able

to see that because the light that comes of your toe nails reflects on

their crowns and fill the whole space with such a radiance.

 

Let me now wipe your feet with a soft cloth and make them dry. I will

decorate it nicely with sandalwood paste, and kumkumam. Even though I

had removed the slighlty dried marudhani (henna?) from your feet. Those

beautiful adorning marks are still there.

 

Mother let me do paada pUja to your feet with the flowers of my heart.*

Now I do not run around in dense forests, high mountains, and deep

lakes in search of flowers. Mind is the best flower I have. I will

offer it to you. My mind can also imagine many more flowers, I will

offer them all unto you. May the feet that kicked yama to save

markaNDeya save me as well. May the feet which bears the whole

universe, bear my burdens also. May the feet which offers abhaya and

boons, bless me with undying devotion. May the feet which excels lotus

flowers in softness and radiance, step and dance on my mind. Mother

teach me to remember and worship thy feet always.

 

Mother may I be blessed now sipping the water that washed your feet. It

has been my prayer to for a while, asking how long should I wait before

I get a chance to drink the water which washed your feet and that has

the particles of undried marudhaani and the dust of your feet. Drinking

which in the past even made dumb persons to not just speak, but pour

out brilliant verses on you.

 

 

*(even though pAdyam in a normal pUja is just a passing mention, one

can do it for quite a long time mentally, as much time one has.

Complete mInAxI ashhTottaram with meanings are available online is

availabe to do ashhTottara pUja to the feet at this point)

 

**( thanks to the reference on mantra mAtR^ika pushhpamaala stavaH I

will go through the relevant verses before posting, i do include

whatever I remember as I write from other works like sahasranAma,

saundaryalaharI etc.)

 

 

 

=====

ambaaL daasan

 

Ravi

 

sharaNAgata raxakI nivEyani sadA ninnu nammiti mInAxI

 

http://www.ambaa.org/ http://www.advaita-vedanta.org

 

 

 

Get email at your own domain with Mail.

http://personal.mail./

[Guest guest]

Om,

>>Mother may I be blessed now sipping the water that washed your feet.<<

 

Actually normally tirtham is only taken at the end of the puja. Otherwise

for the rest of the snaanam Mother has to stand in the water that has been

rendered chuuTha by our tasting it.

 

>> even though pAdyam in a normal pUja is just a passing mention, one

can do it for quite a long time mentally, as much time one has.

Complete mInAxI ashhTottaram with meanings are available online is

availabe to do ashhTottara pUja to the feet at this point<<

 

Archana (with flowers or kumkuma) is usually offered after all snanams are

over. Maybe you should keep the naamavalih for then. The paadyam is for

washing the feet. Some stotrams or devotional songs are nice to recite

during snaanam, and most of all of course during abhishekam.

 

Sorry to interrupt your beautifull outpours of divine bhakti with these

trivial corrections. I feel rather guilty doing so.

 

Om Om Om,

vishvarupa

[Guest guest]

Vishvarupa wrote:

> Om,

>

> >>Mother may I be blessed now sipping the water that washed your feet.<<

>

> Actually normally tirtham is only taken at the end of the puja. Otherwise

> for the rest of the snaanam Mother has to stand in the water that has been

> rendered chuuTha by our tasting it.

>

 

How can I wait? when I ask:

 

kadaa kaale maataH kathaya kalitaalaktakarasa.n

pibeyaM vidyaarthii tava caraNanirNejanajalam.h .

prakR^ityaa muukaanaamapi ca kavitaakaaraNatayaa

yadaadhatte vaaNiimukhakamalataambuularasataam.h .. 98..

 

There is also a difference between performing a pUja to a vigraham and in

person (atleast in mind). I am going to perform HER paadyam in the hall of my

house, and then lead HER to snAna maNDapam for bath, then invite HER to pUja

room for detailed pUja, then to my dining hall to give HER delicious food, and

then probably to family room to entertain HER. Unlike a normal pUja, where all

the water is dropped in one or two vessels, and finally one takes three drops

saying, prathamam kAya shuddhyartham, dvitiyam pApa nAshanam, here I am doing

the pUja, as I would do when I invite HER to my house. I may be wrong. In

fact I am worried that when I am going to offer madhu parkam, SHE may also ask

me to take some along with HER :-) (just kidding, which mother would not

invite her son to eat or drink with her).

 

>

> >> even though pAdyam in a normal pUja is just a passing mention, one

> can do it for quite a long time mentally, as much time one has.

> Complete mInAxI ashhTottaram with meanings are available online is

> availabe to do ashhTottara pUja to the feet at this point<<

>

>

> Archana (with flowers or kumkuma) is usually offered after all snanams are

> over. Maybe you should keep the naamavalih for then. The paadyam is for

> washing the feet. Some stotrams or devotional songs are nice to recite

> during snaanam, and most of all of course during abhishekam.

>

 

You are correct. Probably nothing wrong in repeating the ashhTottara (if one

has time) during pAda pUja, while offering akshata-s after ala.mkAram and

again while offering flower. In a regular pUja whatever you mentioned are

CORRECT, and I do follow as you mentioned, say when I do a pUja to the

shalagrama I have (these days I am not so regular, may laxmInArayaNan forgive

me)

 

 

Pleas post your corrections, comments and additions. That way I will learn

from you. In fact you should serialize the 64 upacharas to ambaaL with one

line meaning (which you long ago sent me as a PDF file) on the list.

 

With love and respects,

Ravi