Saligaram

[Guest guest]

Please accept mu humble obeisances.

 

I whole heartedly agree with Sriman Mani's posting that one should not

hanker after material things and worry over their effects while

worshipping Saigarm Sila. Even in the the chapter I had quoted, you will

see that it mearly states what various puranas say but in the end when

the Visnu Purana is mentioned it quite clearly states that one should

not have material motives for Saligram worship and goes on to further

state that all the mentions that are made in the other puranas are only

for those with material hankerings.

 

I have one doubt which I request the members of this list to clarify.

 

How many times should one offer Naivedhiam to the Saligarm Sila. Should

it be done twice-once in the morning and once in the evening or is once

enough. Also for people like me who go to work, what should one do, for

what ever reason one is not able to offer Naivedhiam for Saligarm

 

Sanjay

 

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[Guest guest]

Sri:

Srimate Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha ParaBrahmane Namaha

 

Dear Sri Sanjay & other bhAgavathAs ,

namo nArAyanA . kindly accept adiyens pranAmams .

 

 

----------

BALRAM SANJAY[sMTP:bsanjay]

I have one doubt which I request the members of this list to clarify.

 

How many times should one offer Naivedhiam to the Saligarm Sila. Should

it be done twice-once in the morning and once in the evening or is once

enough. Also for people like me who go to work, what should one do, for

what ever reason one is not able to offer Naivedhiam for Saligarm

 

adiyen requests Sri sanjay to take the posting in a proper spirit

..please forgive adiyen if this offends you . adiyen is writing the

straightforward answer to your question .

 

Usually ArAdhanam to sALagrAma perumAL twice a day is a good

kainkaryam. But , before performing ArAdhanam to sALagrAma perumAL ,

samAsrayanam must have been undergone by the devotee . Without undergoing

"Yaj~na samskArA" ( one of the samskArAs among the pancha (5) samskArAs

performed during samAsrayanam ) one is not fit to perform ArAdhanA to

sALagrAma perumAL . Upadesam on the method of performing ArAdhanam as per

the Agama sAstrAs ( distilled in "Nitya" granthA of Bhagavad RAmAnujA )

has to be undergone before performing ArAdhanam .

 

Also , one must take proper snAnam ( head bath ) , wear DwAdasa Oordhva

pundrams , perform SandhyAvandanam & the like before performing PerumAL

ArAdhanam . MAnasIka ArAdhanam is performed mentally . Bahya ArAdhanam is

the ArAdhanam to sALagrAma PerumAL which in gist consists of mantrAsanam ,

snAnAsanam , alankArAsanam -mantra pushpam /archanA , bhOjyAsanam (

naivediyam) & paryankAsanam - ofcourse sAtrumurai is also there .

 

The question posed concerns only with "naivedhiyam " ie. Offering of food to

perumAL . As adiyen understands , Sri Sanjay hasn't undergone samAsrayanam

yet ; still wants to perform Naivedhiyam to sALagrAma perumAL . In

general , only those who have undergone pancha samskAram (samAsrayanam ) can

cook for nArAyanA & for bhAgavathAs . Without AchArya sambandhA , neither

nArAyanA nor the bhAgavathAs accept intimate services .

 

Sri karunAkaran swAmy in one of his upanyAsams mentioned the following

pastime of Sri nadAdUr ammAL . AmmAL was once at tirupathi & was very

hungry in the sweltering afternoon heat , How can our most merciful

ThiruvengadamudayAn keep quiet ? Lord took the form of a BrAhmanA &

kindly gave Dhodyonam ( Curd rice ) to ammAL .

Even with so much hunger , ammAL immedietly asked the question :

 

ammAL : " Have you had pancha samskAram ? "

 

Thiruvengadam udayAn : "yes swAmin "

 

ammAL : "To whose thiruvadi (lotus feet) do you belong ? " ( ie. Who is your

AchAryA ? )

 

Thiruvengadam udayAn : AnanthAzhvAn !!!!

 

Then only ammAL accepted the prasAdam .

 

 

Cooking for PerumAL can't be done with shirts & pants etc . Naivedhiyam

in the evening can be done if one is preparing fresh food for perumAL in

the evening also ( after taking bath , sandhyAvandanam etc ) ie. Food that

has already been offered to perumAL can't be offered again .

 

If one has undergone samAsrayanam , has sALagrAma perumAL & doesn't have time

to perform ArAdhanam to perumAL , adiyen doesn't know how to comment on this

.. If one has to leave for office by 7 AM , he has to get up by say 4 AM

& the like . One shouldn't give the excuse that "time is not there " for

Bhagavad ArAdhanam . If one is on time for office , why can't he be on-time

for kainkaryam to sALagrAma perumAL ? Is perumAL worse than a office

manager ?

 

Ideally one would love to be on time for Bhagavad ArAdhanam . Suppose that

somehow ( Leela VibhUti !!! ) once one is not able to perform the full

ArAdhanam . In that case , one can do just Naivedhiyam ( through

ashtAksharam ) & prostrate before Lord & beg for forgiving the apAchArams

( more than usual ! ) . If done with sAthvIka thyAgam ie. Selfless love ,

nArAyanA would be very happy to even accept that food . But our

svaroopam is not to just perform naivedhiyam .

 

If one is not performing even naivedhiyam to perumAL , it is a serious

bhagavad apachAram only . Probably , that devotee should give the sAlagrAma

perumAL to other Sri VaishnavA who can take care of the Lord . When

nArAyanA has come down so low in His most merciful archA avatAram ,

one shouldn't neglect it . Other option is to give to some temple ( say Sri

RanganAthA Temple ) .

 

Once a devotee gets samAsrayanam performed & can properly do ArAdhanam

ie. Has time for it , then he can get the sALagrAmam back from the Sri

VaishnavA /Temple .

 

The other way is to do "prema poojA" ie. Out of love , you can

offer food to photos of perumAL ( any Divya Desam ) . Though we can't

worship the picture akin to sALagrAmA , nArAyanA is merciful enough to

understand the situation. Prema poojA has no restrictions . But , this

will lead to getting AchArya sambandhA & then sALagrAma perumAL will be

happy with your service once you start performing .

 

adiyen

anantha padmanAbha dAsan

sarvam sri krishnArpanamastu