Bhakti & j~aana

[Guest guest]

Dear All:

 

As we see both of these processes are intimately related.

 

In our puraaNaa bhakti is depicted as having two sons

 

1. Bhakti

 

2. j~naana

 

Even this order seems to be extremely relevant in this discussion.

 

As I understand this :

 

De-personalization of the deities and introduction of the

pnacaayatana puujaa for all impacted our society in a significant

manner. To me this teaches the individual saadhaka to recognize the

active principle of the individual deities rather than the iconic

personal Gods in the form of statues..

 

Can other's comment on this significant contribution towards the

development of our society. Any specific quotation from Achaarya's

and his disciples work would be helpful to enhance our understanding.

 

Thank you.

 

Dr. Yadu

[Guest guest]

Respected Dr. Yaduji:

 

Thanx for introducing the concept of 'Pancayatana puja' in this

group dedvoted to Adwaita , Acharya and Ambaal! ( ll glories to Guru

and Goddess resulting in Oneness ) !

 

Panchayatana puja was popularized by Adi shankara bhagvadapada .

 

Kanchi Paramacharya desctribes this puja thus :

 

"Images must be installed to worship Siva, Amba, Visnu, Vinayaka, and

Surya. This is called "pancayatana puja". According to one custom, no

graven images [images with limbs] are used but instead natural

objects to represent the five deities. The "bana-linga" for Siva is

obtained from the Omkara -kunda of the Narmada river. The svarnamukhi

stone for Ambika (it has a golden streak on it) is to be taken from

the bed of the Svarnamukhi river in Andhra Prades. The symbol of

Vishnu, salagrama, is obtained from the Gandaki river in Nepal. The

crystal stone for surya is got from Vallam, near Tanjavur. The

sonabhadra stone for Vinayaka is obtained from the Sone river, a

tributary of the Ganga. These five stones are symbolic of the unity

of India.

 

None of these five stones has eyes, nose, ears, etc. Since they have

no corners that become untidy, they are easy to bathe and dry. Being

small they do not occupy much space. No big puja hall or room is

necessary. A small casket is enough.

 

Pancayatana puja was revived by Sankara Bhagavatpada. As the creator

of the Sanmata system (the worship of six deities)he added

Subrahmanya to the five. So with the five stones we may add a small

spear to represent Velayadah (Subrahmanya) who bears the spear. "

 

aadityam gaNanaatham ca deviim rudram ca keshavam .

pa.nchadevatam ityuktam sarvavarmasu puujayet ..

 

 

The panchayatana [shodashopachara] puja, traditionally practiced

among Smartas was established by Shankaracharya, enabling us to

worship our Ishta devata with an Advaita buddhi, while including all

the other major sectarian devatas. The Ishta devata is placed in the

center, with the other remaining deities placed around it.

 

brahmaa kR^itayuge vedastretaayaaM bhagavaan raviH .

dvaapare bhagavaan viShNuH kalau devo maheshvaraH ..

 

This puja is largely performed as a household worship by smartas.

Thus, we find that sectarian tolerance among householders has

increased dramatically over the past centuries. It is commonly

performed with Shiva placed in the center as the Shiva Panchayatana

Puja. The verse above eulogizes the worship of Shiva in this Kali

Yuga.

 

http://www.mudgala.com/articles/panchayatana.html - 23k - Cached -

 

Kathopanishad states

 

na tatra sUryo bhAti na candra tArakam nemA vidyuto bhAnti

kuto?yamagnih |

tameva bhAntum anubhAti sarvam tasya bhAsA sarvamidam vibhAti ||

 

There, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor the

lightning has any effulgence; how then can this Fire-light illumine

It? By Its Light alone, all else in the world illumined.

 

Om *arcishmate* namah.

 

Salutation to Sri Krishna Paramatma, the light of all lights!

>From saguna to nirguna upasana ..... 1 2 3 4 5 thru panchayatana !

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "adi_shakthi16"

<adi_shakthi16> wrote:

>

> 'Pancayatana puja' in this

> group dedvoted to Adwaita , Acharya and Ambaal! ( ll glories to

Guru

> and Goddess resulting in Oneness ) !

>

> Panchayatana puja was popularized by Adi shankara bhagvadapada .

>

> Kanchi Paramacharya desctribes this puja thus :

>

> "Images must be installed to worship Siva, Amba, Visnu, Vinayaka,

and

> Surya. This is called "pancayatana puja". According to one custom,

no

> graven images [images with limbs] are used but instead natural

> objects to represent the five deities. The "bana-linga" for Siva

is

> obtained from the Omkara -kunda of the Narmada river. The

svarnamukhi

> stone for Ambika (it has a golden streak on it) is to be taken

from

> the bed of the Svarnamukhi river in Andhra Prades. The symbol of

> Vishnu, salagrama, is obtained from the Gandaki river in Nepal.

The

> crystal stone for surya is got from Vallam, near Tanjavur. The

> sonabhadra stone for Vinayaka is obtained from the Sone river, a

> tributary of the Ganga. These five stones are symbolic of the

unity

> of India.

>

>

 

Namste:

 

This introduced this symbolic unity through reorganization of

individual attributes of specific deities rather than the iconic

statues because Tantric Buddhism was taking hold on the society. If

this was not done then majority of Indians would now be following

the Buddha?

