Fwd: Shiva panchayatana puja. Questions ?

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, "Srinath Ram" <srinath_atreya>

wrote:

|| Jai Sadguru Dutta ||

 

In the Vedic tradition, worship of different aspects of the one

Supreme Being -The "Parama Purusha" or the "Parabrahman" is upheld

rather than the different forms themselves. Infact the thinking that

the "atman" and the "paramatman" are different is regarded as

ignorance. "Ekam sath vipraah bahuDhaa vadhanthi" - the wise know

that the same truth is manifesting itself in different forms. "aham

bramhaasmi" is a realization; not just a dry philosophy. Such is the

influence of this advaitha philosophy that even the "dwaitha"s add

the prefix "vishwamBhara anthargatha" (the one within VishwamBhara -

MahaVishnu) while worshipping other gods. Just like the white light

splits into its 7 constituent colors when passed through a prism, the

single supreme divine force is manifesting itself in different forms

and glory depending upon the purpose. The world has only one sun. But

the heat and light intensity, duration of days and nights, seasons

etc are different in different parts of the globe owing to their

different geographical locations.

 

The above preamble is necessary to understand the (bottomline)

essence of worship. Bharath's culture is purely based on the

teachings of the Vedas. Everyone follows this knowingly or

unknowingly:

 

"gaNEsham gaNEshAh shivamithi cha shaivAshca vibuDhAh

ravim saurA viShNum praThama puruSham viShNu BhajakAh |

vadhanthyEkam shAkthAh jagadhudhayamoolAm paraShivAm

na jAnE kim thasmai nama ithi param bramha sakalam ||"

 

--- GanEsha mahimna sthOthram

 

[summary: The same parabramhan is worshipped as "ganEsha" by

GaaNapathyas, as Shiva by "Shaivaites", as "Ravi" by Sauras,

as "ViShNu" by VaiShNavaites and as "Shakthi" by shAkthAs]

 

The "Panchayathana" form of worship has originated as the result of

Nature worship in the Vedas. The number 5 (pancha) here corresponds

to the 5 important elements of nature : "pancha Bhoota"s, ["panchami

pancha bhoothEshee | pancha sanKhyOpachaariNee ||" - Lalithaa

sahasranaama] which are responsible for creation, preservation

(sustainence) and destruction: earth, water,fire, air and space.

They are actually called as "pancha bramha"s. Of these, the first is

the earth element - "prthvi tatwa" and the order given above conforms

to the order of evolution of the "pancha Bhoota"s. Shree Adi Shankara

also has adhered to the same principle in his "Saundarya Lahari"

["mahee moolaadhaarE kimapi maNipoorE huthavaham swaaDhiShTanE...].

 

The aspect of the Parabramhan presiding over the earth element is

called as "ganapathy" [this is why on Ganesh chauthi, we worship

Idols of Ganesh made of clay]:

 

"thwam moolaadhaarE sThithOsi nithyam"

 

--- Ganesha atharva sheersha upanishad.

 

moolaadhaara [moola + ADhAra] chakra is the first of the 6 important

chakras and plays the role of balancing and sustanining the praNa.

Kundalini resides there and the practice of yoga starts from the

mooladhar only.

 

In the Lalithaa sahasranaamam we find the verse:

 

"mahaa gaNEsha nirBhinna viGhna yantra praharShithaa"

 

There is an interesting story in the "LalithOpaaKhyaanam" of

the "bramhaaDa purANa" which clarifies the meaning of the above

verse: When the Divine Mother Lalitha Mahaa thripura Sundari waged

war against the demon "Bhandaasur", Ambikaa and dhanDanaatha (vArAhi)

killed all the 300 sons of the demon. Then, the demon's crooked

minister Vishukra inscribed the "viGhna yantra" on a boulder and

performed vAmAchAra on the Mother's army. As a result of this, 8

types of viGhnAs (obstacles) namely: Alasya, kArpaNya, dhainya,

nidhra, klaibya, vismrthi, pramAdha and thandra inhibited the

progress of Mother's army. Then the all powerfull divine Mother

looked and smiled at "mahA kAmEshwara" who understood Her order and

assumed the form of "mahA gaNEshwara" with 10 hands, elephant face

and siDdha Lakshmi besides him. He immediately destroyed the viGhna

yantra and cheered up the army. This story clarifies to us that Lord

Ganapathy is the unified form of Shiva and Shivaa.

