Adhyaropa – Apavaada -Shaligrama Worship

[Guest guest]

Respected Subbu-ji ,

 

Another 'great' post from you full of great exmples drawn from

everyday life. VERY INTERESTING.

 

YOU WRITE :

 

( In religious practice this method is very commonly used.  The

amous  shastraic example is: 'sAligraame ViShNubuddhiH'.  The

saaligrama is  a stone said to be available in the GaNDaki riverbed,

Nepal.  The  person who retrieves them and sells might consider them

as just > merchandise.  But the one who buys it for puja

purposes, 'superimposes' Vishnu in it and worships it with the

feeling, 'Lord Vishnu is in this.'  In fact he offers abhishekam,

neivedyam and namaskaram to it with the faith that he is doing all

this to Vishnu Himself.  He even addresses it and prays for

solutions  for problems.  This example is given by Acharya in his

bhashya.)

 

Thank you , Subbuji for mentioning about 'Saligrama' in the context

of this discussion.

 

It is said that Lord Krishna himself describes the SACREDNESS  of

Saligrama worship to Yudhistra in Mahabharata . (maybe our respected

member who delighted us with  *DharmavyAdha* series , sri

krishnamurthy ramakrishnan can narrate this to us ? )

 

 

What is the beauty of this Saligrama Sila worship ?

 

The Saligrama stone has both form ( because of its shape)  and no

form ( it is not like an idol of vishnu with limbs etc) - so it is

like the shiva lingam- no aadi , no anantm. No beginning, no end. it

is also swayumbhu - self born like the shiva linga as it originates

in the Gandaki river in NEPAL. .

 

Subbuji , it is my pleasure to recall the words of Kanchi Periyavaal

about the importance of Saligrama stone in 'panchayatana' puja ...

 

" Images must be installed to worship Siva, Amba, Visnu, Vinayaka,

and Surya. This is called "pancayatana puja". According to one

custom, no graven images [images with limbs] are used but instead

natural objects to represent the five deities. The "bana-linga" for

Siva is obtained from the Omkara -kunda of the Narmada river. The

svarnamukhi stone for Ambika (it has a golden streak on it) is to be

taken from the bed of the Svarnamukhi river in Andhra PradesH. The

symbol of Vishnu, salagrama, is obtained from the Gandaki river in

Nepal. The crystal stone for surya is got from Vallam, near Tanjavur.

The sonabhadra stone for Vinayaka is obtained from the Sone river, a

tributary of the Ganga. These five stones are symbolic of the unity

of India.

 

None of these five stones has eyes, nose, ears, etc. Since they have

no corners that become untidy, they are easy to bathe and dry. Being

small they do not occupy much space. No big puja hall or room is

necessary. A small casket is enough.

 

Pancayatana puja was revived by Sankara Bhagavatpada. As the creator

of the Sanmata system (the worship of six deities)he added

Subrahmanya to the five. So with the five stones we may add a small

spear to represent Velayadah (Subrahmanya) who bears the spear. "

 

http://www.www.kamakoti.org

 

now , may i please recall this verse from Bilvashtakam ?

 

Salagrameshu vipranam tatakam dasha koopayo

 

Yagyakoti saharacha eka bilvam shivarpanam

 

Salutation to Hari and Hara !

 

(the shaligrama stotra is available at sanskrit.gde.com)