[Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru] panchaayathanam(Reply in voilet coloured fonts)

[Guest guest]

Dear Subrahmanyam Ji,

 

 

PanchAyatana Puja

 

 

Before I dilate on this subject let me tell you that I had been to Nadaupasaka Sree Thyagaraja Swami's (the great carnatic musician saint) house in Thiruvayyaru(Tanjore) and had a darshan of the panchayatanam he used to worship and even touched the same.

However Iam not for panchayatanam even though my father does it because

1. It involves lot of restrictions and strict niyamas

2. I do not want to lose focus on one particular deity by doing an amalgamation eventhough I can practice shakthi panchayatanam

3. Iam in srividya upasana with my mahameru which my gurunatha gave me energised.This is enough for me.

 

 

 

This practice was established by Shankaracharya himself.This is a system of personal worship thought to have been developed after the 7th century by some,in the smartha brahminical tradition(back in those days there was just one smartha brahmin sect which later divide into kannada,tamil,telugu and kerala brahmana sampradaya).,which is now an orthodox daily practice for smarthas. The ritual involves the worship of 5 deities:vishnu,shiva,surya,ganesh and shakthi in the form of stones

 

Vishnu: Shaligrama(shalagrama) stone

Shiva: Banalingam

Surya:Adityam

Ganesha: Shonabhadram

Shakthi: Swarnamukhi

 

 

 

According to the Digvijayas the situation was not good at that time. There were many sects and philosophies that misinterpreted or were completely against the Vedas. Amongst the astikas much energy was misspent in arguing over whether Shiva Bhagawan was superior to Vishnu Bhagawan or both were inferior to Mataji etc. To alleviate this and to get people thinking of the Advaita bhava, this puja was started.

There are five forms of arranging Them:

Shiva panchayataVishnu Surya ShivaDevi GaneshVishnu panchayataShiva Ganesh VishnuDevi SuryaSurya panchayataShiva Ganesh

SuryaDevi VishnuDevi panchayataVishnu Shiva DeviSurya GaneshGanesh panchayataVishnu Shiva GaneshDevi Surya

This way the sadhaka can put his own beloved form of God in center stage but he never forgets that He/She has other forms too.

The important purpose of doing the panchayatana puja is to overcome the bheda-bhava among the different deities of various sects. Among the different sects of shaivas, vaishnavas, etc., each views its own deity as the Supreme and makes the others inferior to its main deity. This creates a bheda-bhava among the deities and this is simply a trick played by maya. Says the maya-panchaka:vidhihariharavibhedamapyakhaNDebata virachayya budhAnapi prakAmam.h |bhramayati hariharabhedabhAvA-naghaTitaghaTanApaTIyasI mAyA ||Alas! Even in the indivisible Brahman, it (mAyA) creates differences called BrahmA, ViShNu, and Shiva and deludes or

tricks exceedingly even the intelligent into feeling differences of Hari and Hara. mAyA is an expert in making incompatible things compatible!

As advaitins, we should understand that this bheda-bhAva is due to mAyA only. Therefore, we should always view all the deities of the panchAyatana or the shhaNmata as being equivalent to each other. We should worship all of them as equals, not as a hierarchy, as some sects do. The panchAyatana system, however, recognizes that there may be some personal preferences among people and there should be enough freedom to worship one's ishhTa-devatA in a special way.

 

 

We should not confuse personal preference of a deity with a systematic and deliberate elevation of a deity over others by sects. It is after all human nature to choose a favorite among several good things. If there are some delicacies, such as bisi-beLe-bhAt, hoLige, and, pAyasa, one person may like pAyasa more than the other two, another person may prefer hoLige, and so on. We cannot ask why a person should like pAyasa more than the other two dishes. We cannot blame a person for making a deity his or her favorite as long as the person acknowledges that all deities are in fact the same.

