Guest guest Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 , "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 --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Do I understand you correctly -- does this mean that the five root deities have the following correspondences? Ganesha -- Earth Shiva -- Water Surya -- Fire Vishnu -- Air Shakti -- Space I read somewhere that a Ganesha <vigraha> must be placed in contact with the ground, and that an image of Ganesha worshipped on a boat (floating in water) or in an airplane (up in the air) will not be effective. But do the above correspondences imply that the Devi is the deity best worshipped by astronauts? -- Len/ Kalipadma On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 16:54:46 -0000 "Srinath Ram" <srinath_atreya writes: > > "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]: > ______________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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