Hinduism and Hidden Symbolism of Puja

[Guest guest]

font-family:Arial">Namaste all,

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font-family:Arial">I first came across this piece some time ago and thought

that it was worth sharing in our little Ganesh Mandir. It is from

http://www.hinduwebsite.com/symbolisminpuja.htm

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12.0pt;font-family:Arial">Om Shanti

font-family:Arial">Neil

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mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#0000CC">Hinduism and Hidden Symbolism of

Puja

mso-bidi-font-family:Arial">In Hinduism, puja is essentially a ritual

suggestive of symbolic offering of our lives and activities to God and

enjoying whatever that comes out of it as a gift from Him. In Hinduism puja

is the most popular form of divine worship.

mso-bidi-font-family:Arial">The way a puja is conducted in Hindu households

is akin to the way a guest is invited into the house and treated with utmost

respect. The Hindu tradition equates a guest with God with this simple

expression, "Athidi devobhava",

which means a guest is verily God Himself.

mso-bidi-font-family:Arial">The outer aspect of puja we have discussed else

where in the pages of Hinduwebsite. Here we will

discuss the symbolic significance of puja and of the various objects used

during the ceremony.

mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold">The meaning of puja: The word

"puja" consists of

two letters, "pa" and "ja".

"Pa" means "parayana" or

continuous repetition of the names of God and "ja"

means "japa" or continuous mental recitation of the names of God.

So according to this interpretation "puja" is essentially a kind of

worship in which both parayanam and japam are practised by the devotees.

mso-bidi-font-family:Arial">According to another interpretation, "Pu" means

"pushpam"

or flower and "ja" means "jal". In the puja ceremony both flowers and water

are offered to the deity during the worship. The letter "ja" can also mean

simultaneously "japam". So if we take these twin meanings of "ja" into

consideration, puja becomes that ceremony

during which water and flowers are offered to God along with recitation of

His names.

mso-bidi-font-family:Arial">Lastly "pu' means

"purusha" and "ja"

means "janma" ,

to arise or wake up. During the puja ceremony life breath is installed in the

deity and He is brought to life or into His dynamic aspect. It also means

that the purusha in the worshipper also wakes up

after the ceremony as he receives a new life and new consciousness (with the

partaking of prasad) from the deity.

Vigraham. Vigraham means

the statue or the image of the deity. Vigraha (vi+graha) also means that which

removes the ill effects

of the grahas or planets.

Purna kumbha

or Purna kalasa (the sacred vessel): It is generally

placed as the chief deity or by the side of the chief deity before starting

the puja. Symbolically it stands for mother goddess in general,

or goddess Lakshmi in particular. It consists of an earthen or a metal pot

with either water or rice in it, with leaves (of generally five specific

species) in its mouth and a bowl of rice, flowers and coconut at its top. The

pot represents mother earth, the flowers represent the ornamentation, the

rice in the bowl represents either the material wealth or the powers of the

goddess or both and the coconut represents the divine consciousness.

Naivedyam: It is our ignorance (avidya)

which we offer to the deity. The food symbolically stands for the earth

element and in human beings for the gross body. So it can also means the body

and the mind (which stand for the ignorant

consciousness in us) which we place in front of the deity for transformation.

When it is blessed by the deity it becomes the bestower

of knowledge.

Pushpam: It stands for the good in us. We offer

the deity the good that has blossomed in us. On the side of the elements it

stands for the element of water because the flowers (especially the lotus)

grow out of water.

Phalam: It is the fruit of our action which we

are supposed to offer to God as a symbol of our detachment, self-sacrifice

and surrender.

Gandham: It stands collectively for the desires (vasanas) and the desires we

have for various things in

life, which we are supposed to offer to the deity in order to become free

from the cycle of births and deaths.

Dhupam: It is the smoke or the clouded

consciousness (the very mind with all its thoughts and ignorance) that exists

in us which is also an obstacle on our path to self realization. As long as

this cloud is there, we cannot see the light or illumination in our

consciousness. Dhupam also stands for the illusion

which keeps us chained to this world. When we offer dhupam

to God, we offer symbolically our illusions and our fickle mindedness. On the

elemental side, it stands for the element of air or the breath body in us. It

stands for prana which we offer to the deity with a sense of sacrifice.

Deepam: It is the light in us, the very soul

that exists in us which we offer to the deity as acknowledgement of our

surrender and devotion. On the elemental side it stands for the element of

ether that exists in us as Atman.

Kumkum and turmeric powder : The red powder stands for our emotions or

for our inner wisdom. The turmeric powder stands for our inner purity and on

the negative side, for our inner pride and egoism.

mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold">Prasad: When we offer our ignorance to God He

suffuses it with knowledge and light. The word "prasad"

is a combination of two words, "pra" +

"sad". That which is near life and truth. The food that is offered

to God is symbolic representation of the gross body into which at the end of

worship God breathes new life new light making it divine. When we share the

prasad with others, we share with them symbolically the

knowledge we so gained during the worship.

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