 

 

 

Some people these days add muruga(skanda) too. Then this becomes a shad-ayatanam and then tommorow one might even add one more or a few more stones..to make it sapthaayatanam or asthaayatanam.

 

 

 

Finally one should go beyond the worship of stones. But in a way stones too are good for the nirguna akaara of the deity is realised subtly. Rather than just worshipping forms and photos to worship a stone and consider it to be a God-representation is a good step toward spirituality but after this step the next step is break even this thought and take a quantum jump to worshipping the deity in the immanent form-formless.

 

 

aadityam gaNanaatham ca deviim rudram ca keshavam .

pa.nchadevatam ityuktam sarvavarmasu puujayet ..

 

At the time of Adi Shankaracharya, sectarian worship was very much in vogue. Each school claimed supremacy of their Ishta Devata and philosophy, and was not tolerant of other schools. The primary schools in existance where the sects of Ganesha, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. A lot of time was spent fighting about the supremacy among these schools. This kind of fighting was not very productive, since it went against the ultimate advaita teaching of vedanta.

 

 

(Ishta and Kula Devi of mine)

The panchayatana [shodashopachara] puja, traditionally practiced among Smartas was established by Shankaracharya, enabling us to worship our Ishta devata with an Advaita buddhi, while including all the other major sectarian devatas. The Ishta devata is placed in the center, with the other remaining deities placed around it.

 

brahmaa kR^itayuge vedastretaayaaM bhagavaan raviH .

dvaapare bhagavaan viShNuH kalau devo maheshvaraH ..

 

This puja is largely performed as a household worship by smartas. Thus, we find that sectarian tolerance among householders has increased dramatically over the past centuries. It is commonly performed with Shiva placed in the center as the Shiva Panchayatana Puja. The verse above eulogizes the worship of Shiva in this Kali Yuga.

 

susnaataH samyagaacaantaH kR^itasa.ndhyaadikakriyaH .

uda.nmukhaH praa.nmukho vaa puujaakarma samaacaret ..

 

People generally sit facing East, while placing the devatas in the following order:

 

 

 

 

 

Center

 

North East

 

South East

 

South West

 

North West

 

Ganapati

Vishnu

Shiva

Surya

Durga

 

Surya

Shiva

Ganapati

Vishnu

Durga

 

Vishnu

Shiva

Ganapati

Surya

Durga

 

Shiva

Vishnu

Surya

Ganapati

Durga

 

Durga

Vishnu

Shiva

Ganapati

Surya

However, other placements are followed by some practicioners:

 

 

 

 

 

Center

 

North East

 

South East

 

South West

 

North West

 

Shiva

Vishnu

Ganapati

Surya

Durga

 

Ganapati

Surya

Durga

Vishnu

Shiva

 

Ganapati

Shiva

Surya

Durga

Vishnu

 

aakaashasyaadhipo viShNuragneshcaiva maheshvarii .

vaayoH saryaH kshiteriisho jiivanasya gaNaadhipaH ..

 

The five deities are the embodiment of 5 bhutas worshipped in formless stones, which may be obtained from the following 5 rivers.

 

 

 

 

 

Deity

 

Bhuta

 

Stone

 

River

 

Place

 

Ganesha

Apa

Red Sonabhadra

Sone

Bihar

 

Surya

Vayu

Crystal

Vallam

Tamil Nadu (Tanjavur)

 

Vishnu

Akasha

Saligrama

Gandaki

Nepal

 

Shiva

Prithivi

Bana Linga

Narmada (omkara-kunda)

Madhya Pradesh

 

Ambika

Agni

Swarna Mukhi (Rekha Shila)

Swarnamukhi

Andra Pradesh

 

shaiva ca vaiShNavam shaaktam sauram vainaayakam tathaa .

skaandam ca bhaktimaargasya darshanaani Shadeva hi ..

 

Those who worship Subrahmanya may invoke him in an image of his divine spear, or in the image of a snake.