 

Hence it would be only wise to say that all pujas should begin only

after worshipping Lord Ganesha first:

 

"aavirBhootham cha srShtyaadau prkrthEh puruShaath param |

Evam Dhyaayathi yOnnithyam sa yOgee yOginaam varah ||"

 

--- Ganesha atharva sheersha upanishad.

 

The verse you have quoted:

 

ravir vinaayakashchaNDhii iisho viShNustu panchamaH .

anukrameNa puujyante vukrametu mahadbhayam .. (padma purANa)

 

is applicable to saura panchayathana wherein the Sun is regarded as

the supreme diety and hence worshipped in the middle. Similarly,

there are Devi Panchayathan, Vishnu panchayathan, shiva panchayathan

and ganapathy panchaayathan also. Even before any of these

panchayathana pujas could be commenced, we are required to worship

Lord Ganesha in the name "vinayaka" as the remover of all obstacles:

 

"vinaayakah karma aviGhna siDdhyarTham viniyOjithah"

 

--- Yaajnavalkya smrthi

 

 

I would like to draw your kind attention to another verse in the same

Padma PurANa from which you have quoted:

 

"naarchithOhi gaNaaDhyakShO yajnaadau yathsurOtthama |

thasmaadhwiGhnam samuthpannam thath krODhajamidham Khalu ||"

 

[if gaNaaDhyakSha - the chief of gaNas is not worshipped first

(during yajnas etc), then his gaNas will be highly annoyed and thus

all kinds of obstacles will surface]

 

The GaNEsha sooktha from the RgvEda states:

 

"na rthE thwath kriyathe kincha naarE mahaa markam"

 

We find many references in our epics and PurANas that uphold the

first worship to Lord Ganapathy. For specific details please read

the "vratha kaTha" of Ganesh chathurthi. The following shloka is also

very famous:

 

"... vidhyaaramBhe vivaahE cha pravAse nirgamE thaThaa |

sangraame sarva kaaryEShu viGhnasthasya na jaayathE ||"

 

Leave alone panchaayathan puja, before commencing any work, one has

to first meditate on Lord Ganapathy.

 

The seeker of divinity has to face many obstacles ["shrEyaansi bahu

viGhnaani"] which are due to the sins committed in the past. Note

that "viGhna" also means sin. Hence to insulate us from the malefic

effect of such sins and to be successful in the undertaken endeavour,

we must worship Ganapathy first:

 

"sarvEShaam api karmaNaam aadhau nirviGhna parisamaapthayE gaNapathi

poojanam karthavyam"

 

--- Yaajnavalkya smrthi

 

[in "HaTa YOga", "GanEsha kriya" is first performed before proceeding

with any other practice. In this kriya, the saDhak stimulates the

rectum (lower part of anus) by inserting the left hand's middle

finger and thus empties the bowel without leaving any trace. Advanced

saDhaks remove the entire intestine out through the anal opening,

wash it thoroughly with water and suck it back entirely inside the

body. This is followed by 600 pranayamas. GanEsh kriya is said to be

(as it is obvious !!!) highly beneficial in purifying the sadhak's

body.]

 

Also, observe the prayer offered at the end of this Ganapathy puja:

 

"viGhnaah vinaasham aayaanthu sarvE cha sura poojithaa |

nirviGhnEna ---- poojam sidDhirBhavanthu vinaayaka ||"

 

As a solid practical example for the first worship to be offered to

Ganapathy, one can witness that the present Jagadguru

Shankaraachaarya at ShrngEri Shaaradhaa peeTam, Shree Bharathee

theerTha mahAswamigal first worships "rathna garBha gaNapathi" and

then commences the shiva panchaayathana pooja.

 

This is called "karmaanga ganapathi pooja". Here, Ganapathy is

worshipped as a demi god who is the chief of all kinds of obstacles.

