Svartha-puja

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Siva-linga. Svartha-puja is performed also an another class of linga which is

not permanent. When a permanent linga is not obtainable at the time of

initiation, the aspirant is empowered to worship Siva on a temporary linga.

Usually freshly ground sandal paste is utilised by the worshipper to make a

linga on the spot; he improvises it as best as he can; this obviously cannot

have all the material. This improvised linga is called the ksanika-linga (made

at the ksana moment). A little sandal or even a flower can be used as

ksanika-linga. All the puja-kriyas are done to this linga except abhiseka

(bathing) which is only done symbolically (bhavana). At the end of the puja

when, the permanent linga is taken and restored to the box, Siva abiding in the

ksanika-linga is disolved into the heart of the worshipper, and the material of

the

linga discarded. The ksanika-linga may be replaced at a convenient later date

by a permanent linga, with due rituals. The Siva-linga is called Sadasiva,

the symbol of pranva, the primordial nada Om. The Sanskrit word linga means a

symbol. Although the linga is no doubt a symbol of Siva, it is considered

during worship not as a symbol but as Siva Himself. The all-pervasive being is

present here, for the duration of the puja, to confer His Grace on the devotee.

All puja and all prayers go to Siva and not to the symbol. The Siva-linga is

the Sakala-niskala form (the form-form-less) assumed by Siva to help the

individual in dhyana and bhavana. In svartha-puja, it is always the

Siva-linga that receives all worship. The devotee may conceive of the

Siva-linga as any

of his ista-murti personal favourite deity, such as Ayyarappa, Maha-linga,

Kapalisvara, etc., but the worship is always to the linga. Again, although

Ganesa, Subramaniya and Gauri(sakti) are worshipped here, they are not

different from Siva; they are here merely different aspects of Siva; where they

are worshipped seperately, they are conceived as other manifest forms of Siva;

they are not separate or different entities in worship. When a worshipper

performs this svartha-siva-puja, it is for himself, for his own welfare.

Welfare does not mean wordly gain. The worshipper always strives for

release-liberation form all bonds - and union with the self. Hence the goal of

this puja is moksa, and never bhoga. All prayer is only towards this end.

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