My father did shiva panchayatanam and now stopped it because of his failing health and old age and is now doing simple japas and mantras instead.

 

Shiva Panchayatana Puja Variations

 

 

Variations of the puja include:

 

the use of laghunyasa and/or mahanyasa in the puja

shanmatha puja, with the addition of Subrahmanya puja

panchayatana puja, worshipping Subrahmanya in place of Devi

panchayatana puja, worshipping Subrahmanya in place of Surya

the worship of Nandi[keshwara] in the punah puja

 

Order of Worship

Each of the following orders is in use today. When Ganesha is not worshipped first, the five-fold worship is preceeded by a small Ganesha puja.

 

vinaayako ravishcaNDii iisho viShNustathaiva ca .

anukrameNa puujyante vyutkrame tu mahabbhayam ..

 

 

 

[sV] Ganesha, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva, Ambika

[RS] Ganesha, Shiva, Ambika, Vishnu, Surya

[GK] Ganesha, Surya, Ambika, Shiva, Vishnu

[VP] Surya, Ganesha, Ambika, Shiva, Vishnu

 

Special Offerings

 

 

 

 

 

Deity

 

Leaf

 

Ganesha

Durva Grass

 

Surya

-

 

Vishnu

Tulasi

 

Shiva

Bilva

 

Devi

-

(Surya is worshipped with Dharba grass by some and Devi is worshipped by Jasmine or japakusuma by some(in shakthi panchayatana)

 

 

Samba Sada Shiva Puja

 

 

There are various distinct levels of worship in the Shiva panchayatana puja:

 

The worship of the five major panchayatana deities

Followed by the worship the five forms of Shiva (Sadyojata etc)

Followed by the the worship of Samba Sada Shiva

The five fold worship of Shiva (Sadyojata etc) sometimes takes the form of an explicit puja, such as a pancha-kalasha puja, or pancha-brahmatmaka puja. The former is particularly beautiful as the kalashas used to worship [samba] Shiva in the puja have been invoked with his own forms. Others perform this five fold worship of Shiva implicitly as part of the Samba Sada Shiva puja.

In either case, the advaitic progression is unmistakeable.

It is interesting to note that the progression of subtely is also reflective of the movement of the kundalini. At first, the worship of the five major deities, is the worship of four-petalled muladhara chakra (Shiva in the center, and the four deities in the four petals). This moves up to the agya chakra with the worship of Shiva with the shakti-panchakshari, in the two-petalled lotus of Shiva-Shakti. This culminates with the worship of samba sada shiva in the sahasrara chakra.

 

Five faces of Shiva

The five faces of Shiva, also known as the pancha-brahmatmaka represent both the trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva), as well as the three fold progression of Shiva himself (Rudra, Ishwara, Sadashiva).

The ordering from Sadyojata is the reversal of the creation process, and is designed to take the ego-filled seeker to the ultimate source -- purusha, by leading us from the ego, to the mind, to the intellect, to the creative potential to its substratum. As per Shankaracharya's Upadesha Sahasri:

 

When all the entities in the series commencing with earth (smell) etc, and moving inward are successively negated, the innermost Self is found to be subtler and more pervasive.

This five fold worship taught by the great Acharya is arguably the most important aspect of the Shiva Panchayatana puja. This is often found to be the culmination (central point) of the puja.

 

 

 

 

 

Form

 

Direction

 

Form

 

Element

 

Aspect

 

Sadyojata

West

Brahma

Earth

Ego

 

Vamadeva

North

Vishnu

Water

Manas

 

Aghora

South

Rudra

Fire

Buddhi

 

Tatpurusha

East

Ishwara

Air

Maya (Prakriti)

 

Ishana

Above

Sadashiva

Akasha

Atma (Purusha)

 

Ashta Murtis

As part of the rudra puja, we generally worship (in some manner) the ashta murtis & their spouses. The 8 forms represent the 5 tattwas, the Sun, the Moon and the Jivatma. The Sun and Moon are the life-givers, and the Jivatma is a reflection of the purusha-atma. Compared to the worship of the five faces, this eight fold worship is grosser.