Later, during the main panchayathan puja, the same lord is worshipped

as a form of parabramha, capable of bestowing salvation (moksha):

 

"twam Ananda mayah twam bramha mayah | twam sacchidaanandaa

adwitheeyOsi.....| twam bramhaah twam viShnuh twam rudrah twam indrah

twam agnih twam vaayuh twam sooryah twam chandramaah twam bramha

BhoorBhuvassuvarOm ||"

 

- Ganesha atharva sheersha upanishad.

 

This concept of "bramha" is highly confusing for ameteurs. When

everything is bramha itself ("sarvam Khalvidam bramhaasi"), then

where is the question of whom to be worshipped first ?.

 

One might wonder as to how the all pervading, all powerful,

omnipresent and omniscient Parabramha can be reduced to the status of

a demi god, as I said above. The answer is in the analogy that even

though there is a big vessel full of milk, we make use of a small

tumbler to serve it to a person. The milk as such has no definite

shape. It only takes the shape of it's container.

 

Giving a form to the formless and associating benevolent virtues to

the virtueless is highly beneficial in the initial stages of worship.

It is a highly commendalbe point that while in the "karmaanga

ganapathy pooja", the lord is worshipped in a definite form, in the

panchaayathan puja, he is worshipped as having no form at all [i.e.,

the "shONi Bhadra" stone represents Ganapathy].

 

Jagadguru Shree Adi Shankara, who popularised the panchayathana form

of worship has addressed Ganapathy as verily the Parabramhan:

 

"jagath kaaraNam kaaraNa jnAna roopam

surAdhim suKhAdim gaNEsham guNeSham |

jagadhwyaapinam vishwa vandhyam surEsham

parabramha roopam gaNEsham BhajEm ||"

 

"chanchalam hi manah krShaNah" - Since in this Kaliyuga, our minds

and thoughts are contaminated due to which "nirguNa" (formless)

worship is not possible, we should first worship Ganapathy as having

form and then proceed towards formless worship:

 

"upaasanaarTham Bhakthaanaam bramhaNo roopa kalpanaa"

 

Even in the Geetha, the Lord has preached thus:

 

"sarva BhoothEShu yEnaikam BhAvam avyayamIkShathE |

aviBhaktham viBhakthEShu thadh jnAnam sAthwikam matham ||"

 

Also recall the famous composition of Shree ANNammAchArya: "entha

maathramu evvaru kalachina antha mAthrame neevu"

 

I wish to conclude my lengthy reply with the famous "Uga-BhOga"

composed by the great saint-poet-musician Shree Purandhara dhaasa in

Kannada language, which beautifully explains the multi-faceted

functioning by the same Parama Purusha:

 

"sathatha gaNanATha sidDhiya neeva kaaryadhali

mathi prEsisuvaLu pArvathi dhEviyu

mukuthi paThake manaveeva mahArudhra dhEva

Bhakuthi dhAyaki siri BhArathi dhEvi

yukuthi shAstragaLalli vanaja sanBhavanarasi

sathkarmagaLa naDesi sujnAna mathi itthu

gathiya pAlisuva namma pavamAnanu

chitthadali Ananda suKhavaneevaLu ramA

Bhakutha janaroDeya namma purandhara viTalanu

sathatha ivaroLuninthI krthiya naDesuvanu"

 

A million salutations to you all.

 

 

, "seeksha" <seeksha@h...> wrote:

 

> I am trying to put together a Shiva panchayatana puja procedure for

> my friend and ran in to a question. I looked at the Puja books (R.K

> Mutt, LIFCO etc) that have a laghu panchayatana puja text. The

> procedure there is to do dhyana aavaahana etc first to Ganapati and

> then Surya and so on. I also came across another panchayatana puja

> book published by Kanchi mutt that quotes,

>

> ravir vinaayakashchaNDhii iisho viShNustu panchamaH .

> anukrameNa puujyante vukrametu mahadbhayam .. (padma purANa)

>

> The author quotes this and assigns the krama as surya, ganapati,

> ambaa, shiva and viShNu. He also points that you could put ganapati

> first if there are pramaNas for such a procedure.

>

> Could any of the members who perform panchayatana puja and aware of

> the tradition please through some light?.

>

> Where can I find more pramaaNa-s for panchayatana puja ?.

>

> Could any one who have come across an authoritative book on

> Panchayatana puja, please share some information about the

> publisher/author ?

>

> Thanks

> Aravind

--- End forwarded message ---