Fw: a brief article on pooja

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- M.G.Prasad

hindupriesthood

Thursday, July 18, 2002 3:31 PM

a brief article on pooja

Dear friends; please send comments (if any) to author at mprasad (AT) stevens-tech (DOT) edu

 

POOJA : A ritual of worship in Vedic Hinduism

M.G. Prasad

 

A pooja is a ritual of worship and adoration of the GOD (One Supreme

Being) in the tradition of Vedic (Hindu) religion. Hinduism refers to Sanatana

or Vaidika Dharma which means eternal principles of life as per the Vedas. One

GOD as per the Vedas is the One Supreme Being (Bramhan) ultimately responsible

for Generation, Operation and Dissolution of everything. Freedom (Moksha) from

bondage and desires is the ultimate aim of Sanatana Dharma. The three paths need

to be integrated in Vedic Hindu spiritual approach are devotion, knowledge and

action. A pooja even in its simple form is a synthesis of these three paths. A

pooja is based on devoted and knowledgeable actions.

 

A pooja also connects all the senses dealing with sound, touch,

sight, taste and smell to sacredness through components such as sculpture or

pictures of Gods, chants, prayers, bhajans, flowers, fruits, incense, milk,

water etc. A pooja provides a spiritual experience not only to the performer

but also to the participants. A pooja also can be seen as a loving act of

treating an invited guest to one’s home. As one treats his guest with

respect and love by various offerings, in a pooja also similar offerings are

made to God.

 

A pooja has two main parts namely internal (mental) and external (ritualistic).

The internal (mental) worship is very important after which one begins to

perform the external part. In the external worship the various offerings can be

classified into 16 Offerings to God, namely,1) Invoking God into altar through

sculpture or picture, 2) a Seat, 3) Washing feet, 4) Washing hands, 5) Water

for sipping, 6) Sacred bath, 7) Sacred cloth, 8) Sacred thread, 9) Sandal

paste, 10) Flowers, 11) Incense sticks, 12) Waving of oil lamp, 13) Food, 14)

Betel leaves and coconut, 15) Waving of camphor light, 16) Clockwise

circumambulation and Prostration. Each of the above is offered with mantras and

prayers in Sanskrit. Also, sounds of bell and conch are used in the pooja. A

specific manifestation of the Supreme Being is chosen for the pooja depending

on the wish of the congregation or family. Usually a Hindu family maintains an

altar or pooja room in the home as sacred space for performing pooja . In Hindu

temples, priests perform poojas.

 

A pooja at home or temple is a synthesis of devotion, knowledge and action that

provides spiritual tranquility by connecting to Omnipresent God. In the words

of my Sriranga Sadguru, “the worship of deities and rituals in a home or

a temple should be carried out with child-like loving mind by the devotees as

little children play with joy using their toys as medium”. Also, In

Bhagavadgita (9-26) Lord Krishna says that “I will accept from them even

a leaf or a flower or a fruit or water, when it is offered with love, devotion

and purity of heart”

 

 

M.G. Prasad is a spiritual disciple of Sriranga Sadguru, a yogi-seer and

founder of Ashtanga Yoga Vijnana Mandiram, Mysore, India. Prasad is the

chairperson of the education committee of the Hindu temple and Cultural

Society, Bridgewater, New Jersey 08807. Prasad is a professor of Mechanical

engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030.