The worship of the Ashta Murtis brings to mind the story from the Madhaviya Shankara Dig Vijayam where, the Acharya meets Lord Shiva as a chandala accompanied by the four vedas in the form of four dogs.

 

Sri Sankara, the greatest among saints began to entertain fear, devotion, obedience, fearlessness, pleasure and surprise in his mind as he begain to praise Lord Shiva in eight forms.. 6.40 ..

In our panchayatana puja, we continue to perform the worship of the Ashta murtis, which was performed by the divine sages of old including Adi Shankara himself.

 

 

 

 

 

Form

 

Representing

 

Shakti

 

Offspring

 

Flower

 

Bhava

Water

Usha

Shukra

Arka

 

Sharva

Earth

Sukeshi

Angaraka

Champaka

 

Ishana

Sun

Shiva

Hanuman

Punnaga

 

Pashupati

Jivatma

Svaha

Skanda

Nandyavartani

 

Rudra

Fire

Suvarchala

Shani

Patali

 

Ugra

Air

Diksha

Santana

Brihati

 

Bhima

Akasha

Dik

Svarga

Karavirani

 

Maha

Moon

Rohini

Budha

Drona

 

Ekadasha Rudras

 

 

The Shiva Panchayatana puja can be considered a rudra puja which includes the other major deities. Thus, standard techniques of worshipping Shiva, such as the Rudra-Ekadashini may be used. When this is done, Rudra is invoked in each of his 11 forms in turn. The 11 forms are given differently in various works:

 

 

Mrigavyada, Sharva, Nirriti, Aja Ekapad, Ahirbudhya, Pinaki, Bhava Natha, Maheshwara, Sthanu, Bhava, Kapali

Kapali, Pingala, Bhima, Virpaksha, Vilohita, Shastha, Ajapada, Ahirbudhnya, Shambhu, Chanda, Bhava

Mahadeva, Shiva, Rudra, Shankara, Nilalohita, Ishana, Vijaya, Bhima, Deva-deva, Bhava, Kapali

Aja, Ekapad, Ahirbudhnya, Virupaksha, Revata, Hara, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Sureshvara, Jayanta, Aparajita

 

Atma puja

 

 

Of of the most important parts of the panchayatana puja (which is found in most smarta pujas) is the atma puja, where the indwelling self, the witness to all activities, is worshipped. This is done partly as a purificatory process prior to touching the icons into which Ishwara is invoked. It is also done as an explicit reminder of Advaita.

Surprisingly enough, we come across an outline of a puja in the famous astrological work Prashna Marga, which mentions the Atma puja, and follows the general outline of the Shiva panchayatana puja.

 

cakraM vilikhya caraNau praxaalya tanushodhanam .

aatmapuujaam gaNeshaarcaam api kR^itvaa maheshvaram .

cakramadhyasthite padme piiThapuujaapurassaram .

parivaara nivedyaaDyam pa~ncaaxaryabhamarcayet ..

 

After washing the feet, and purifying the body, propitiate Ganesha, and perform the Atma puja. Thereafter, perform the pitha puja, and worship lord Shiva in the center. Worship his family and retinue, and ofter the naivedyam. One should also pay homage with the panchakshari mantra.

This is indeed the panchayatana puja prayoga captured in a single verse. Since Shiva is usually invoked with his wife Uma as "sa-uma maheshwara" or "sa-uma-skanda maheshwara", the panchakshari mantra is often substituted with the shakti-panchakshari mantra, which includes the bija representing Shakti (Uma).

 

Nyasa

 

 

The mahanyasa was codified by the great sage Bodhayana. The famed Appayya Dikshita is said to have included it in his nitya panchayatana puja. Due to its length (it requires about an hour), it is usually performed only on special occasions like pradosham.