 

Actually I was looking for any specific quotations on this in other

associated commentaries of Acarya and his students, where they

specifically discuss the rational for pa~ncaayatana concept.

 

Thank you

 

Dr. Yadu

[Guest guest]

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previous messages. (As it is done in this message!)

 

 

Namaste to the learned members of this group!

My name is Krishnamurthy Ramakrishna. I am new to this group and I am following

the contributions in this group. I am taking this oppoprtunity, in the context

of Panchaayatana puja to introduce myself. Here is the Panchaayatana stotra I

chant every morning along with others as I prepare for the puja.

 

Panchaayatana Praatas-smarana stotram

 

 

 

Praatar-namaami gananaathamashesha-hetum brahmaadideva varadam sakalaagamaaDyam

|

 

dharmaartha-kaama-phaladam janamoksha-hetum vaachaamagocharamanaadim anantatupam

||

 

 

 

Praatar-namaami kamalaapati-mugraveeryam naanaavataara-niratam nijarakshanaaya |

 

Ksheeraabdhi-vaasam amaraadhipa banddhumeesham paapaapaham ripuharam bhavamukti

hetum ||

 

 

 

Praatar-namaami girijaapatim-indumoulim vyaaghraajinaavrita mudastadayam manoje

|

 

Brahmaadidevavaradam surasiddhajushtam sarpatrishoola damaroon dadhatam puraarim

||

 

 

 

Praatar-namaami dinanaatha-maghaapahaaram gaaDhandhakaara haramuttama

lokavandyam |

 

Vedatrayaatmaka mudasta-suraarimaayam gnaanaika hetumurushakti-muddaara-bhaavam

||

 

 

 

Praatar-namaami girijaam bhavabhooti-hetum samsaara-sindu-parapaarakareem

trinetraam |

 

Tattvaadi-kaarana-mudadasta-suraari-maayaam maayaamayeem suramuneendra-nutaam

suresheem ||

 

 

 

Adimaaji,

 

thanks for describing the natural objects describing the deities. I was looking

for this information for a long time, since I lost a copy I had with me.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Ramakrishna.

 

-

 

"adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16

<advaitin>

Saturday, December 10, 2005 1:17 PM

Re: Bhakti & j~aana

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Ramakrishna :

 

Welcome abroad !

 

you write :

 

(Adimaaji, thanks for describing the natural objects describing the

deities. I was looking for this information for a long time, since I

lost a copy I had with me.)

 

Oh!i am glad you found this information useful. Sri Yaduji was

looking for some stotras associated with this puja. i am sure he

will find the slokas you have posted useful. May i please kindly

request you to post the translation of these sanskrit verses so non-

sanskrit speaking readers in this satsangha can also benefit from

them? Thank you, kindly!

 

On another note : Sri Ramji gave a wonderful explanation of the

name 'keshava' in his post on Gita satsangh yeterday ...

 

Keshava is another name for Krishna and appears as the 23rd and 648th

names in the Vishnu sahasranama. Kesava' (Sanskrit) is the first of

the 24 epithets of Lord Krishna

 

According to Adi Sankara' s commentary on the Vishnu sahasranama,

Keshava has three meanings:

The name means "One whose Kesa or locks are beautiful."

Alternatively, it means one who is Himself the three: kah Brahma; ah

Vishnu and Isa Shiva. ( explanation given by Sri Ramji) In still

another meaning, Keshava means one who destroyed the asura or demon

Kesi in the Krishna avatar. It also means One who is endowed with the

rays of light spreading within the orbit of the sun. Still

furthermore, it means One who is endowed with divine powers of

Brahma, Vishnu and Siva.

 

(Cited from reference: Sri Vishnu Sahasranama, commentary by Sri

Sankaracharya, trasnlated by Swami Tapasyananda)

 

In closing, let us salute The Lord of ALL, Keshava with this verse

from Adi shankara's Achyutashtakam

 

acyutaM kezavaM rAma nArAyaNaM

kRSNa dAmodaraM vAsudevaM harim

zrIdhraM mAdhavaM gopikA vallabhaM

jAnakI nAyakaM rAmacandraM bhaje

 

Sri Achyutashtakam. 1

 

"I dearly adore my Beloved Lord,

Who is Imperishable (acyuta),

Who is the Supreme source of Lord Brahma and Lord Siva (kezava),

Who is the tanscendental Enjoyer (rAma),

Who makes His residence in all living beings (nArAyaNa),

Who irresistable attractor of all the souls (kRSNa),

Who is bound at the waist with a chord of Divine Love (dAmodara),

the darling Son of Vasudeva (vAsudeva),

the expert Stealer of hearts (hari),

the Possessor of Divine opulence (zrIdhara),

the dearmost Spouse of Goddess Lakshmi (mAdhava),

the eternal Sweetheart of Gopikas (gopikA- vallabha),

and the handsome moon like Lord Sri Rama (rAmacandra),

Who is the Beloved Hero of Srimati Janaki Devi (jAnakI nAyaka).

 

Om AchutayA namaha!

Om Govindaya namaha !

Om Namo Narayana !

>

>

> Adimaaji,

>

> thanks for describing the natural objects describing the deities. I

was looking for this information for a long time, since I lost a copy

I had with me.

>

>

>

> Regards,

>

> Ramakrishna.