 

 

In his grihya sutras, the sage has given a rudra abhisheka vidhi which does find a place in the nitya puja. This includes what is normally called the Rudra laghunyasa, a shodashopachara puja with the sadyojata and vamadeva mantras, and the worship of the five-faces and eight-murtis of Shiva.

 

Shodashopachara Puja

Kalpokta shodashopachara pujas, where the sixteen-fold puja of Vishnu, Lakshmi and other deities are augmented with the 16 mantras found in the purusha-sukta and/or sri-sukta are quite common.

There are similar procedures for the worship of Shiva. The shodashopachara puja may be:

 

Prefixed with the 1st anuvaka of the Rudra Prashna (which has 15 parts)

Prefixed with the [shakti] Panchakshari Mantra

Prefixed with the Sadyojata mantra (which has 15 parts)

This procedure is not followed for the avahana or udvasana, leaving us with 14 upacharas. Thus, based on tradition, either the first or last parts of the Rudra Anuvaka and Sadyojata mantra are not used in the shodashopachara puja method described here.

There is no standard list of 16 upacharas in vogue today. In practice, few people offer exactly sixteen upacharas. Many practicioners offer around twenty upacharas as part of the shodashopachara puja. In particular, the use of pancha-mukha dipam is often added on to the shodashopachara puja for the panchayatana devatas (for obvious reasons).

 

aasanaavaahanaM paadyaM arghyaM aacamaniiyakaM .

snanaM vastropaviitaM ca gandha puShpaM tathaiva ca ..

dhuupaM diipaM ca naivedyaM paaniiyaacamanaM tathaa .

taambuulodvasanaM ceti hyupacaaraastu ShoDasha ..

 

The verse above gives us 16 upacharas as per one tradition: (1) avahanam, asanam, padyam, arghyam, (5) achamanam, snanam, vastram, upavitam, (9) gandham, pushpam, dhupam, dipam, (13) naivedyam, paniyam, tambulam, udvasanam.

Here is a list of 32 upacharas: (1) avahanam, asanam, padyam, arghyam, (5) acamanam, madhuparkam, snanam, vastam, (9) upavitam, abharanam, gandham, axatam, (13) pushpam, dhuupam, dipam, naivedyam (17) tambulam, daxinam, phalam, nirajanam, (21) pushpanjalim, pradaxinam, namaskaram, stotram (25) patram, chaamara, vaahana, nritya, (29) giitam, vaadya, praarthanam, visarjanam.

 

Abhisheka Mantras

 

 

 

 

As mentioned previously, the Shiva panchayatana puja can be performed in a non-exclusionary way, where the practitioner primarily worships Shiva, but also includes the other sectarian deities. Preferrably, it should be performed in an inclusionary way, where the practitioner worships all the five deities as the expansion of the same divine force. In the Shiva panchayatana puja, all the deities would be seen as an expansion of Shiva himself. Indeed, this is reflected in the very mantras we use in the puja:

 

namakam chamakam japyam shriisuuktam puruShasuuktakam .

brahmasuuktam viShNusuuktam visheShaan rudramantrakaan ..

 

The use of the following mantras is lauded in the worship of Rudra: Rudra prashna, Chamakam, Purusha suktam, Shri suktam, Brahma suktam and Vishnu suktam. The list includes the trimurties and also the female principle (i.e. all of creation). The following short suktas addressed to each of the panchayatana devatas is also appropriate.

 

Brahmanaspati (Ganesha) Suktam

somaanam svaraNam gaNaanaantvaa saijjanena indra eNamadiidharat Praataganim praatarindraM pavitram te vitatam

 

Soura Suktam

khyeSham vaishvaanaraM jyotiH suuryastvaa purastaatpaatu

suuryasya cakshuraaruham bhuurasi shreShThii rasmiinaam

suuryo devo diviShadbhyo

suuryo maa devo divyaat suuryo maa devo devebhyaH

suuryo divodhipatiH

 

Vishnu Suktam

viShNornukam viiryaaNi tadasya priyamabhi pratadviShNustavate paromaatrayaa tanuvaa vicakrame pR^ithiviim trirdevaH

 

Rudra Suktam

pariNo rudrasya stuhishruta.ngartasadam miiDuShTamashivatama arhinbibharShi

tvamagne rudra aavo raajaanam

 

Vaak (Devi) Suktam

deviiM vaaca anantaa

 

Sarpa (Subrahmanya) Suktam

namo astu sarpebhyaH idam sarpebhyaH nighR^ishvairasamaayutaiH (trijuti rudraksha)Dattatreya Upasakas place a trijuti rudraksha or a whitemarble/blackstone datta vigraha obtained in girinaarand worship it also making it sapthaayatanam.Ayatanam..means to bring in ancient sanskrit and by doing this puja with stones you''bring'' the

gods willingly. Hope this much of explanation slakes your thirst...Yours yogically,Shreeram Balijepalli

 

SUBRAHMANYAM B <subrahmanyam.b wrote:

 

Respected divine saadhakas!

 

Pl furnish the information on following.

What is meant by 'PANCHAAYATHANAM' . What is the difference between sivapanchaayathanam and shaktipanchaayathanam.

 

subrahmanyam.bharathula

 

::sree anagha sahitha anagha devyai namo namaha::

 

 

[Guest guest]

Adding to what Sri Shreeram has said:

 

Panchayatana puja is not about loosing focus on one by

doing an amalgamation. To understand this one has to

understand the meaning of Panchayatanam.

 

Panchayatanam is, as Sri Shreeram has said below, the

puja of five gods, namely, Hara, Hari Aditya, Ganapati

& Ambika.

 

The other question that might arise in this course is,

why is that only these five Gods were chosen, when the

list of Gods is very huge and almost innumerable. The

reason being, in the Upanishads for these deities,

only these were given the Srusti-Sthiti-Samharaktva

gunas (Creation-Maintenance-Destruction). each of the

Diety in the panchayatana group is capable of doing

all these three supreme activities, thus over-riding

the other dieties. The next question that would come

is who is supreme, if there are five supreme Gods.

This question becomes very simple to answer if we

understand what is meant by panchayatanam.

Panchatayana upasana is not upasana of five different

Gods. It is the upasana of the parameswara who is

reflecting himself in five different forms. In the

sanskrit literature, it would be a 'Bahuvrihi Samasa'

- Pancha ayatanani yasya saha, pachayatanah, tasya

upasana panchayatanopasana. - That He who has five

parts or sthanams (places) or ayatanams, is

Panchayatana. And his puja or upasan is

Panchayatanopasan or Panchayatana Puja.

 

And as said by Sri Shreeram, one can place his

favourite deity in the centre and the rest would be

placed in the four other corners.

 

Regards,

Viswanath

 

 

--- Group Owner <para_anuloma wrote:

 

> Dear Subrahmanyam Ji,

>

> PanchAyatana Puja

>

>

>

>

> Before I dilate on this subject let me tell you that

> I had been to Nadaupasaka Sree Thyagaraja Swami's

> (the great carnatic musician saint) house in

> Thiruvayyaru(Tanjore) and had a darshan of the

> panchayatanam he used to worship and even touched

> the same.

>

> However Iam not for panchayatanam even though my

> father does it because

>

> 1. It involves lot of restrictions and strict

> niyamas

>

> 2. I do not want to lose focus on one particular

> deity by doing an amalgamation eventhough I can

> practice shakthi panchayatanam

>

> 3. Iam in srividya upasana with my mahameru which my

> gurunatha gave me energised.This is enough for me.

>

This practice was established by Shankaracharya

> himself.This is a system of personal worship thought

> to have been developed after the 7th century by

> some,in the smartha brahminical tradition(back in

> those days there was just one smartha brahmin sect

> which later divide into kannada,tamil,telugu and

> kerala brahmana sampradaya).,which is now an

> orthodox daily practice for smarthas. The ritual

> involves the worship of 5

> deities:vishnu,shiva,surya,ganesh and shakthi in the

> form of stones

>

>

>

> Vishnu: Shaligrama(shalagrama) stone

>

> Shiva: Banalingam

>

> Surya:Adityam

>

> Ganesha: Shonabhadram

>

> Shakthi: Swarnamukhi

>

>

>

According to the Digvijayas the situation was not

> good at that time. There were many sects and

> philosophies that misinterpreted or were completely

> against the Vedas. Amongst the astikas much energy

> was misspent in arguing over whether Shiva Bhagawan

> was superior to Vishnu Bhagawan or both were

> inferior to Mataji etc. To alleviate this and to get

> people thinking of the Advaita bhava, this puja was

> started.

>

>

>

>

> There are five forms of arranging Them: Shiva

> panchayata

>

> Vishnu Surya

>

> Shiva

>

> Devi Ganesh

>

>

> Vishnu panchayata

>

>

> Shiva Ganesh

>

> Vishnu

>

> Devi Surya

>

>

> Surya panchayata

>

> Shiva Ganesh

>

> Surya

>

> Devi Vishnu

>

>

> Devi panchayata

>

> Vishnu Shiva

>

> Devi

>

> Surya Ganesh

>

>

> Ganesh panchayata

>

> Vishnu Shiva

>

> Ganesh

>

> Devi Surya

>

> This way the sadhaka can put his own beloved form of

> God in center stage but he never forgets that He/She

> has other forms too.

>

>

>

> The important purpose of doing the panchayatana puja

> is to overcome the bheda-bhava among the different

> deities of various sects. Among the different sects

> of shaivas, vaishnavas, etc., each views its own

> deity as the Supreme and makes the others inferior

> to its main deity. This creates a bheda-bhava among

> the deities and this is simply a trick played by

> maya. Says the maya-panchaka:

>

> vidhihariharavibhedamapyakhaNDe

> bata virachayya budhAnapi prakAmam.h |

> bhramayati hariharabhedabhAvA-

> naghaTitaghaTanApaTIyasI mAyA ||

>

> Alas! Even in the indivisible Brahman, it (mAyA)

> creates differences called BrahmA, ViShNu, and Shiva

> and deludes or tricks exceedingly even the

> intelligent into feeling differences of Hari and

> Hara. mAyA is an expert in making incompatible

> things compatible!

>

>

>

> As advaitins, we should understand that this

> bheda-bhAva is due to mAyA only. Therefore, we

> should always view all the deities of the

> panchAyatana or the shhaNmata as being equivalent to

> each other. We should worship all of them as equals,

> not as a hierarchy, as some sects do. The

> panchAyatana system, however, recognizes that there

> may be some personal preferences among people and

> there should be enough freedom to worship one's

> ishhTa-devatA in a special way.

>

>

>

>

>

> We should not confuse personal preference of a deity

> with a systematic and deliberate elevation of a

> deity over others by sects. It is after all human

> nature to choose a favorite among several good

> things. If there are some delicacies, such as

> bisi-beLe-bhAt, hoLige, and, pAyasa, one person may

> like pAyasa more than the other two, another person

> may prefer hoLige, and so on. We cannot ask why a

> person should like pAyasa more than the other two

> dishes. We cannot blame a person for making a deity

> his or her favorite as long as the person

> acknowledges that all deities are in fact the same.

>

Some people these days add muruga(skanda) too. Then

> this becomes a shad-ayatanam and then tommorow one

> might even add one more or a few more stones..to

> make it sapthaayatanam or asthaayatanam.

>

Finally one should go beyond the worship of stones.

> But in a way stones too are good for the nirguna

> akaara of the deity is realised subtly. Rather than

> just

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